CASE STUDY: How We Created Helpful Content That Ranked A 720/Month Search Volume Keyword #1 On Google

There are 101 different ways to write headlines that get attention.

What worked extremely well in this case was the list headline.

List headlines work great because they are straight to the point and promise what the reader will get from the article.

This type of headline also promises a lot of information, with the ability to scan and digest it quickly.

List headlines have worked for many years in advertising and will continue to work long into the future.

The results achieved in this case study are proof of this.

Let’s break down the list headline so you can easily replicate it yourself.

The Headline: Top 10 Suburbs to Buy Investment Property in Brisbane - 2023

People in this market want options. Investors with different budgets can’t all invest in the same area, hence this headline provided options.

The headline was straight to the point and promised to achieve the intent behind the search.

The last little nugget here is the addition of the year.

This made the content fresh and timely.

The Breakdown

“Top 10 Suburbs”: this is the number of items your post will discuss (The Number)

“Buy Investment Property in Brisbane”: This is the action the market wants to take (The Intent)

The Formula

The Number + The Intent = a great list headline.

This list headline formula works for just about any situation.

Examples of this formula in action:

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The key to writing effective list headlines is to keep them simple and straight to the point.

Outline the number of items and tap into the intent or desired outcome your market is trying to achieve.

When it comes to good content marketing the intro sentence is everything.

Your average copywriter will not understand this.

Content Creators with creative writing degrees will not have learned this at University.

However, the bottom line is this.

If you get this wrong, you will not stand out in the sea of sameness on Google.

If your headline has done its job, a well-crafted intro sentence will keep your readers scrolling.

The article in our case study applied the 3 basics of a great sales message.

1. Here’s what I’ve got for you: The article was straight to the point and told readers what they were going to get from the post.
   
   
2. Here’s why you should choose us: the article outlined the best Brisbane suburbs, not just any investment opportunities but the best.
   
   
3. Here’s what to do next: The article gave a clear call to action to keep readers scrolling.

Follow the same 3 steps of a great sales message system to write intro sentences that keep your readers scrolling. 

Let’s break it down into detail.

Here’s what I’ve got for you: 

Your first sentence needs to:

• confirm the intent of the reader
• tap into the main problem they are facing 
• and hint at the solution (what I’ve got for you)

Here’s why you should choose us:

Let your readers know as clearly as possible what makes your article different to every other article they could have chosen to read on Google. 

What is your unique angle?

What will set your content apart or provide more value to your readers than the next?

Here’s what to do next:

If the first 2 steps have been done well, a simple call to action (CTA) is all you need to keep the readers scrolling.

Here are a few CTA examples:

“Keep reading to learn how to…”

“Let’s get started”

“Today, I will reveal how we did it step-by-step”

User Engagement matters.

Gone are the days when dumping big blocks of text on a page would be all you need to rank.

Today, it’s all about the users.

Make it fast, easy and systematic for people to consume your information.

If people get overwhelmed, they will click away.

We use multiple structures in our content writing that engage people.

Let’s break down how it was done in this case study.

In our case study, the article was broken down into an introduction section, which grabbed attention and interest.

Then, the meat of the article was organised into a consistent, uniform layout of the information.

The article then finished with a strong conclusion and next steps for the readers.

Use the following explanation for each section in great content structure to set out your article in a way people will understand and engage with.

Attention & Interest:

This section should tap back into the market's core desire and position you as the expert.

In our example, the article breaks down the difference between a good & bad suburb to buy an investment property.

This is the main fear the target audience has, ”What if I buy in the wrong suburb?” . Addressing this fear early and alluding to your content helping them make the right decision pulls the reader back in and builds trust that you are the expert and authority in this field.

Uniformise The Articles Items:

Consistency is key.

Whatever you can do to make your content easier to understand, the better.

Uniformity does just that.

If you’ve got a big list of items, break down the main sub-items within them and uniform those.

This could be a variety of things.

In our example, the article broke down each item into:

• The why
• Population
• Median house price
• Media rental yield
• Pros
• Cons

Once you’ve decided on your sub-items, it’s merely a matter of rinsing and repeating your main items to make your article as helpful as possible for your reader.

Provide A Bottom Line

Don’t leave your readers hanging!

You, as the expert, need to guide their next steps.

A great conclusion does just that.

Some examples of bottom lines:

• Here’s Your Next Step…
• Still Want More Info?
• Here’s What To Do Next…
• How To Do This On Your Own…
• Now It’s Your Turn…

SEO pros know repeating the same information others have already written about makes it hard for your content to rank above theirs.

So does this mean you have to come up with your own stats, data and information every time?

No.

That’s the good news.

To make content helpful… your job is to provide a unique take or interpretation of data (yes… even existing data) that provides value to your readers.

That’s what it means to have a unique & helpful take on data.

In our example, the data in the article can be sourced from many places across the Internet.

What makes the content helpful & unique is the expert opinion on the pros & cons of each suburb provided by an experienced real estate agent.

Here’s the good news…

You are this expert… you just have to let the world know by giving your unique take.

Here are a few ways to take a unique stance on data that have worked really well for us.

• Compare by distance
• Compare by reputation
• Compare by use cases
• Compare by price
• Pros & Cons

There are many ways to make your data unique.

Pick the one that will best help your market achieve its desired outcome and watch your rankings soar.

This isn’t a website design course… however here is a few easy ways to take your content from WOE to WOW!

Design should support your main content and highlight key takeaways, drawing the reader back in.

Each item was visually represented to make browsing easy. Readers who knew a specific area were drawn back into the article by the highlighting of this area.

Bonus Tip: each item graphic in your list article can be shared on Social Media to drive additional traffic to your content.

Here are 5 tips to better illustrate your content.

1. Custom Illustrations and Icons - Dare to be different
   
   Custom illustrations and icons will take your article to the next level and add a personal touch to it. When comparing different visual elements, original graphics perform best.
   
   Use free tools like Canva for this - pick one of thousands of templates or get creative and do your own tailored creations. When designing it to be in line with your brand, even better. This takes us to the next tip;
   
   
2. Consistent Branding - Show who you are
   
   Adding elements that go hand in hand with your branding, like using colours on illustrations, adding your logo in the corner of photos and using your brand typography for the headings, creates a consistent visual identity.
   
   Being consistent will make users remember and recognise your brand, and they won’t need to question whether or not they are still on your website when they move from one content piece to another.
   
   
3. Images and graphics - No one wants a wall of text
   
   Use a bit of both to mix it up, or pick images or graphics, depending on the style of the article and your branding as a whole. Unique images will draw more attention from Google and users, while stock images can be used in moderation.
   
   Use graphics to create a timeline, memes to sprinkle some humour and personality into the article, or add photos of team members, behind the scenes or documentation of your service process step-by-step.
   
   
4. Interactive elements - Be an attention seeker
   
   What does Google want?
   
   Interaction and engagement!
   
   If users stay on your site for longer and interact with it, Google will see it as proof that the user's needs have been fulfilled.
   
   Therefore, clickable elements like quizzes, videos, animated gifs (LottieFiles is a great free resource), clickable infographics, interactive maps or anything else that captures the user's attention and gets them engaging with your content is likely to perform well. It will also make the page come to life rather than being static.
   
   Remember, keep an eye on the page load speed; don’t add too many heavy elements that slow it down and take forever to finish loading.
   
   
5. Balance & Layout - Give people some space
   
   Don’t be afraid of using white space. Space between sections makes it easier on the eye and helps guide the reader’s focus. Instead of cluttering the page, keep it balanced and make the content enjoyable to consume.
   
   Break up paragraphs with bullet points, add separators or lines between sections and add padding around busy visual elements.

There are a few basic SEO tweaks that you can apply to let Google understand your content. 

We have listed these below in the “How to apply” section. But first, let’s discuss the most important of all - Helpful Content!

When it comes to writing content that Google loves, we recommend staying away from A.I. tools such as ChatGPT as well as content writing & optimisation tools such as SEMrush or SurferSEO.

Those tools have their place in SEO, but not when writing helpful content for users.

This is good news for you.

You don’t need to be an SEO expert to optimise helpful content to the level where it ranks. 

Simply provide helpful ideas, share experiences as you would in any other sales conversation, and put these ideas on paper. Then, turn them into your article. Write for the people first and then the search engines.

We applied these basic SEO points to the case studies blog post.

It gradually climbed to the top until it hit the No.1 spot on Google - no backlinks or other expensive SEO strategies were used in this article.

This doesn't mean the rest of the sound isn't of high authority and technically sound, it does mean we didn't have to spend any money on traditional SEO to make this specific article rank.

To add a little bit of extra juice that’ll get your blog post into the top spots, follow the steps below to optimise your article.

Here are our golden rules when it comes to optimising your article.

1. Create a title/headline that is concise and represents the content
   
   
2. Keep the link (URL) tidy
   
   
3. Let your heading (H1 tag) give an overview of the entire content piece
   
   
4. Turn your subheadings into H2’s & H3’s
   
   
5. Check for any interlinking opportunities across your website that connect your content piece to the theme of your site.
   
   
6. Make sure images have proper “alt tags”
   
   
7.  Add author schema markup
   
   
8. Have a conclusion to your content and have a headline for your conclusion.