The Go-To Guidebook

 

Hey guys, welcome to Lesson 3 of Module 2. In the last lesson you learned all about The Trademark Technique. And this lesson, lesson 3, I’m going to show you how to create one of the most powerful Content Frameworks in my arsenal: The Go-To Guidebook. So what is the Go-To Guidebook? 

A Go-To Guidebook is a guide that contains just about everything someone needs to know about a specific topic. So instead of having to hop between 87 different posts, someone can learn an entire topic from your Go-To Guidebook. And that’s what makes this Power Page so valuable: it’s one-stop shopping. 

OK, so you’re probably not exactly sure what a Go-To Guidebook looks like. So let me show you a real life example. Like all Go-To Guidebooks, my Go-To Guidebook is a big ol’ guide that covers ONE specific topic (in this case, keyword research). And because it’s set up strategically using the step-by-step process I’ll walk you through in this lesson, it’s been a massive success. For example, the page ranks in the top 5 in Google for my target keyword. Now in case you’re wondering, yes my guide has a nice design. But that’s completely optional. For example, I also published this Go-to Guidebook at around the same time. As you can see, no fancy design. And this Power Page also did super well. Now that you’ve seen how well Go-To Guidebooks can work, let me walk you through the steps. 

Your first step is to choose a topic for your Go-To Guidebook. But not just any topic. A topic that your Linkreators already tend to share and link to. Fortunately, you already have a list of these topics in the worksheet you filled out from Module 1. 

So how do you choose a topic from the list for your Go-To Guidebook? Well, it’s simple actually: your topic needs to be the right topic “size”. Not super broad. But not too specific either. Basically, you want a topic that you can easily break down into 7-10 subtopics. Why? 

Well, if your topic is too broad, you won’t be able to cover everything in only 10 subtopics. And it’s too narrow, it’ll be impossible to divide that topic into 7+ subtopics. For example, let’s say you had a fitness blog. A topic like “How to lose weight” is way too broad. You simply can’t cover something that massive in 7-10 subtopics. On the other hand, “How to lose your love handles” is too narrow. 

There isn’t enough material there to divide it up into 7+ subtopics. Topics like “How to burn fat” or “How to gain muscle” are in the sweet spot.For example, this go-to guidebook about keyword research is just the right “size”. In this case, I realized that topics like “content marketing” or “SEO” were WAY too broad for a Go-To Guidebook. 

I also threw out topics like keyword research tools because it was too narrow. So I decided to go with keyword research because I could cover it with 7-10 subtopics. Now it’s time to break your topic down into 7-10 subtopics. 

These subtopics will be the chapters for your Go-To Guidebook (more on that later). Here’s an easy way to break your topic down into subtopics. Pretend that you just signed a contract to write a book on your topic. And the first thing your publisher asks for is a table of contents for the book. 

What topics would you cover? What chapters would absolutely have to be there? If you’re not 100% sure what to include, no worries. Just write down a bunch of sub topics that make up your larger topic. Then trim down any that don’t seem like a good fit. They don’t have to be perfect for your Go-To Guidebook to work. For example, let’s say you were going to create a “How to burn fat” Go-to Guidebook.

You could break that topic down into subtopics like low glycemic index foods, fat burning foods, interval training, strength training, metabolism boosters, motivation and goal setting. Another example, my Link building guide. I broke my guide down into these subtopics.

Link Building Fundamentals, Find High-Quality Links, Content Marketing, Email Outreach, Black Hat Links, Link Building Strategies, New Case Studies, and Advanced Link Building. Step 3 is to turn your subtopics into benefit-rich chapter titles. OK, so you have your Go-To Guidebook topic and a list of 7-10 subtopics. 

Now it’s time to really crank up the Utility Share Trigger. How? By turning bland subtopic names into benefit-rich chapter titles. I’ll explain. The underlying reason people read content is because it makes their lives better in some way. A set of bench press tips helps the bodybuilder add more weight to the bar. The case study helps the blogger build their email list. 

You get the idea. But here’s the secret that no one talks about. When you make the benefit of your content clear, it has MUCH higher perceived value. In other words, to maximize your utility, your content has to be useful. But you also need to SHOW people that it’s useful. And that’s where this step comes into play. Instead of tossing bland subtopics into your Go-To Guidebook, you turn these subtopics into benefit-rich chapter titles. 

So instead of a boring subtopic like “Interval training 101”, you turn it into an outcome your reader wants to get like: “How to Quickly Burn Fat With Interval Training”. See how much more valuable that chapter sounds? Well guess what. It sounds more valuable to your Linkreators too. 

Which makes them more likely to link to your content. For example, in my link building go-to guidebook “Content marketing” became “How to Get World-Class Links With Content Marketing”, “Email outreach” became “How to Build Powerful Links With Email Outreach”. Quick note. You don’t need to turn 100% of your subtopics into benefit-rich chapters. 

For example, Chapter 5 in my link building guide is “The Skinny On Black Hat Link Building (and Google Penalties)”. There wasn’t a way to make it benefit-oriented so I just left it as it was. Now that your topic and subtopics are good to go, it’s time to create your Go-to Guidebook.

Let’s break this down, starting from the top. First, your Go-To Guidebook needs a title. Because your Go-To Guidebook puts so much great content in one place, you want to position it as a “definitive” or “ultimate” guide. For example, with my link building Go-To Guidebook, I just called it: “Link Building for SEO: The

Definitive Guide”. Next you want a custom-designed banner or graphic to go between your title and intro. You may have noticed that I had a custom page designed for my link building guide. That’s nice to have, but 100% not required. A custom page like that is a serious project that requires a designer, developer and a bunch of time and energy. A faster and cheaper way to get a similar effect is to create a custom banner for the top of your post. 

This isn’t for a Go-To Guidebook, but the banner I made for my Google Ranking Factors post is what you’re looking for. Just a simple design that includes the name of your guide. Next, it’s time for your intro. Your intro just needs to let people know that they’ve landed on an ultimate guide. 

And list a few things that you plan to cover in your guide. Here’s an example from one of my go-to guidebooks.

Next, you want a table of contents. This makes your content look more like a “book”, which boosts its perceived value. All you need to do here is list out all of the chapters in your guide. And after you list out each chapter in your table of contents, add “page jump” links. These “page jump” links will take people directly to each chapter. I have more info on setting these up in the worksheet. 

Now you might be wondering: what chapters should I put where? Here’s exactly how I recommend organizing your chapters. At the beginning you have basic and introductory topics. In middle detailed and advanced topics and at the end you have short case studies, tutorials, pro tips etc. For example, let’s take another look at my link building guide. 

The beginning of the guide starts with basic subtopics like “Link Building Fundamentals” and “Content marketing”. Then it covers more in-depth subtopics like “email outreach” and “link building strategies”. I end the guide with a few very short case studies and a list of tips. 

At this point, your Go-To Guidebook structure is all set up. You have a title, introduction and list of chapters. Now it’s time to fill in each chapter with content. Here’s how. First, write a short (30-90) word intro for the chapter. This intro should BRIEFLY describe why this subtopic is important. For example, here’s the intro from chapter 4 of my guide. Short and sweet. 

Then, it’s time for the meat of each chapter. Here’s where you briefly describe 3-5 things someone needs to know about that subtopic. You can almost treat each chapter like a mini list post. Now the 4-5 things that you describe can be important pieces of information, a handful of strategies, or a list of tips (it depends on the chapter). 

For example, chapter 1 of my link building go-to guidebook is designed to help people understand the basics of link building. So I cover 3 very basic points like the fact that links still matter, why Google uses links in their algorithm, and a brief history of PageRank. Then, in chapter 3, now that the reader knows the basics, I list out 4 strategies for creating content that tends to work well for link building. And in chapter 7, I included 4 mini case studies. Finally, it’s time for your conclusion.

All you need to do here is ask people to comment. Specifically, ask your readers if they have a questions or if there’s something that they feel is missing. Here’s an example from one of our go-to guidebooks. And with that, you’re all set. 

Once you have a Go-To Guidebook set up on your site, you have an evergreen resource that people will share and link to again and again. So I’m sure you know what time it is. That’s right: it’s worksheet time. So download the worksheet so you can create your own Go-To Guidebook. And that’s it for this lesson, I’ll see you in the next one.