{"id":5301,"date":"2022-07-28T10:49:27","date_gmt":"2022-07-28T10:49:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2022\/07\/28\/8-steps-to-a-successful-entity-first-strategy-for-seo-and-content\/"},"modified":"2022-07-28T10:49:27","modified_gmt":"2022-07-28T10:49:27","slug":"8-steps-to-a-successful-entity-first-strategy-for-seo-and-content","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2022\/07\/28\/8-steps-to-a-successful-entity-first-strategy-for-seo-and-content\/","title":{"rendered":"8 steps to a successful entity-first strategy for SEO and content"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/entity-search-is-your-competitive-advantage-385705\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Entity search<\/a> can be a massive competitive advantage. But you first need to build your entity-based strategy.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This article will cover how to create a robust entity-first strategy to help our content and SEO efforts.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_81 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2022\/07\/28\/8-steps-to-a-successful-entity-first-strategy-for-seo-and-content\/#Most_common_challenges_search_and_content_marketers_face\" >Most common challenges search and content marketers face<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2022\/07\/28\/8-steps-to-a-successful-entity-first-strategy-for-seo-and-content\/#Aligning_strategies_with_search_engines\" >Aligning strategies with search engines\u00a0<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2022\/07\/28\/8-steps-to-a-successful-entity-first-strategy-for-seo-and-content\/#A_convergence_of_technology_and_content\" >A convergence of technology and content<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2022\/07\/28\/8-steps-to-a-successful-entity-first-strategy-for-seo-and-content\/#8_steps_to_developing_an_entity-first_strategy\" >8 steps to developing an entity-first strategy\u00a0<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2022\/07\/28\/8-steps-to-a-successful-entity-first-strategy-for-seo-and-content\/#1_Identified_schema_vocabulary\" >1. Identified schema vocabulary\u00a0<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2022\/07\/28\/8-steps-to-a-successful-entity-first-strategy-for-seo-and-content\/#2_Determined_the_schema_gaps\" >2. Determined the schema gaps\u00a0<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2022\/07\/28\/8-steps-to-a-successful-entity-first-strategy-for-seo-and-content\/#3_Mapping_schema\" >3. Mapping schema\u00a0<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2022\/07\/28\/8-steps-to-a-successful-entity-first-strategy-for-seo-and-content\/#4_Market_opportunity_and_potential_sizing\" >4. Market opportunity and potential sizing\u00a0<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2022\/07\/28\/8-steps-to-a-successful-entity-first-strategy-for-seo-and-content\/#5_Map_topic_gaps\" >5. Map topic gaps\u00a0<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2022\/07\/28\/8-steps-to-a-successful-entity-first-strategy-for-seo-and-content\/#6_Identify_Content_Opportunities\" >6. Identify Content Opportunities<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-11\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2022\/07\/28\/8-steps-to-a-successful-entity-first-strategy-for-seo-and-content\/#7_Content_enhancement\" >7. Content enhancement\u00a0<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-12\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2022\/07\/28\/8-steps-to-a-successful-entity-first-strategy-for-seo-and-content\/#8_Create_better_than_the_best_website_page\" >8. Create better than the best website page\u00a0<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-13\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2022\/07\/28\/8-steps-to-a-successful-entity-first-strategy-for-seo-and-content\/#Measuring_entity_strategy_Impact\" >Measuring entity strategy Impact<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-14\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2022\/07\/28\/8-steps-to-a-successful-entity-first-strategy-for-seo-and-content\/#Key_takeaways\" >Key takeaways<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Most_common_challenges_search_and_content_marketers_face\"><\/span>Most common challenges search and content marketers face<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Relevant, topical content, discovery based on customer intent is still the biggest challenge we face as search marketers.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Content relevancy, in my mind, means the content is personalized, must tell a story, should be scannable, readable, provides images, and the layout can be consumed on any device.<\/p>\n<p>Here are five outcomes we aim to accomplish with content:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Discovery:<\/strong> Ensure content is discoverable and available across various customer touchpoints.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li><strong>Relevancy<\/strong>: Ensure content meets all the searchers\u2019 needs and contains all topics and sub-topics that a searcher cares about, is easy to read and understand and tells a story.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Measurability:<\/strong> Content aligned with overall SEO strategy and is scalable and measurable.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Experience: <\/strong>Content delivers a great user experience and is scannable.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Engagement: <\/strong>Helps drives engagement and guides the visitors to the desired goals \u2013 sign-ups, purchases, form fills, calls, etc.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The most common struggle we all face is determining what type of content to create or add.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Aligning_strategies_with_search_engines\"><\/span>Aligning strategies with search engines\u00a0<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Search engines are evolving and content marketing strategies need to align across all verticals from popularity and quality to the intent behind the query and the overall page experience.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Search engine priorities, results, algorithms and needs have evolved over time.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2022\/07\/Evolution-of-Search-Engines-and-Impact-800x400.jpg\" alt=\"| Craig Hordlow\" class=\"wp-image-386776\" title=\"| Craig Hordlow\"><figcaption><em>Evolution of search engines and impact<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>As users search on screenless devices and spoken queries increase, search engines use artificial intelligence and machine learning to try and replicate how humans think, act and react.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Search engines must decode a sentence (or paragraph) long query and serve results that best match it. This is where entities come in.<\/p>\n<p>Entities are things search engines can understand without any ambiguity independent of language. Even when a website has a wealth of content, search engines need to understand the context behind it, identify the entities within the content, draw connections between them and map them to the query of the searcher. <\/p>\n<p>Deploying schemas and marking up the entities within your content gives search engines the context and helps them understand your content better.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"A_convergence_of_technology_and_content\"><\/span>A convergence of technology and content<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Content, where entities are not marked with schemas, tends to underperform. <\/p>\n<p>Similarly, deploying schemas on content that does not contain all the relevant entities or does not provide all the information will also not have maximum impact.<\/p>\n<p>Entity optimization uses advanced nested schemas deployed on content that meets the searchers\u2019 needs and contains all the relevant topics and entities.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s use a live project as an example and show what we accomplished for one of our clients.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"8_steps_to_developing_an_entity-first_strategy\"><\/span>8 steps to developing an entity-first strategy\u00a0<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>We deployed the eight steps given below as an entity-first-strategy for one of our client in the health care vertical to help them get the best topical coverage and visibility. We started by identifying the most relevant schema in their industry followed by determining the gaps within their content for both schema and entities.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"318\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2022\/07\/8-Steps-For-Entity-First-Strategy-800x318.jpg\" alt=\"| Craig Hordlow\" class=\"wp-image-386777\" title=\"| Craig Hordlow\"><figcaption><em>Eight steps for an entity-first strategy<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"1_Identified_schema_vocabulary\"><\/span>1. Identified schema vocabulary\u00a0<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>\u00a0We created a list of all applicable schemas in the healthcare industry.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"2_Determined_the_schema_gaps\"><\/span>2. Determined the schema gaps\u00a0<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>We identified the schema gaps by comparing the current site content against the applicable schemas.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"3_Mapping_schema\"><\/span>3. Mapping schema\u00a0<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Once we identified the schema gaps, we identified the most relevant pages to deploy the unused schemas.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"4_Market_opportunity_and_potential_sizing\"><\/span>4. Market opportunity and potential sizing\u00a0<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>We used in-depth keyword research and analysis of current content performance. <\/p>\n<p>Map content based on informational, navigational and transactional content. <\/p>\n<p>It is critical to see how your current branded and non-branded content is performing and what your focus should be based on business goals.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"366\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2022\/07\/Market-Opportunity-Potential-Sizing-800x366.jpg\" alt=\"| Craig Hordlow\" class=\"wp-image-386780\" title=\"| Craig Hordlow\"><figcaption><em>Market opportunity and potential sizing<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>We identified the pages that could see the most impact and potential from topic, entity, and schema optimization.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"5_Map_topic_gaps\"><\/span>5. Map topic gaps\u00a0<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Once we identified the best potential pages, we cross-referenced the gaps in the content by analyzing the topics and entities covered by other ranking websites.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"6_Identify_Content_Opportunities\"><\/span>6. Identify Content Opportunities<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>We enhanced the page architecture by adding relevant content elements, such as images, headings and lists.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"182\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2022\/07\/Page-layout-showing-schema-and-content-opportunities-182x600.jpg\" alt=\"| Craig Hordlow\" class=\"wp-image-386781\" title=\"| Craig Hordlow\"><figcaption><em>\u00a0Page layout showing schema and content opportunities\u00a0<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Topic\/entity gaps covered<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>care plan<\/li>\n<li>Treatment<\/li>\n<li>Treatment center<\/li>\n<li>ABA services<\/li>\n<li>Behavior technician<\/li>\n<li>Autism spectrum disorder<\/li>\n<li>BCBA<\/li>\n<li>ABA therapist<\/li>\n<li>ABA services<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Schema gaps covered<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Medical organization<\/li>\n<li>SiteNavigationElement<\/li>\n<li>Medical clinic<\/li>\n<li>availableService<\/li>\n<li>hasmap<\/li>\n<li>FAQ<\/li>\n<li>ItemList<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"7_Content_enhancement\"><\/span>7. Content enhancement\u00a0<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Optimized the content by incorporating missing topics and entities<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"8_Create_better_than_the_best_website_page\"><\/span>8. Create better than the best website page\u00a0<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>We then created the perfect in-depth page, rich with relevant topics the target audience is searching for.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Measuring_entity_strategy_Impact\"><\/span>Measuring entity strategy Impact<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>When we measured the impact of adding entities and schema into our strategy for this healthcare company, we saw a 66% lift in visibility and inclusions in rich results.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"254\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2022\/07\/Overall-Impact-of-new-page-800x254.jpg\" alt=\"| Craig Hordlow\" class=\"wp-image-386778\" title=\"| Craig Hordlow\"><figcaption><em>Overall impact of new page.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>While the above image is just one example of the impact entities and schema can have, you can see below how many different industries benefit by deploying schema and entity coverage.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"381\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2022\/07\/Impact-of-Schema-800x381.jpg\" alt=\"| Craig Hordlow\" class=\"wp-image-386779\" title=\"| Craig Hordlow\"><figcaption><em>Impact of schemas across various industries.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Key_takeaways\"><\/span>Key takeaways<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Creating content is more than writing. It is robust when you add in all the elements from design, development, topical entity coverage and schema. All these elements need to align to give optimum results.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Keeping organization in mind, cluster pages of relevant content and connect them through pillar pages, ensuring to take advantage of the interlinking opportunities. <\/p>\n<p>Treat each page as the main category page with several relevant pages linked. Adding interlinking helps in discovery and relevancy.<\/p>\n<p>Once you have an entity-first strategy for content, you need to think about how to scale the process of:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Understanding the entity.<\/li>\n<li>Tagging schema.<\/li>\n<li>Pruning broken links or errors as they come.<\/li>\n<li>Continuing to add more meaningful content. \u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2022\/07\/Entity-Optimization-Frameworks-Large-Enterprise-Sites.jpg\" alt=\"| Craig Hordlow\" class=\"wp-image-386782\" width=\"742\" height=\"568\" title=\"| Craig Hordlow\"><figcaption><em>Entity optimization frameworks for large enterprise sites\u00a0<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In my next article, we will explore how you can deploy, measure and report performance, enhance where needed and scale your entity-first strategy.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/entity-first-strategy-seo-content-386775\" target=\"_blank\">8 steps to a successful entity-first strategy for SEO and content<\/a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Search Engine Land<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Entity search can be a massive competitive advantage. But you first need to build your entity-based strategy.\u00a0 This article will cover how to create a robust entity-first strategy to help our content and SEO efforts. Most common challenges search and content marketers face Relevant, topical content, discovery based on customer intent is still the biggest challenge we face as search marketers.\u00a0 Content relevancy, in my mind, means the content is personalized, must tell a story, should be scannable, readable, provides images, and the layout can be [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"h5ap_radio_sources":[],"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-best-seo-blogs"],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":false,"author_link":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/author\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5301\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}