They Ask, You Answer, 2nd Edition

9 The Discovery of The Big 5

Within a couple of months after commencing They Ask, You Answer on the River Pools and Spas website, I could see that what we were doing was already making a difference.

By publishing four to five pieces of content each week on our site, it seemed like searchers (those people looking for swimming pools) and search engines like Google were clearly taking notice.

We were getting more web traffic.

Leads started to increase, many of whom were more educated and qualified because of the content they had read and consumed.

Even a few sales were being made.

Although we weren’t breaking the bank, and even though we (and the economy) had a long way to go, there was real progress.

It was exciting.

After about six months of They Ask, You Answer, I took the time to take a deep dive into our web analytics in an effort to pick up on any patterns that may have been occurring. Essentially, I wanted to know what was working, what wasn’t working, and the types of content that were getting the most traction and results.

What I discovered was profound.

Basically, there were five types of content subjects (or types of questions) that seemed to move the needle with readers more than anything else, ultimately rendering the greatest amount of traffic, conversions, leads, and sales. These five subjects were as follows:

• Pricing and costs
• Problems
• Versus and comparisons
• Reviews
• Best in class

At the time, I didn’t realize that these five subjects weren’t at all specific to ...