You get through the year 2020, yay, congratulations! But your website still looks as pale and unstrategic as it could be. We get it, SEO can be tough, and it’s even harder when you’ve read the same advice over and over again.
But don’t you lose hope. Let’s welcome the year 2021 with a bang as you learn the 8 Step SEO Strategy To Use in 2021 for Higher Rankings.
Another year, other strategies? Not really. These are the 8 Step SEO Strategy you (might have used before) and you can still use in 2021.
STEP 1: Find Opportunity Keywords
“Find the right keywords”, that’s what everybody wants to tell. They’re not wrong, really. But finding a short-term or a long-term keyword is not enough. You need to find a better one, something that would organically show up on the first page of the search engine when people searched for it.
In this case, opportunity keywords are your best option.
If you’re not familiar with it, opportunity keywords are simply keywords with a high organic click-through rate (CTR). This means that when you type something on a search engine, it does not have a lot of stuff to show on the first page that may distract you from finding the organic results.
In contrast, it only shows the necessary results for you and other people who searched the same keywords.
Step 2: Check Out Your Content Competition
Unlike stores that keep peeping among their competitors and copying their products or services, you can do differently (and legally) among your online competitors.
As you type a certain keyword on the search bar, analyze the results, and observe the websites that Google placed on the first page. Keep in mind that these websites would serve as your competitors as you use the same keywords and fight for a higher ranking.
Once you figure out what Google wants on a certain page, that’s the sign that you need to start working on your content.
For example, if you use the keyword, “Paleo Dessert”, these would appear to you.
As you can see, these are all about the paleo recipes alone. There is no unnecessary information that would just mix up your SEO strategy. Likewise, it’s better to follow the lead.
If you’re going to create content about “Paleo Dessert”, focus on writing down a list of unique ingredients and recipes about the dessert. If you do so, Google would most likely notice your content and give you a higher ranking.
STEP 3: Create a Different or a Better Content
Before posting any content online, you have two choices – make it different or make it better.
Honestly speaking, everything in the world is not exactly original. Meaning, they all have various sources and references they can get information from. The only difference is when they use this information to create different or better content.
Take a look at this example.
Mr. Brian Dean, an American Entrepreneur, and an SEO Expert makes use of the keyword “SEO Tools”. He observes that most results show 20-30 lists of tools for people to use. If he did the same, then his content may just blend in with the rest. But if he makes something out of it, that could be a much better option. And so he did.
Instead of listing out a certain number of helpful SEO tools, he shows a complete list that people can use for their SEO strategy. So people would definitely find it hassle-free to visit a page where it shows every piece of information they need. Way to go, right?
Step 4: Add Hook
Hook, in other words, the things that make your content irresistible. If you’re new to SEO, you might want to skip this step. If not, then this is one of the most in-depth valuable strategies for you.
As we all know, pages with the most backlinks get a higher ranking in Google. But the question is, “How do we get people to link to us?”
There are two essential ways we can do so – Understand why people link to content within your industry and include that certain “hook” in your content. If you’re familiar with how your industry works, how your competitors create content and the most effective hooks you can use, then problem solved!
In terms of the hook, there are three ways you can apply right now:
New Stuff – where you create something new that not many people are aware of
Ultimate Guide – shows specific and step-by-step instructions on a certain topic and;
Case Studies – the easiest hook you can use that shows a single or plenty of results of an experiment or study conducted.
Step 5: Optimize Your Website’s On-Page SEO
At this point, don’t get too overwhelmed. Sure, there are a lot of things to cover in On-page SEO alone but we don’t need to call every single one of them. Let’s focus on two strategies that work well.
Short URLs
Newly-established websites might think that the longer their URL is, the better. But this is totally untrue. If your URL tends to be long or super long, cut them short so people can easily access your site without having to go through the trouble of searching once again.
But you don’t have to go through your contents and change the existing URL one-by-one. This can give you more harm than good. Just remember to make your new content’s URL short and sweet.
Internal Linking
Backlinking from other websites is not the only thing that you should consider. What about the authoritative pages on your website? How can you make use of that to boost your other content’s ranking?
Internal Linking has always been a good SEO strategy if used properly. Always link new content to authoritative pages of your website so it can pull out the ranking of the former.
Step 6: The Skyscraper Technique 2.0
Have you heard about the strategy where you have to improve existing content and replicate its backlinks? If you did, then that’s what Brian Dean called “The Skyscraper Technique”.
For instance, you have to find content with lots of backlinks from competitor’s websites. Then instead of copying the whole content, you create something way better. Afterward, you’re going to ask those backlinks owners to link to your content instead.
This technique went viral a few years ago. But the 2.0 version added something even better – taking into consideration of the search intent or the topic that the researchers are specifically looking for when they perform a certain search.
In all certainty, the audience will definitely look forward to clicking your page
Step 7: Content Design
The writers, researchers, and SEO specialists are not the only worthy people to hire for your website. There are a lot of necessary people to call for, specifically graphic designers and graphic artists.
I hate to break it to you but no matter how good your content is, when you have a horrible web design, it may encourage people to bounce back from your website resulting in breaking your SEO.
This is why most website owners spend a lot of time, money, and energy on their content designs. Even though it’s expensive to make, it’s still worth it.
But you don’t need a fancy design to make this all work. In fact, there are budget-friendly alternative things you can do to pull a great content design such as adding images, screenshots, banners, charts, and visuals that will not only be pleasing to the eyes but can also help people understand what’s on your content.
Step 8: Build Backlinks
After following the first seven steps of this article, you might’ve added hooks, optimized your page for search intent, and published it.
Now is the best time to build backlinks and show your content in front of the right people who run blogs in your industry.
Next, use the broken link building strategy where you find a broken link on someone else’s page, and pitch your website as a replacement to that link. You can start by informing them through email and make use of a customized template.
Doing a single one of these steps might help a little, but as you progress through the whole 8 step SEO strategy, the ranking would eventually come into your place this 2021.
So far, what among these strategies have you used so far, and how effective they are in boosting your ranking?
