One of the best SEO tricks that no one talks about

Hi - Mirco from Content Push here.

Do you know this problem?

You have done a thorough keyword research and now created a Google Sheet full of phrases for your niche:

But then you scratch your head and ask yourself:

When should I write separate articles for each keyword and when should I include them all in one big article?

You are not alone.

In fact, this topic is a headache for most people that start with SEO.

But there is a simple solution.

I call it the SOP formula - and today I'll explain how it works.

Let's right dive in.

Use this trick to master keyword targeting

What is the SOP formula? SOP stands for SERP Overlapping Percentage. It shows you the overlapping rate for different keywords.

It sounds complicated, but it's quite simple.

Let's assume you have researched three relevant keyword phrases that belong together:

• Keyword 1: How to clean my bike

• Keyword 2: How to clean my bike chain

• Keyword 3: How to clean my bike gears

Should you now include the instructions for how to clean a bike chain and gears in a big guide How to clean my bike?

Or write separate blog posts for each keyword?

Here’s how to find out:

1. Enter all search terms into Google Search
2. Analyse the rankings on how they overlap

Do the search result pages look the same? Or do different websites rank?

If the SERPs look the same: the SOP is 100%. They overlap completely.

In this case, you can put all relevant keywords into one full depth article.

If not, you have to do the math.

How many of the pages that rank for keyword 1 also rank for the other keywords? 80%? Half? None at all?

⚡️ Rule of thumb: With an SOP of 50+ percent, it makes sense to combine the keywords in one large article. If the SOP is less than 30%, I would recommend writing individual articles.

Here’s an example:

The search engine results pages (SERP) for the first two keywords aren't overlapping at all. Thus, you should create separate articles for each keyword.

The SERP for the third keyword overlaps with the first two and shows rankings for all three keywords. But not much. The SOP is below 30%.

Note:

In the third example, 57% of the rankings are blog posts about how to clean your bike gears.

So I’d suggest to publish a dedicated blog post for this as well.

This means:

• 1 article for how to clean my bike

• 1 article for how to clean my bike chain

• 1 article for how to clean my bike gears

• Link every article with each other

• Cover those subtopics in your pillar guide on how to clean my bike, but link to the deep dive guides accordingly

Some related topics need dedicated blog posts

This may seem paradoxical, but there is a simple reason for it:

A user wants the answer to his question as quickly as possible.

Nobody wants to scroll through endless articles to find the necessary information.

You may ask yourself how you get your bike chain clean - you don't care how to get your gears, brakes or handlebars clean.

Hence, it is reasonable to generate several distinct articles regarding a set of keywords and link them together.

This way the user experience is significantly improved compared to reading a single lengthy article.

However, you have to check this ALWAYS for every keyword.

But you know, how to do it. ;)

That's all for this week. Thanks for reading. 🙏

See you next time!

Mirco

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