Introduction:

Towards the end of 2022, I made a decision to go into blogging and content creation in a full-time capacity. Whilst I’m not there just yet, I do make a good chunk of passive income from the Amazon Influencer Program and other passive income streams each month. It’s my goal to become a full-time blogger and finally leave behind my job within the next 12 months.

Although I’ve been digital marketing for 10 years now, SEO and blogging were never one of my strong strong suits. I knew the basics. Good keyword research & high-quality content. That was pretty much it.

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The biggest problem was finding the right keywords to write content for and the expensive of keyword tools. Most of the popular ones like Ahrefs and SEMrush all start at $99 a month.

And whilst they’re totally worth that asking price, (once you’re blogging full time) when you’re getting started you don’t want an expensive tool with thousands of keywords. It’s just overwhelming.

You want an easy tool that helps you do one thing: Find the RIGHT keywords and grow your traffic FAST without breaking the bank.

That’s where RankIQ comes in. It’s the content creator’s keyword tool of choice because it’s created by someone who has 100,000+ first page rankings & millions of monthly visitors a month.

After using Rank IQ almost every day for 4 months now I wanted to share my real experience, my blog growth, and whether or not it’s worth the monthly price. Let’s jump into my rankiq review.

What is RankIQ?

My guess is you’ve probably already spent a chunk of time watching YouTube and reading reviews on what Rank IQ is so I’ll keep this nice and short 🙂

Most bloggers will tell you the hardest part of any new blog site is getting it off the ground with quality content and traffic.

I can tell you right now from my own personal experience, If you use Rank IQ, do proper keyword research, you’ll begin to rank for both low-competition keywords and high-traffic keywords pretty darn quick.

I’m already seeing it happen with my own two blogs. Right now I’m totally focused on quality content and as much on-page SEO as possible. This means no backlinks until I’ve got 100+ articles on the site. (Hopefully, I’ll naturally get backlinks to my articles along the way). I’ve also spent a heap of time using the built-in content optimizer to improve my articles from a low-quality SEO score to a high score.

Real Rank IQ result: The site below is pretty much brand new but already starting to see some great traction.

Why Rank IQ is completely different from any other keyword research tool available

Wondering how Rank IQ is different to the other tools on the market? Here’s the TL;DR:

TL;DR: Rank IQ has handpicked keywords (by Brandon and his team) that can be easily ranked for in the most profitable blogging niches. Meaning, if you use the software and create quality content, your blog will experience steady growth. Brandon also removes keywords from Rank IQ once a set number of reports have been run – meaning you’re not competing against other bloggers in the space.

Luke

Whilst there is no shortage of keyword tools on the market right now, most of them do pretty much the same thing: Gather data from Google Ads and present you with estimated monthly search volumes.

The data these tools use can often be weeks out of date, normally because of the enormous amount of keywords they update each day. Rank IQ uses its own AI to look at what’s already ranking for your keyword term, the topics you need to cover, and the frequency of those topics.

Put simply: Google Ads keyword data from Ahrefs & SEMrush won’t always give you the insights you actually need to rank in the SERPS. Rank IQ looks at what’s already ranking in the SERPs and helps you craft an article that Google wants to see.

Why Content Creators Should Select A Niche

If you’ve looked into blogging for a while, you’ll know by now that selecting a niche is a big part of the overall equation. Brendan knows this firsthand, so Rank IQ is designed to help you do two things:

1. Pick a profitable niche
2. Find keywords in that niche that you can actually rank for without competing with high DR domains.

Domain Rating (DR Rating)

One of the biggest ranking factors for ranking in the SERPs is domain ranking. Domain ranking, also known as Domain Authority, is an important factor in SEO because it measures the overall quality and authority of a website.

Search engines use a domain ranking to determine how trustworthy a website is and how likely it is to provide valuable information to users. Websites with higher domain rankings are more likely to appear at the top of search engine results pages, which can lead to increased traffic and visibility.

Improving your domain ranking typically includes strategies such as optimizing content, building high-quality backlinks, and improving website structure. Inside the Rank IQ keyword library, you can select between 0-20 DA, 21-25 DA, 26-30DA or the option to input your own range. I sometimes stick 0-10 to find really easy keywords to rank for and as my DA/DR begins to grow I move to higher competition keywords.

RankIQ Works Crazy Good for New Posts & Old Underperforming Posts

Okay, so rank IQ is pretty sweet for finding awesome new keyword phrases that you can write content for, but what about your old blog posts that have never seen the light of day on the SERPS? Well, although I didn’t know this when I first got the software, turns out you can actually enter ANY keyword into the ‘reports’ section of Rank IQ. It’ll then provide a full report on the best way to create a comprehensive piece of content for that keyword.

Nice!

So if you started your blog 6 months ago with no idea what you were doing (we’ve all been there 😆), Rank IQ is going to give you a huge advantage over your competition.

I did this one with one of my own pieces of content, and I used the grading tool to take it from a B- to an A++. RankIQ helped me write a better headline, improve my H1’s, H2’s and H3’s, and insert the recommended keywords that Google wants. I’m waiting for Google to reindex the page so bookmark the page if you want to see some real-time results from the recommended optimizations.

Using the SEO Report to Build Your Blog Post

The SEO Report that Rank IQ provides is a neat way for you to build all the topics & sub-topics you want to cover for your blog post. Personally, I scroll through the report looking for themes I want to add to my article, and I also mark any variations so I can make those h3’s or h4’s in my post. You can also click the small rubbish bin icon on the far right side if you want to completely remove a keyword.

After you’ve built your theme list hit the download button and either bring those keywords across to the content optimizer or send them to your writer.

Content Optimizer is a very nice Welcome Bonus

When I originally signed up for the tool, I didn’t really make full use of the software. I was just on the hunt for easy keywords with high traffic potential to rank for with a better chance of hitting the SERPS. What I didn’t realize was how awesome the included content optimizer tool is!

I was actually paying for another content writing tool at the time (Frase.io) that I also really liked, but I’ve since moved entirely to RankIQ’s own content writing tool.

It’s not as complex as Frase, but it’s super easy to move content directly into a new WordPress page or post without losing all the formatting. I like that.

As you begin putting together the article, the suggested keywords/topics on the right-hand side will show a green dot as you carefully weave them into your content.

I’ve personally found that using the ‘show unused’ toggle is extremely useful. Anytime I’m stuck for a headline, I can see keywords that spark ideas for what Google is expecting to see in my article. These keywords are also laid out (top to bottom) based on how often/important these topics are for your article to rank in Google.

Brandon does recommend staying away from keyword stuffing from this list, so think of these keywords as more of a suggestion rather than a ‘must-include’. I also don’t try and add every single word from the list, maybe the top 50-60 or so.

Side note: This entire blog post was written with the Content Optimizer tool because I’m focusing on hitting the target keyword count and content grade goal. I then copy and paste it to WordPress.

Luke

How the Suggested word count works

After you run an SEO report with Rank IQ, it’ll scan the SERPS and provide you with detailed information about how to rank on the first page of Google.

You’ll need to click over the second tab and jump into the Content Optimizer screen. From here you’ll have the option to review the keywords (on the right), add headlines (H1, H2, H3, H4, H5, H6’s), change font and add in bullet points and numbered lists.

Along the top, you’ll also see the recommended word count for the article. This word count updates based on how difficult the seed keyword is you trying to rank for. For a more difficult keyword, you’ll probably be looking at 1,500-2,500 words.

As you work on the article you’ll notice the words update in real time which makes life so much easier.

Hint: Use the “themes” from the SEO report to build out your headlines first. It’ll help you break the article up into smaller sections.

My SEO Content Brief Process for Freelance Writers

Because I’m generally pushed for time during the week and my second blog is in a niche that’s more focused on informational content, I’ve started outsourcing using the SEO reports from RankIQ.

I’ve actually started using Writer’s Access (and finally ditched Upwork.com), and it’s easily the best freelancer/content site I’ve ever used. Excellent quality writers, affordable and impressive turnaround times.

My workflow basically looks like this:

1. Open Rank IQ and click ‘Keyword library’
2. Click my chosen niche topic
3. Go to the competition box
4. Narrow to ‘0-20’ DR option (sometimes I’ll even drop it to 0-10)
5. Go to the ‘Time to rank’ box and select ‘Ultra Fast’ and ‘Very Fast’ options
6. Find a keyword I want an article written for
7. Click the SEO report
8. Write a killer headline using the new headline tool
9. Open a Google Doc
10. Drop the headline, and Rank IQ keyword report in
11. Hop over to WritersAccess.com or use a tool like Agility Writer
12. Create a new job from a template
13. Pick one of my favorite writers
14. Tell them the word count that Rank IQ recommends
15. Select 0.3-0.5c per word
16. Submit
17. Wait 5 days and review the content
18. Make some minor edits
19. Upload to my WordPress site and do on-page SEO
20. Done!

The whole process takes me roughly 15 minutes per article and the last 5 articles of got back from my writer have all been A-, A+ or A++ right off the bat. Each article is also perfectly formatted for WordPress which I love. This means after I add them to my site I don’t have any additional work, other than some basic layout stuff and image SEO.

Each article I get from WritersAccess is done with a SEO report from Rank IQ. The whole process takes me less than 15 minutes.

– Luke

Rank IQ Pricing

Rank IQ currently has a few plans available. I personally opted for the $49 plan, but there’s the option to go for a higher (more reports) plan, and a lower (less reports) plan too. If you’re on a tighter budget, the $29 plan might be a great option for you.

Pricing	Plan	Monthly Reports
$29	Lite	8
$49	Standard	16
$99	Pro Plan	36
$199	Agency Plan	80

Artificial Intelligence? Say what?

AI content writing tools and ChatGPT have been blowing up my feeds the last few months, especially with the release of ChatGPT4.0. And while I love what these AI tools can do, RankIQ uses its own unique AI to help new bloggers write high-quality content.

It utilizes IBM’s Watson tool to scan the SERPs along with the PAA’s (people also ask) and it builds a comprehensive report that’ll help you write a killer article that Google loves.

Sidenote: I’ve recently been using Koala.sh AI writing tool. It was a recommendation from Jon Dykstra and it’s really impressive! Head over to koala.sh to get a free 5,000-word trial.

Whilst I haven’t gone all in on Chat GPT just yet, I do feel AI is going to change the future of blogging and SEO forever, but right now it’s still got a long way to go until I’d trust it on my own blogs.

Google’s Ranking Algorithm

Once you create your blog, put together a keyword list with Rank IQ and create your content, it’s important to understand how the Google Ranking Algorithm actually works.

Basically, the algorithm determines the relevance of websites and their content when someone searches for something.

In order to figure out how relevant your website and its content is, the algorithm takes into account factors such as keywords, page titles, meta descriptions, and even the images you use.

It also looks at other things like how often people click on your page and how many times they stay on it. The more relevant your page appears to be to Google, the higher position it will get in search engine results pages (SERPs).

So, writing high-quality content with relevant keywords is the key to making blogging work. Understanding this, and using it with the topics from Rank IQ is how you can craft a quality article.

RankIQ vs. Surfer SEO vs. AHREFS vs. SEMRush

A big part of my day-to-day job as a digital marketer is doing keyword research for Google Ads campaigns.

So I’m often using Ahrefs and SE Ranking for hours at a time. They’re both awesome pieces of software if you’re in the PPC space, but for bloggers, Rank IQ is clearly miles ahead.

Ahrefs & SEMRush are dedicated to keyword research, not to blogging or content creation. These tools exist to help you find both long tail keywords and to spy on what your competitors are ranking for. I know people like Adam Enfroy & Gael from Authority hacker recommend Ahrefs, however for newer bloggers I think it’s overkill (and overpriced!).

Personally, I like simple. One tool that tells me what to write about and what to include in my articles. If thats you too, click the link to get started with Rank IQ.

Rank IQ integrates with Google Search Console to Track Your Progress

Once you’ve got a few blog posts on your site, you’ll obviously want to see how well they’re doing in Google. Rank IQ lets you directly connect your Google Search Console data into the platform so you can monitor which keywords you’re ranking for in real-time.

To connect Search Console, here’s what you need to do:

1. Click the hamburger menu on the left hand side of the platform
2. Select the ‘Check Rankings’ option
3. Log into your Google account
4. Select the domain you want to monitor
5. Wait for the data to come through into Rank IQ
6. View the keywords you’re ranking for

I personally find this really helpful as a new blogger because I can see other keyword phrase I’m ranking for on a particular article. If I see there’s a keyword that’s getting lots of clicks/impressions I can go back to my existing article and make changes to it to help it rank even better.

I’ve personally paid for other services like serpfox.com or keyword.com in the past, but now I’m only using Rank IQ’s keyword tracking – saving myself a few bucks in the process! Plus there’s no limit to how many keywords you track in Rank IQ, unlike its competitors.

Rank IQ helps you pick the best profitable niches

Picking the right niche for a new blog can have a HUGE impact on the overall success of the blog and how much revenue it eventually earns. Brandon and his team know this. And that’s a big part of the reason he built the software.

Thankfully, after you create a new account and get started with Rank IQ (I’d love for you to use my affiliate link), there’s a really helpful guide on which niches are the most profitable for new bloggers.

In fact, even if you don’t sign up with Rank IQ, head over to the blog where he goes over the most profitable niches in more detail. I wish I had of found this last year when I was thinking about starting a new blog because I probably would of gone into a different niche for my second blog.

Works with ChatGPT 4.0 and Jasper.ai too!

I know everyone is hot for ChatGPT right now because it’s free, but I still think Jasper.io is the better tool because it’s way better at creating content that sounds natural. Plus it also has a heap of additional tools (like content rewrite) that I use a ton.

The good news is Jasper works really well with Rank IQ too. You can write a command, click a button and Jasper will put together a short paragraph (or full blog post) that you can use for your content. Obviously, you still need to take the time to make that content unique, but ai tools are incredibly helpful for

Here’s a short video showing how I’ve been using it and how quick the whole process is:

The New Title Analysis Tool Helps Write the Perfect Title

This feature only just rolled out on Rank IQ a few weeks ago, but I love it. Using it’s built-in AI tools, it scans the SERPS and looks at what headlines and keywords are doing the best so you can carefully craft your own unique headline.

Having a great (clickbaity?) headline can mean the difference between staying in the #1 spot in the SERPs and dying a slow death on the second page 😜. Okay, that was bit dramatic, but I do take the time to write my own headlines (even if I’m outsourcing the article) because I know the importance of a well-written headline.

Rank IQ gives you a word count and an overall score based on how many keywords you enter from the top-ranking articles on the first page of Google. Obviously, you want to aim for an A+ every time without going over the character limit. I’ve actually spent a few weeks going back and updating several of my original headlines to improve them, hopefully, they’ll see a bump in the SERPs from the updates. (check back for an update).

The Two Blog Growth Tactics I’m Using with RankIQ

Once you’ve actually got your blog off the ground, and you’re getting more clicks & traffic your next goal should be monetization.

Right now, there are two main ways to make money from your blog. (the same two I use for my blog).

Affiliate offers

Display Ads

How the Report Credits Work with RankIQ

Rank IQ is a bit different to most keyword tools because it uses a credits-based system. You can search for unlimited keyword opportunities, but you’ll need to use a credit if you want to run a report on that particular keyword.

One Report = One Credit.

The basic plan currently gives you 16 credits/reports each month which is plenty for a new blogger to start out with. Most months I’m only using about 10 of those reports.

Here’s how it works:

1. Find a keyword you’d like to rank for from the Keyword Library
2. Add it to ‘My KWs’
3. Inside the My KWs tab, find the keyword you’d like to create a new article for
4. Click the ‘Report’ button
5. Wait a few minutes while the report is generated
6. Click into the report to access all the relevant information regarding that keyword phrase

If you do decide to pick up Rank IQ, Brandon has an excellent onboarding video that goes over his personal strategy for building out a Google Sheet with all the keyword ideas you’re going to make content for.

Here’s a sneak peek of the video:

Monthly Search Volume vs. Yearly Search Volume

This one really tripped me up when I first started using Rank IQ. Most keyword research tools like SE Ranking, SEMRush, or Ahrefs use a monthly search volume figure. Rank IQ on the other hand will always show you an estimated yearly search volume. Personally, I love seeing figures around how much potential traffic I’ve left on the table by not writing for a particular keyword on my site.

Check this out:

Three keywords from one niche with super low competition. With over 30,000+ estimated visits per year.

Not bad eh?

Summary:

I’ve tried a lot of SEO and keyword tools over the last 10 years as a digital marketer. None of them is anything like Rank IQ. Rank IQ has found a sweet spot that I haven’t personally seen any other tool on the market do. It’s the content creator’s tool of course for rapid blog growth. It’s one of the easiest ways to start and grow a new blog. You simply log in, select your niche, set it to ‘ultra fast’, find a keyword, and then put together a well-optimized article. Doesn’t really get much easier than that right?

Instead of spending hours hunting for potential keywords, Rank IQ does the heavy lifting for you. Obviously, you still need to spend time writing quality content and doing on-page SEO, but if you follow Brandon’s suggestions you’ll be well on your way to a successful blog & quitting your 9-5.

Frequently Asked Questions: