In the wild-west days of online marketing (this was the early aughts), all you needed to succeed was the right keyword and an army of people willing to type things around it. In some cases, the content you created could be almost nonsense, and your pages would still perform well in SERPs if you crammed in enough of the right keywords.

Most home improvement firms know that’s not going to cut it anymore. But how do you get from keywords to home improvement content marketing that performs? Start by following these three steps:

1. Decide What the Intent Is

Keywords don’t stand alone anymore. You must categorize them by intent to match the type of content someone is searching for.

Consider the keyword “window repair tips.” The intent of this search is likely to find DIY tips and not immediately to find a window installation company. Shoving the phrase “window repair tips” into your landing page for installation services means the searcher arrives on a page that doesn’t serve their intent. It also makes it likely that Google will give your page a thumbs down as far as page ranking.

During keyword research, create a list of phrases you want to target. Then, divide those phrases into groups of intents. Some examples might be:

• People searching for knowledge about certain topics
• People searching for recommendations on products
• People ready to connect with a home improvement professional and get a quote

2. Ideate Topics Around Intent

Once you have categories and lists, start brainstorming topics. Remember that it’s important to have content for all stages of the sales funnel and not just for those who are ready to buy right now.

If you’re a window installation business, for example, you might still target keywords such as “window repair tips,” even if the searcher intent isn’t an immediate purchase.

Some of those people seeking DIY tips will figure out the job is too big and turn to a pro to replace their windows. You could create blog posts with legitimate DIY tips or offer advice on how to tell when it’s better to replace the windows than repair them, for example.

3. Create Quality Content

Choose the best ideas and create high-quality, relevant content. The goal is to publish content that persuades people to click through to read more or share with others. You do that by answering the searcher intent and providing something of actual value.