Happy Thursday!

Welcome to Boringmarketing.com, where you'll find "boring" marketing tactics to grow your profits via AI, SEO, and more.

"We have an interesting section 'Who wrote this article? AI or Human?' Let's see if you find the right answer. Just hit reply to answer."​
​
​On that note, in today's rundown:

• Think piece on the 3-click test
• A 6-min process to diagnose EEAT issues
• Process for planning 90 days of SEO content
• Who wrote the article? AI or Human?
• Prompt to generate interactive content ideas
• A new AI-powered SEO tool
• SEO Director’s insights on prioritizing SEO tasks

Read time: 10 mins

Think Piece: On The 3-Click Test For Site Architecture

Your website's architecture is like the backbone holding everything together. But many sites aren't designed for optimal user or bot navigation.

A simple way to diagnose issues is the 3-click test.

Simply ask: Can users find what they need in 3 clicks or fewer from your homepage?

If not, your site's informational hierarchy and internal linking need work. Meandering navigation frustrates visitors. It also hampers bots' ability to crawl and index your pages.

Ideally, your site is structured using a topical taxonomic approach. All pages belonging to a specific subtopic are grouped together.

For example, your camping site could have clear subtopic sections for tents, sleeping bags, coolers, etc. Pages on "dome tents" would nest under the "tents" section.

Not only does this enhance on-site navigation, but it also provides contextual clues to search engines on what pages are about.

Your homepage and category pages should also link to these sections to facilitate crawling. Menus, site maps, tags, and related posts can further connect pages.

If your architecture is sound, but pages still take more than 3 clicks to find, strengthen your internal linking. Add contextual links on relevant pages pointing to deeper content.

Remember - the path between two points should be as direct and logical as possible. Eliminate dead ends and tangents.

Diagnose E-E-A-T Issues in 6 Mins

“In a future filled with E-E-A-T and AI, SEO will be less about doing and (possibly) more about directing.”, says Andrew Holland.

With that said, he shares a 6-minute process to diagnose E-E-A-T issues:

1. Check Google Trends for brand search volume.
2. Analyze the brand SERP for the presence of knowledge panels.
3. Audit your site for expertise proof points.
4. Review off-site activities for authority signals.
5. Assess past credentials versus present marketing.
6. Focus on optimizing elements within your control.

Fixing E-A-T issues requires budget and time as it is an ongoing brand-building effort.

But frameworks help identify gaps to address through content, links, and publicity.

Thoroughly diagnosing and understanding any E-E-A-T shortcomings is key to developing a robust branding and marketing strategy.

Process For Planning 90 Days of SEO Content

Consistent, high-quality content is crucial for SEO success. But it's easy to fall behind on publishing when you don't have a plan.

Connor Gillivan recently shared his 7-step system for planning and scheduling SEO content 90 days in advance.

The key steps are:

1. Decide the desired content volume per month.
2. Perform keyword research to identify targets.
3. Set up a central content calendar.
4. Map out article due dates and assignments.
5. Create optimized titles based on top-ranking pages.
6. Build detailed article outlines to cover topics.
7. Write and optimize the final drafts.

Gillivan stresses getting ahead on content creation by dedicating 1-2 days per quarter to thoroughly plan it out. This system provides a clear content roadmap for you to follow.

Fav Links of the Week

Google Under Trial?! [LINK]

6 New SEO Concepts That You Must Focus on in 2023 [LINK]

Connect Bard to Maps, YouTube, Gmail [LINK]

Use Quora for SEO Research [LINK]

ChatGPT to Generate Image Outputs With DALL-E 3 [LINK]

Google’s Helpful Content Update Shakes Things Up [LINK]

White Hat Link Building Strategies That Work in 2023 [LINK]

Human Or AI?

Who do you think wrote this article?

​AI or Human?​

Just hit reply and send “AI” or “Human”, and we'll get back to you with the answer.

(Hint: Your 1st instinct may be wrong.)

Must-Try Prompt

This prompt can help you generate interactive content ideas (calculators, assessments, quizzes, etc.) optimized for your target keywords.

Start by asking Claude for a list of your top 10 target keywords, along with the associated searcher intent for each one (informational, transactional, etc.)

For example:

"Please provide a list of 10 of my top target keywords, along with the searcher intent type for each one - informational, transactional, or navigational."

Next, prompt Claude to suggest 3 unique interactive content formats suited to each keyword and intent type. For informational keywords, it may suggest assessments or quizzes. For transactional ones, a calculator or configurator may work better.

For example:

"For the keyword 'content marketing strategy', which has informational searcher intent, what are 3 types of interactive content formats I could create that would provide value to users interested in learning more about this topic?"

Doing this provides a customized list of interactive content ideas perfectly matched to the keywords you want to target. These content formats are some of the best link-building assets out there.

SEO + AI Tool

This week our boring spotlight is on MarketMuse.

MarketMuse is an AI-powered SEO and content analytics platform designed to help identify content gaps, improve optimization, and uncover new opportunities.

It analyzes your existing content and competitors' content using natural language processing and machine learning technology.

Key features include:

• Content gap analysis against top-ranking competitors
• Recommendations to optimize on-page elements like titles, metadata, etc.
• Identification of underperforming content that needs refreshing
• Topic research tools and keyword grouping
• Predictive keyword difficulty scoring

Do check the tool out if you are looking to improve your content and SEO game.

Director's Cut

​Sanjay Shenoy is a partner at Boringmarketing.com and the Director of Search. He’s been in SEO for 14 years and has trained over 1000 students in the latest organic search strategies. Every week, he’ll share answers to the most common questions we receive:

Q: How do you prioritize SEO tasks?

A: SEO tasks may seem overwhelming and never-ending. So it’s important to prioritize them.

I use Pareto's principle for this, which states that—80% of your SEO results are driven by 20% of SEO tasks.

And vice-versa—80% of your SEO tasks only drive 20% of the results.

For example:

• 20% of keywords drive 80% of traffic.
• 20% of pages attract 80% of links.
• 20% of factors impact 80% of rankings.
• 20% of backlinks are responsible for 80% of rankings impact.

And, in your SEO efforts, 80% of your results will likely come from just 20% of the work.

The key is identifying and prioritizing that vital 20%.

1st priority - 20% of SEO tasks that drive 80% of results

2nd priority - 80% of SEO tasks that drive 20% of results (these are still important)

This way:

• you save time
• get quicker results
• stop wasting resources
• get the maximum ROI

Have you observed the Pareto Principle apply in your own SEO efforts?

What other questions would you like me to answer? Hit reply & send all your questions my way.

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