Independent Leeds
content strategy
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We have analysed enormous volumes of data to create this report, which delivers a content strategy underpinned by data-driven analysis and accompanied by actionable strategy and insights.
The report will re-iterate the agreed project goals, present findings from the data analysed, and outline a detailed three month content strategy for the Independent Leeds website.
The content strategy contains instructive briefs for each content piece, and the accompanying insights provide data and guidance for Independent Leeds to create their own content in future, with steer and further support from Edge45.
The report ends with a summary of our methodology and findings, for use in your internal sales processes.
Actions are outlined in grey boxes like this one.
These boxes will feature mainly in the content calendar section, to offer clear instructions on what you need to do to create the content as recommended.
The key categories for Independent Life content are as follows:
We suggest the following order of priority. This is based on a combination of search volume for key terms and topics; distribution of conversation on Reddit, Quora, and other online discussions; survey feedback; and opportunities for independent-focus content.
There is not much gap between these: shopping and lifestyle is still prominent and important, but there are fewer opportunities to showcase independent shops than restaurants, for example.
A breakdown of most searched terms and phrases will be included for each.
Keywords will be formatted like this: keyword monthly search volume
Stated monthly search volume figures are the minimum expected search volume for target terms and topics.
For breakdowns of most searched terms, similar terms are collated to give an overall indication of search volume for a topic. "Japanese food" for example contains "Japanese food Leeds", "Japanese restaurant Leeds", and so on.
Keyword data has been manually sifted through to ensure similar but irrelevant searches do not influence recommendations. "Vue cinema Leeds" and related terms were removed, for example.
For each category we have provided the following
As well as some bespoke inclusions to tie into points discussed in the brief.
Think of the insights in the following sections as gold nuggets, painstakingly sifted from a vast bedrock of data.
The insights have been baked into the content strategy, and are what set generic content apart from great content.
Some keyword insights and resulting content suggestions revolve around businesses and entities which do not necessarily fit the vibe of Independent Life.
This is intentional, and a way to piggyback off of their high search volume. They are not given precedence in the content, instead acting as hooks to promote independent businesses.
A 5 year upward trend shows increasing volume for this term. Peppering the term into any articles about food (where relevant) will tap into this search volume.
Another 5 year upward trend: gin is a great example of a drink which suddenly became very trendy. This is the exact type of curve Independent Leeds will be ahead of going forward.
The Maven, Hedonist, Botanist
Another example of a trendy drink to be peppered into food and drink pieces. The trend is not quite as strong as gin, but still higher than previous.
The Maven, Hedonist, Botanist
Though this peaked in popularity last September, it is still a term with overall increased search volume, and a dish which is popular in Yorkshire street food circles.
The Yorkshire Wrap Company in Kirkgate Market
A 5 year upward climb paints this as a popular activity. While there are no dedicated board game cafes in Leeds, many cafes have games available: enough so to be the focus of targeted content pieces.
Hyde Park Book Club, Belgrave Music Hall retro games night
This activity has seen a steady rise in popularity over recent years, and there is a lot of overlap between IL readership and climbing demographics.
The Depot, The Lab, City Blok
This is a huge trend, although at the moment Independent Leeds is not positioned to take advantage of it because there are no independent escape rooms in the city. We will monitor developments.
This is another rising trend, and one Independent Leeds is more able to engage with.
Shuffledog, Brew Dog North Street
Vinyl has been increasing in popularity again over recent years, and aligns strongly with IL demographics. There are several independent places in town to buy.
Jumbo, Crash
You requested information on the best ways to keep track of local news; we recommend these methods:
The best way to create effective current affairs content is to be vigilant and responsive: if you continue to work with Edge45 we can assist with this monitoring, and make timely recommendations for responsive content where we feel it is relevant.
As it stands, it is hard to make recommendations on current affairs articles beyond the above at this time.
This category showcases the city's goings-on. Content must be current, accurate, and compelling to provide value to visitors.
To maximise effectiveness this content must tap into real search behaviours used by people searching for things to do.
This section explores the way people search for things rather than the events themselves. These are addressed in the Entertainment and Culture section.
Understanding modern search behaviour is vital to effective content creation. Responding to this trend allows content to flourish.
Content spotlighting various suburbs of Leeds has been incorporated into the strategy to tap into this trend.
We note a climb around November / December, with the first peak in January / February, then good search volume for much of the year.
A wave of content at the start of the year targeting 2019 terms is advised.
We see peaks in October and late January / early February each year.
These peaks are smaller than what we see with some other terms, but the relatively high search volume at these times could boost content.
A predictable annual spike which can be leveraged with some targeted content.
The content suggestions are in line with the Independent Life ethos, best summarised by the word authenticity, and the desire to articulate intersections. The authenticity of independent voices rather than the contrived agendas pushed by other publications; the intersections between different voices and people - cultures, economic levels, and so on. A city is oil and water: IL aims to mix them, rather than keep them separated.
This is a combination of Edge45 generated ideas, existing Independent Leeds features, and hybrids of the two.
An ongoing consideration has been to keep content suggestions true to the Independent Life ethos while still factoring in analytic and data-driven considerations.
Each week contains five content titles.
Suggestions are given in briefs for creation of each piece, alongside SEO recommendations and analytic underpinning.
The first three weeks of briefs are given in this report, with the remainder to follow as Word Documents.
Where target keywords are given, the goal is not to use all keyword phrases verbatim within the content.
The target keywords illustrate common related searches, and natural use of the constituent words will be enough to mark the content as relevant to Google.
Roast dinner Leeds 1k - 10k
Christmas meal Leeds 100 - 1k
Christmas dinner Leeds 100 - 1k
Christmas menu Leeds 100 - 1k
Christmas lunch Leeds 100 - 1k
Pubs open on Christmas day Leeds 10 - 100
This piece targets seasonal, question based queries.
The introduction should cover feature keyword terms phrased as a question: "looking for the best Christmas dinner in Leeds? Here are our top recommendations."
The emphasis should be either cosy fireside pubs (Whitelocks, etc) and less traditional independents like Bundobust who offer set menus.
Write 80 - 100 words about each location, with 5 featured. Intro / outro should each be ~100 words.
Use the outro to tie off questions about pubs opening on Christmas day. "Oh, and here are three pubs open on Christmas day, for that traditional pre-dinner ale".
Use question led title for social posts: "looking for the best Christmas dinner in Leeds?"
Use @mentions on social to include all establishments mentioned.
Use Christmas hashtags #Christmas #tistheseason and so on.
A map featured snippet shows three pubs in the city, all of which are tangential to IL's ethos.
Given the short time before Christmas, it is unlikely we'll be able to make a dent on this featured snippet.
Things to do in Leeds 10k - 100k
Best restaurant in Leeds 1k - 10k
Best bars in Leeds 1k - 10k
Leeds gigs 100 - 1k
Best pubs in Leeds 100 - 1k
Best cafes in Leeds 100 - 1k
This piece should primarily showcase the human side of IL, and not emphasise too much on keywords. Alluding to the keywords above in your round-up should be enough.
The IL staff should highlight their standout places in Leeds for 2018: a bar, a restaurant, a cafe, a pub, and so on. Along with a couple of their favourite things to do in the city.
This piece will be part of a series, two future articles in which will curate recommendations about the public's favourite places in Leeds in 2018.
The series will lead in to a selection of articles about things to look out for in 2019.
Be sure to include an invite to participate in the IG survey at the end of the piece (survey addressed in next section)
Launch an IG survey alongside this piece to ask people their favourite place in Leeds this year.
Use @mentions on social to include all establishments mentioned.
"Best places in Leeds 2018" has question boxes rather than a featured snippet.
These mainly address free things to do in the city: use the word free a couple of times in the piece where relevant.
Pubs in Leeds 1k - 10k
Headignley 1k - 10k
Best bars in Leeds 1k - 10k
Best pubs in Leeds 100 - 1k
Craft beer Leeds 100 - 1k
Arc Headingley 10 - 100
The Box Headingley 10 - 100
Skyrack Headingley 10 - 100
The Otley Run is popular at this time of year, with students celebrating Christmas. Obviously the run itself is not IL friendly: it hits some of the worst pubs in Headingley.
Offering a guide to go against the grain of the run can leverage search terms around bars in Headingley: tapping into some of the local focus requested in the survey results.
Namedrop some places to avoid: "Not keen on the antics of Arc, The Box, or Skyrack? Check out these places instead"
Three or four quiet, low-key pubs and bars in Headingley can feature in this article. A short intro for each. Suggest Arcadia, Whites, and Beer Ritz as an option for buying a couple of nice beers to take home instead.
To add a human angle it would be good to talk to a few Otley Run revellers, get a few quotes about Christmas cheer and, ideally, get a few arty pictures of crowds of cavemen, superheroes, etc.
Try to get the Instagram names of any revellers you talk to.
Use @mentions on social to include all establishments mentioned.
Use #Headingley and #Christmas related hashtags
"Pubs in Headingley" brings up a three pack of local bars, one of which fits the IL vibe. Including this taps into a place with implied high search volume.
Cocktail bars Leeds 1k - 10k
Cocktails Leeds 100 - 1k
Best cocktails Leeds 100 - 1k
Best bars in Leeds 100 - 1k
The Maven Leeds 10 - 100
The Maven is a popular, tucked away cocktail bar. Their staff are renowned for superior cocktail knowledge.
This article showcases 3 or 4 festive cocktails, and taps into cocktail keyword terms. Including a prosecco cocktail would tap into that term's continued rise, too.
For each cocktail include a picture and a short intro, as well as an ingredients list. Also the price at Maven.
Focussing on the bar staff and their knowledge at Maven will give the piece a human interest feel.
Use @mentions on social to include all establishments mentioned.
Use #Christmas related hashtags
The Maven is the top bar in the three pack of featured establishments for the 'cocktails in Leeds' featured snippet, implying good search volume and popularity.
Things to do in Leeds 10k - 100k
Best restaurant in Leeds 1k - 10k
Best bars in Leeds 1k - 10k
Leeds gigs 100 - 1k
Best pubs in Leeds 100 - 1k
Best cafes in Leeds 100 - 1k
This is the second part of the 2018 highlight series. It features the places the Black Book was most commonly found, according to the survey results.
The structure should be similar to part 1 (week 1, content 2): each placed mentioned should have a brief intro and, where possible, a line from a member of staff there saying what it means to them to be part of the independent business community in Leeds.
The survey highlights the following places as where the Black Book was found most: Whites, The Tetley, Laynes Cafe, Kapow, Friends of Ham, Bundobust, Graze. This is a perfect cross section of popular independent establishments.
The series will lead in to a selection of articles about things to look out for in 2019.
Use @mentions on social to include all establishments mentioned.
"Best places in Leeds 2018" has question boxes rather than a featured snippet.
These mainly address free things to do in the city: use the word free a couple of times in the piece where relevant.
Pubs in Leeds 1k - 10k
Oldest pub in Leeds 100 - 1k
Pubs in Leeds centre 100 - 1k
Real ale pubs in Leeds 100 - 1k
Leeds pub crawl 100 - 1k
The 'Briggate Ladder' is a little-known, informal pub crawl which visits pubs nestled in alleyways off the main shopping streets. They are perfect for a pre-Christmas pint, sometimes beside a fire.
The intro should explain the name (the alleys look like rungs connecting Briggate and the parallel street), following paragraphs should showcase pubs like Angel, Whitelocks, The Turk's Head.
Whitelocks is the oldest pub in Leeds, and the Turk's Head next door is modern, so there's a real nice split of themes and audiences here.
Ask each landlord or bar staff which their favourite Christmas pint is to provide a human touch.
Use @mentions on social to include all establishments mentioned.
Use #Christmas hashtags
Briggate Ladder has no featured snippet. Related terms bring up listings of pubs, most of which aren't in the theme of IL.
N/A
This piece should be a heartfelt thank you from the editorial team at IL to their readers and audience, wishing them a merry Christmas and not targeting any specific keywords or demographics.
Brand Christmas content can feel cloying and impersonal, so a genuine, concise thank you piece should do the trick.
N/A
N/A
Jumbo Records220+
Beer Ritz210+
Crash Records200+
Tall Boys100+
OK Comics100+
Travelling Man100+
Blue Rinse100+
Go against the grain of Boxing Day Sales post and coverage with advice not to shop today, but to save your money for a nice treat from one of these independent vendors instead.
Spotlight each place, explain what they do and why they are special.
Ask a member of staff at each place for their treat recommendation: it could be their favourite thing, the best seller of the year, whatever.
@Mention each shop included
Weigh in on Boxing Day hashtags in a cheeky way
N/A
Leeds music venues10k - 100k
Leeds DJ100 - 1k
Live music Leeds100 - 1k
The Digger's Island Disc series is a veritable trove of good music, and it shouldn't be buried away in back issues.
A Spotify playlist collating the tracks featured is a great way to broaden IL's reach, and to make the most of this series.
The piece should introduce the playlist, encourage readers to sign up, and invite people to contribute to the series in the future.
Spotlight a few tracks and embed Youtube videos in the post to give the piece an interactive flavour.
Digger's Island Discs could increase in frequency depending on the uptake of this post.
Create a Spotify playlist and get people to sign up
Ask all DJs featured previously to promote the playlist on social.
N/A
Things to do in Leeds 10k - 100k
Leeds music venues10k - 100k
Best restaurant in Leeds 1k - 10k
Best bars in Leeds 1k - 10k
Leeds gigs 100 - 1k
Best pubs in Leeds 100 - 1k
Best cafes in Leeds 100 - 1k
This is the final part of the 2018 highlight series. It features the places voted by readers as their favourites in the IG poll launched in part 1.
The structure should be similar to parts 1 (week 1, content 2) and 2 (week 1, content 5): each place mentioned should have a brief intro and, where possible, a line from a member of staff there saying what it means to them to be part of the independent business community in Leeds.
The Instagram survey results will highlight a selection of venues, bars, restaurants, and so on. A prominent feature can be given to the most popular in each category, with honourable mentions of places that got good recognition.
The series will lead in to a selection of articles about things to look out for in 2019.
Use @mentions on social to include all establishments mentioned.
"Best places in Leeds 2018" has question boxes rather than a featured snippet.
These mainly address free things to do in the city: use the word free a couple of times in the piece where relevant.
Volunteering Leeds1k - 100k
Doing Good Leeds1k - 100k
Volunteer work Leeds10 - 100
Tapping into the tendency to create altruistic new years resolutions is a good chance to showcase some of the independent organisations doing good in Leeds.
A few organisations can be introduced: places like Real Junk Food Project, Hyde Park Source, Leeds Repair Cafe, Leeds for Change, Leeds Tidal. Volunteering opportunities for each should be introduced, along with explanations from people involved how this will make a positive impact.
Hub websites like Leeds for Change and Doing Good Leeds (one independent, the other government-run) can be showcased to give people another resource to find opportunities.
This piece should be well timed to attract search volume from those looking to volunteer, and to pique peoples' interest in social feeds.
@Mention each organisation mentioned
Use #NewYearsResolution hashtags and similar
Featured snippets often bring up integrated job searches, meaning there is not much chance of making a dent here.
N/A
As with the Christmas piece, this should be heartfelt and not marketing oriented .
This is a great opportunity to outline visions for 2019, and to drum up excitement.
For the sake of continuity with future content pieces, mention plans for 2019: to grow the site, incorporate user feedback, build dialogue with readers, and most importantly: to showcase beers, breweries, gigs, events, bars, restaurants, social enterprises, and so much more in Leeds in 2019.
N/A
N/A
Things to do in Leeds10k - 100k
Leeds cinema10k - 100k
Leeds music venues10k - 100k
Whats on Leeds1k - 100k
Whats on in Leeds1k - 100k
Bars in Leeds1k - 100k
Live music Leeds100 - 1k
This piece taps straight into the 2019 searches, which as shown previously have their first peak around mid Jan.
The piece casts a broad net, showcasing event listings from some popular independent venues: The Burdenell, Belgrave Music Hall, Wharf Chambers, Hyde Park Picture House, Seven Arts, HEART, Hyde Park Book Club.
Each venue will be mentioned and some spotlight events listed. The events chosen should be the most exciting / intriguing, with links through to each venue's own event calendar for users to find more.
The piece should show the vibrant and varied nature of events happening in Leeds in 2019.
Include a prompt for people to submit their events, as this will be a monthly feature.
@Mention each venues mentioned
Ask all venues mentioned which events they'd like included in future editions
Surprisingly there is no featured snippet for this search query, perhaps because it is quite ambiguous.
Things to do in Leeds10k - 100k
What to do in Leeds1k - 10k
What's on in Leeds this weekend100 - 1k
Leeds this weekend100 - 1k
Things to do in Leeds this weekend100 - 1k
The first of a series to test demand for a showcase of things happening at the weekend.
Depending on engagement we may move this to Thursday or even Wednesday.
Look through Twitter and Instagram while creating this piece to see what events are being promoted at the weekend, and include the most engaging ones.
Each week put a call-out to invite people to promote their events in next week's guide.
@Mention each business included
Ask each business included whether they want to include anything in next week's guide
Put out a general callout offering businesses to include anything in next week's guide
No snippet is shown: again, this is quite a broad term so Google may not have decided how best to display a featured snippet yet.
Topic: Brudenell5080+
Topic: Gigs1310<+/sup>
Topic: Concerts1200+
Nathan is a local celebrity of sorts, having built the Brudenell up from nothing into one of Leeds' favourite pubs and venues.
With hundreds of gigs per year the Brudenell truly has its finger on the Leeds music scene pulse.
Ask Nathan which 4-8 gigs he is most excited about this year, and showcase these as a pre-emptive gig list for 2019.
This is the first post designed to take advantage of a granular aspect of the 2019 searches.
@Mention the Brudenell and any bands / artists.
Ask each to promote the guide amongst their audiences.
N/A: this is more of a feature
The insights earlier in this report can be used to create future content in line with the above calendar.
There are cuisines, dishes, events, and ideas that did not fit into the initial three months. As discussed with David: there is always a surplus of content ideas relative to time.
Our content strategy has its finger on the pulse of the city. It is proven by volumes of data and by real human feedback. We continually evaluate content - single pieces, series, and the entire strategy - to make sure it is relevant, timely, and attracts the engagement it deserves. Trends and tastes are in constant flux, but an analytical underpinning lets us move with grace with the times rather than fall behind them and try desperately to catch up.