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3-2-1 Friday: Writing great conclusion, creating content for long-tail keywords, and picking keywords for your keyword universe

10 Jun

Welcome to today’s issue of Efikó, a weekly newsletter by me, Dozie Anyaegbunam, focusing on content marketing, writing, social strategy, and living your best life. THANK YOU for being here! I appreciate you!

Hey folks,

How’s everyone doing?

My cough is finally gone. And I can breathe properly.

Asides from that, the week has been great. I started practicing sketching again.

Any thoughts on the image above?

3 Things I learned This Week

i.

Writing conclusions trips a lot of writers up.

Here’s a hack to make it easier to write: Treat your conclusion as an extension of the introduction. 

Before you write the conclusion, go back and read your introduction:

  • What pain points did you bring to the surface?

  • What did you promise the reader they’ll get by the end of the article?

  • What’s your reader’s desired outcome?

The body of your article should answer these questions. Your conclusion should then:

  • Synthesize the main points and pull everything together without repeating anything.

Finally, never start a conclusion with:

  • In conclusion

  • In summary

  • Let’s wrap it up

  • Or, let’s recap

Using these phrases signals your conclusion isn’t worth reading because it doesn’t have anything new.

Insights from Erica Schneider of Grizzle

ii.

Now and then, you’ll need to create content for a long-tail keyword variation of your primary keyword. Here’s a good heuristic for making that call:

  • Do the SERPs return the same results or different results?

If they return the same results, then you’re better off updating the article that contains the primary keyword with the long-tail keyword than creating a new piece of content focused on the long-tail keyword.

iii.

When picking keywords for my keyword universe, I am learning that focusing on your keyword tool means you might miss out on great keywords because of the keyword difficulty score.

Nothing beats digging deeper into what the SERPs for that keyword look like. Here are two things that tell you a keyword is easier than your tool says:

  • Forums or UGC are ranked on the first page. These pages don’t have the usual SEO ranking signals — subheaders, alt text, etc.

  • Authoritative sites or news sites rank on the first page with irrelevant content.

2 Things I am Thinking About

i.

Consistent practice is key to everything. Every highly skilled person has spent hours practicing their craft. That’s the best shortcut.

ii.

Answers are dead-ends. Focus on learning to ask great questions.

1 Book Recommendation

My colleague Amber Rhodes shared this book with me - Bird by Bird: some instructions on writing and life. And it looks a great read.

Content Writing Jobs - June

All the best, folks. Could you please share with any of your friends/colleagues who might find this helpful?

If you would love me to review your writing and give you feedback, you can book a time here. Or just hit the reply button.

Thanks for reading this far. I am grateful!

Be good out there. If you can't be good, be careful

I’ll be back on 6/17.

Dozie

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