Phases of Content Creation Workflow

Content creation workflow contains the following phases

• Keyword Research
• Content Research
• Content Outline
• Content Writing
• Content Publishing
• Keyword Research phase

Keyword Research

One way to find keywords searched by your audience is to look at your Google Search Console. If you haven’t linked, Here is how you Set up Google Search Console. You can find keywords that are searched by your audience Inside the Performance section of Search Console.

Here we can pick the keywords which are relevant and have informational Intent. Once we have a list of the Initial set of keywords, we use either paid tools or free tools to find keywords that are related to the initial set of keywords.

Here is a detailed guide on how to determine search intent for a keyword.

Finding Related Keywords

Once we have a set of keywords, We have to find keywords that are related to the initial keyword. We can find relevant keywords from paid tools like ahrefs, semrush.

Not everyone can afford a paid tool, So here are some free tools that can help you find relevant keywords.

Ubersuggest, KWFinder, Keyword tool

Select all related keywords using the initial keyword. Once we expand the list of keywords from the initial set, we should map Intent and Volume for the keywords

Initial Keyword

Related Keywords

Clustering Keywords Semantically

Semantic keywords are the keywords that are related to each other. It can be a subtopic of a parent topic. We put keywords into clusters semantically to analyze which one has the best keyword volume. Pick the keyword which has the highest volume.

For example, for a keyword “On-page SEO” some semantically related keyword could be:

• Meta Description
• Meta Title
• Header tags
• Image optimization

Here the goal is simple, Identify the parent topic and Identify the subtopics that should be covered in order to make the content comprehensive.

Content Research Phase

The content research phase is one of the most time taking task in content workflow. Without this phase it difficult to write a piece of content that is unique and comprehensive

In this phase you have to follow these steps:

• Search your main keyword in google
• Open the first 10 links which are ranking in SERP
• Understand the intent of all the blogs ranking on the first page
• Identify Keywords used in the Headings & Descriptions
• Identify common and unique Keywords used in paragraphs
• Identify Questions which are answered

Content Outline Phase

Content Outline phase is where all your research and analysis become structured data. To craft comprehensive outlines always remember to have notes on your content research and content analysis.

Here is a list of things you have in your mind:

• Title of content
• Description of content
• Average Word count
• Main keyword
• Topics to Cover
• Heading for Content
• FAQ’s related to the Main keyword

Outline Template

	Title: “Write a Title that is Unique and relevant to Search Intent”
	Description: “Write a unique description that covers important keywords and relevant to search intent”
	Word count: Take average word count of first 10 links in SERP
	Main keyword: “Your Main Keyword”
	LSI Keywords: List of LSI keywords to cover
	Topics to cover: List of headings and subtopics to cover
	H1: Heading 1
	H2: Sub topic Heading 1
	H1: Heading 2
	H2: Sub topic Heading 1
	H3: Sub-Sub topic Heading 1
	FAQ’s
	1.
	2.
	3.

Notes: Important points should be noted in this space. Also note down the reference articles which can be helpful when writing seo content.

Content Writing Phase

This is the most important phase in the entire content workflow process. I am sure that you have came across the phrase “Content is King” at some point in your journey. Well thats true! The more unique and data driven the content, the better it ranks. The content should be written based on the search intent.

Lets take an example, Lets search for the keyword “Smartphone”. You might not see the same page and links as google keeps updating ranks based on content. Here you can see the red boxes indicate the titles and by looks of it we can see what content see being ranked.

Here the search intent is about best smartphones comparing with other models rather than what is a smartphone. So if you try to write about informational content on smartphones it is very unlikely to rank. Instead if you try to write about smartphones specifications and compare it with other phone models in the market in the same segment it has better chances of ranking. Ao writing content is not just about spewing informational paragraphs, it is about what people are looking for when they search a keyword.

Publish Content

Publishing content is considered as the easiest phase in content workflow, or is it? This phase is also has same importance as writing content. Here we need ensure all the content is properly formatted

Things to keep in mind:

• Ensure Meta title and Meta descriptions are added
• Ensure Headings are given proper HTML tags respectively (H1, H2, H3)
• Ensure Images are Compressed before uploading
• Ensure the Image name is related to the main keyword and also have the same keyword in the alt tags
• Ensure proper font style, line height & wordspacing for readability.