Weighted Content Is an Absurdly Easy Way To Build a Blogging Empire
My complete content strategy map
I make a full-time blogging income with weighted content.
You might be wondering, what is weighted content? Well, it’s a system I use to evaluate and categorize my content based on a personal set of SEO factors.
By weighing each factor, I prioritize what content to create and promote to maximize my earnings.
In this blog post, I’ll explain how I use weighted content to make a full-time income from blogging and share the tools I use to do it.
This is my complete weighted content strategy map for building a blogging empire.
What Is Weighted Content?
Weighted content is a way of evaluating and categorizing content based on:
- Potential to rank
- Potential to generate revenue
- Potential to attract backlinks
- Potential to drive traffic
- Potential to establish topical authority
Each factor is assigned a weight based on its importance, and then the content is evaluated based on those weights. This allows me to prioritize what content to create and promote to maximize my earnings.
Next, let’s dive into how to weigh each factor.
The Weight of Ranking Potential
One of the most important factors for weighted content is ranking potential. This is the likelihood that the content will rank well in search engine results pages (SERPs) for specific keywords.
To evaluate the ranking potential of my content, I use tools like RankIQ, Ahrefs, Google Autocomplete, and Google Trends.
These tools allow me to analyze various factors such as keyword difficulty, search volume, and competitor analysis to determine the likelihood that my content will rank highly for specific keywords.
For example, I might use Ahrefs to generate a list of keywords related to my topic and then use both Ahrefs and Rank IQ to evaluate the difficulty of ranking for each keyword.
I also always manually check the SERP for competition.
Mostly, I ask myself, “Has anyone else written a complete article on this specific topic?” I might follow up with, “How good is that article?”
By prioritizing the keywords with the highest potential for ranking, I can optimize my content for the best possible results.
Additionally, I always aim to create high-quality, informative content that answers users’ search queries.
The Weight of Revenue Potential
Revenue potential is another critical factor to consider when creating weighted content.
It’s important to evaluate the amount of money the content can generate through ads, affiliate marketing, or other monetization methods. To evaluate the revenue potential, I first research the market demand for the content.
I might use tools like ChatGPT and Jasper AI to generate ideas for monetization. These AI-powered tools help me brainstorm monetization strategies and generate ideas for sponsored content, product reviews, or affiliate marketing opportunities.
After generating ideas, I evaluate the feasibility of these monetization strategies based on the niche and audience.
For example, if I’m creating content for a fitness niche, I might research affiliate programs for workout gear or supplements. I’ll evaluate the commission rates, the popularity of the products, and the demand for the products within the niche.
I also look at the content I’ve already published to calculate the average amount of money I can expect for similar topics. If you’re on a display ad network like Ezoic, their detailed analytics dashboard makes this very easy.
Once I’ve identified the best monetization strategies, I’ll prioritize the content based on its revenue potential.
The Weight of Backlink Potential
To evaluate the backlink potential of my content, I analyze the backlinks of my competitors.
I use tools like Ahrefs to identify high-authority websites for potential outreach. Ahrefs also now can tell you what topics might get the most backlinks by evaluating your competitor’s content.
To increase the backlink potential of my content, I also focus on creating high-quality, informative content.
I research the niche and identify gaps in the content. Then, I create comprehensive, well-researched content that provides value to my audience.
This type of content is more likely to attract backlinks from other websites and establish my blog as an authority in the niche. To produce this type of content, I sometimes use ChatGPT, DALL-E, and Jasper AI to assist.
By prioritizing content with high backlink potential, I can improve the overall SEO of my blog and attract more traffic. This, in turn, helps me to generate more revenue and establish topical authority within my niche.
The Weight of Traffic Potential
Traffic potential is another important factor.
I evaluate the traffic potential of my content by researching the search volume and demand for the content. I use tools like Google Trends, Ahrefs, RankIQ, and “gut feeling” (based on internalized patterns I’ve picked up over the years) to identify popular topics within my niche and evaluate the potential for social media sharing and viral marketing.
To increase the traffic potential of my content, I also focus on creating attention-grabbing headlines and eye-catching graphics. I use tools like DALL-E, Jasper Art, and Canva to create custom graphics and images that complement my content and make it more shareable on social media.
By prioritizing content with high traffic potential, I can attract more visitors to my blog and increase my overall exposure.
This, in turn, helps me to make more money through display ads and affiliate marketing.
The Weight of Topical Authority
Establishing topical authority in a niche helps build a loyal audience, rank content, and attract high-quality backlinks. To evaluate the topical authority potential of my content, I research the niche and analyze competitor content.
I look for gaps in the content and areas where I can provide more value to my audience.
Tools like Google Autocomplete, Ahrefs, RankIQ, and DeapMarket help me come up with dozens (or hundreds) of related topical article ideas. Using the other weight factors, I can then prioritize what content to write.
By producing content in topic clusters, you improve your SEO, rankings, and — ultimately — your revenue.
Putting It All Together: The Weighted Content Chart
Here’s an example of a table that aggregates all of these weighted factors with a numerical “weight” number to help you prioritize your content:
Note: You certainly don’t need to use the same “weight” percentages as me.
Using this table, you can assign a weight to each factor based on its importance to your blogging strategy.
For example, if your primary goal is to generate revenue, you might assign a higher weight to revenue potential.
Then, for each piece of content, you can evaluate its potential based on each factor and assign a score out of 10. Multiply the score by the weight to get the weighted score for each factor. Finally, add up the weighted scores to get the overall weighted score for the content.
If this all makes your brain hurt, check out the example in the next section.
By using this weighted scoring system, you can prioritize your content based on its potential to rank, generate revenue, attract backlinks, drive traffic, and establish topical authority, helping you to maximize your earnings and build a successful blogging business.
Here’s An Example (In Case Math Terrifies You, Too)
Let’s say you’re a food blogger and you’re trying to decide which recipe to post next. You have two options: a recipe for gluten-free brownies and a recipe for a vegan smoothie bowl.
First, you need to assign a weight to each factor based on its importance to your blogging strategy
For our example, your primary goal is to generate revenue, but you also want to establish topical authority and attract traffic.
Here’s an example of how you might assign weights:
Next, you’ll evaluate each piece of content based on each factor and assign a score out of 10.
Here’s an example of how you might score each recipe:
Then, you’ll multiply the score by the weight to get the weighted score for each factor.
So, 7 x 10% or 8 x 50%.
Here’s an example of how you might calculate the weighted score for each recipe:
Finally, you’ll add up the weighted scores to get the overall weighted score for each recipe.
Here’s an example of how you might calculate the overall weighted score:
Based on this analysis, you might decide to prioritize the gluten-free brownies recipe, since it has a higher overall weighted score.
However, you should also take into account other factors, such as audience preferences and seasonal trends.
I hope this example helps you understand how to use the chart to prioritize your content. By using this weighted scoring system, you can focus on creating and promoting content that has the highest potential to achieve your goals, whether that’s generating revenue, establishing topical authority, or attracting traffic.
Final Thoughts (A Simple Approach)
I know this is a dense subject, conflated by the complexity of calculations.
The good news is that you can simplify this process by focusing on a single niche, using tools like Ahrefs and RankIQ that do most of the evaluating (or weighting) for you, and writing high-quality content.
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