One difficult thing to do when writing articles for your website is remembering that a real person will actually search for what you're writing about. It's really easy to get caught up in "running a business", trying to get traffic, and making money.

A big mindset shift I've been working on lately is really thinking about what people search for online, and how to integrate that into my articles. I may have a great idea for something to publish, but how do I phrase it so that it's "searchable".

A Good Example of What Not To Do

A lot of people want to do self help websites, and that's great. Self Help is a huge industry, and you can make a lot of money promoting self help products. Just look at Tony Robbins. Rich AF, right?

However, what I see a lot of self help affiliate marketers doing is publishing stuff like, "How to live a happy life", or "How to be successful". Very general stuff.

Does someone go to Google and type, "How to be successful?" Probably not. It's too general. A CEO of a fortune 500 company may need to earn a billion dollars before he thinks he's successful. A kid just graduating college might just want a prestigious job he's been dreaming about. A work at home mom might want a popular Etsy store. Someone else might be fixated on a green Lambo.

Every idea of success is different.

Every idea of happiness is different.

Instead, I like to break down those ideas (which are great starting points) into more searchable topics. I don't always let keyword statistics dictate what I write, but I definitely have my keyword research tool open while brainstorming these topics to see which phrases are more searched, so I can prioritize what I write.

Let's say someone wants to buy a green Lambo. Would they search for "how to get a Lambroghini?". Probably not. More likely they're going to search for something like "how much does a 2020 Lambo cost?"

OK, those cost about $200,000. What's the next search. Maybe something like, "Which jobs pay $200,000 per year?". Or maybe they are smart and think about car upkeep, and ask, "How much does gas cost for a Lamborghini per year", or "Do Lamborghinis need special mechanics?".

Do you see the difference between "how to be successful" and "how much does gas cost for a Lamborghini per year"?

You're An Online Shopper Too!

Above I mentioned that it's easy to get caught up in the business side of things and forget the personal stuff. One easy way to bring yourself back to Earth is to take a look at your own search and consumer habits.

What triggers you to buy something? How many reviews do you look at before you buy? Which links do you click? Which windows do you close? What do you comment on? What do you share?

All those personal actions are great insights into what readers of your own affiliate blog are doing as well.

One thing I discovered this weekend is that you can actually look up your own search history in your Chrome browser.

Google Account Settings > Manage Your Google Account > Data & Personalization > Web & App Activity > Manage Activity

My search term here was "how to display digital art". That's a perfect keyword term to write about. From there, you could do many related articles like:

• top 10 digital art display companies
• how to make a raspberry pi dynamic picture frame
• where to buy rare blockchain art
• .... and more!

Think About What People Are Searching For

The main takeaways from all this is that when you decide to write an article, think about whether or not someone may search that term. It's great to have evergreen resources on your site, and sometimes it's not practical to make those into search terms. However, for your everyday blogging activity, brainstorming how people search for things is very useful IMO.

Have a great week everyone!