The topics that bring the right people are the decisions your customers make before, during and after buying from you, written in their words. You already have most of them: in your inbox, in sales calls, in the three questions every new customer asks. The keyword tool comes afterwards, to check that people search for them. It does not come first.
The questions across the counter
I call the raw material 'the questions across the counter': what people ask you in the shop, on the phone, in the contact form, and in the forum thread they opened because your answer did not convince them. Those questions are better than any keyword export for one reason. You can answer them, because you answer them every week.
The rule: a topic is a decision, and every decision your customer makes is a topic candidate. So the list is short. Most businesses end up with ten to twenty topics, and each one has four to eight questions behind it. If you have two hundred, you have keywords, and you skipped the grouping.
| Where to look | What it gives you | Espresso example |
|---|---|---|
| Your inbox and contact form | The questions people ask before they buy | "Will a 15-bar machine make better espresso than a 9-bar one?" |
| Sales calls, the shop counter | The doubt that stops the sale | "Do I really need a separate grinder?" |
| Support tickets and returns | The problems after the sale | "Water is leaking from the bottom of the machine" |
| Reddit, forums, Facebook groups | The same questions in the customer's own words, plus the ones they did not dare ask you | "Is a dual boiler worth it for one person?" |
| Competitors' money pages | Where the money is in the niche: comparisons, "best under 500" roundups | "Best espresso machine under 500" |
| Google autocomplete, People also ask | The phrasing people type | "espresso machine vs pod machine" |
Ten questions, four topics. From one espresso shop's inbox and a forum thread: which machine under 500, pod machine or real espresso, 15 bar or 9 bar, do I need a PID, single or dual boiler, is a used machine worth it, grinder or machine first, why is my espresso sour, how often to descale, water is leaking. Group them by decision: six belong to "choosing a home espresso machine", one to "choosing a grinder", one to "making better espresso", two to "maintaining it". Four topics. The first one already has six of its pages named, and every question in it comes from someone about to spend money.
Worked example: from counter questions to a topic list
Step by step
- Write down every question you were asked in the last month. Inbox, phone, counter, DMs. Do not tidy the wording yet. The wording is the point.
- Add the questions from one forum thread or subreddit in your niche. Those are the people your answer did not reach, in the words they actually use.
- Group the questions by the decision behind them. "Which machine", "which grinder", "why does it taste wrong", "how do I keep it running". Each group is a topic candidate.
- Cross out the groups that do not touch what you sell. Distance to money decides. A topic with great questions and no path to your offer waits.
- Stop at ten to twenty topics. More than that and you are looking at themes, not topics. Split the big ones later, when you build the map.
- Only now open the keyword tool. The next page is what to do there, and what to ignore.
When you need this, and when you don't
You need this at the start, and again about once a quarter, because the questions across the counter change when your products change. An hour with your inbox is enough each time.
You don't need to do it from scratch if you already talk to customers all day and could write the list from memory. Write it from memory, then check it against one forum thread. The thread usually adds the two questions you stopped noticing years ago.
Next
- Next page: Keyword research as a demand check. What the tool is for once the topic list exists.
- The topic list is where SitePerfector starts too. It builds one from your site and your market, then vets up to 1,500 keyword ideas against it: Content strategy.