In this article, you will learn step by step how to create and implement effective SEO policies.
In fact, this approach helped me grow my site to 362732 natural visitors a month:
Therefore, if you want to achieve a higher Google ranking, this guide is for you.
What is the SEO strategy?
The SEO strategy (also known as the “SEO method”) is the process of planning and implementing steps aimed at improving the ranking of natural search engines.
In other words: search engine optimization strategies are the process you follow when you want to get more natural traffic.
With this, here are the steps to create a SEO policy in 2022:
- Step 1: create a keyword list
- Step 2: analyze the home page of Google
- Step 3: create something different or better
- Step 4: add a hook
- Step 5: optimize page search engine optimization
- Step 6: optimize for search intent
- Step 7: focus on content design
- Step 8: establish a link to your page
- Step 9: improve and update your content
Step 1: create a keyword list
Keyword research is usually the first step in any legitimate SEO strategy.
What is one of the best ways to find keywords that target customers search for?
Google drop-down keywords.
Start entering keywords in the search field of Google, which populates the list of suggestions:
These are usually important keywords for SEO because they come directly from Google.
This means that you know that people are actually looking for them. )
In addition, longer keywords (called “long tail keywords”) are often not as competitive as “short tail” keywords.
As a result, even if the search volume of long tails is relatively low, they are easier to rank.
I suggest you enter several different keywords in Google until you have a list of about 10 keywords.
If you want to see the search volume and competition of these terms, you can use keyword tools such as Semrush or Ubersuggest.
If you want to delve into keyword research, you can watch this video.
After writing down 10 keywords, you can move on to step 2.
Step 2: analyze the home page of Google
Okay, so you found some keywords.
It’s time to see who has ranked these keywords.
To do this, simply type one of the keywords you find in Google.
Scan the first 10 results:
And make a note of any patterns you notice.
For example, the SERP of the SEO tool contains a list of tools:
Therefore, if you want to cover this topic on your site, you need to note that the home page results are mainly made up of list articles.
You may want to post a list article on your blog.
Step 3: create something different or better
Now is the time to create some ultra-high quality content.
When it comes to SEO content, you have two options:
Option # 1: you can create something different.
Option # 2: you can create something better.
Sometimes you want to create something bigger and better than what you already have.
(also known as skyscraper technology. )
But sometimes you’d better use something completely different.
Why?
Because it can help your content stand out.
For example:
Some time ago, I sat down and wrote an article about the optimization of “Mobile SEO”.
I noticed that Google’s home page is full of list articles, such as “X Ways to Mobile Optimize Your Site”.
Now:
I could have created a larger list of articles, such as “150 ways to Mobile optimize websites”.
But it doesn’t make any sense.
Instead, I created something completely different.
Specifically, I released the ultimate guide to mobile optimization.
So, what if you want to create something better than what you already ranked on the first page of Google?
In this case, you want to publish content that is 10 times better than existing content.
For example:
Not long ago, I noticed that most of the content about “SEO tools” only listed 10-20 tools.
And I know it won’t work to publish another list of 20 tools.
So I decided to create a list of 33 SEO tools.
The article now ranks in the top three in the keyword “SEO tool”:
Step 4: add a hook
If you want to improve your search engine rankings in 2022, you need to get backlinks.
There are many more. )
In fact, according to a Stone Temple Consulting study published on the Moz blog, links are still closely related to home page Google rankings.
This means that they are still a key factor in Google’s ranking.
The question is: how did you do it?
Well, you need to figure out why people link to specific content in your industry.
(also known as “hook”. )
Then include that “hook” in your content.
Let’s look at a real-life example:
Not long ago, I noticed that more and more bloggers are writing about voice search.
I also noticed some other things:
When people write about voice search, they link to content with statistics and data:
So I decided to do a voice search study with statistical data:
So far, this article has accumulated 5.6k backlinks:
More than 90% of these backlinks refer to specific statistics in my article:
Then say:
Data is just a “hook” that you can use to establish links to your content.
Another Hook that works well now is Ultimate Guides.
When you publish the ultimate guide, your guide itself is The Hook.
I will use an example to explain.
A few years ago, I published Link Building: an authoritative Guide.
It is (and still is) the most complete guide to link building.
Bloggers often mention “link building” in their articles.
But they don’t have room to cover the whole theme.
So they link to my guide as a way for readers to learn more:
Cool.
Step 5: optimize page search engine optimization
This step is about optimizing your content keywords for SEO.
Page SEO covers a lot more than I can cover in an article.
Therefore, if you want to learn more about optimizing content for SEO, this video can help.
In other words, these are the three core page SEO technologies that I suggest to focus on in 2022.
Internal link
Yes, the internal link is still valid.
But you have to do it right.
Specifically, you want to link from a highly privileged web page to a page that requires more permissions.
For example, I released a tutorial on using Google Search Console a few years ago.
So I found a page with a lot of permissions on my website.
… And link to my new guide from this page.
It’s simple.
Short, keyword-rich URL
An analysis based on 11.8 million Google search results found something that surprised many people:
In search engine optimization, short URLs are usually better than long URLs.
That’s why I let my website be just my keyword.
…… Or add a word to my target keyword:
Either way works.
Semantic search engine optimization
Finally, I optimized my content for Semantic SEO.
In other words:
I found words related to my goal keywords.
Then, I use these terms in my content.
To do this yourself, enter your target keyword in the Google picture.
Google will provide you with words and phrases that they think are closely related to the topic:
Then, type the same keyword in a normal Google search. And scroll down to “and… Related search section.
Finally, add any terms you find to your content:
You’re ready.
Step 6: optimize for search intent
In other words: skyscraper Technology 2.0.
I’ll show you how this works with a simple example.
A few years ago, I wrote an article about how to get more traffic to your site.
No problem.
But it never made it into the top five of my target keyword (“increase website traffic”).
When I analyzed the first page of Google, I realized why:
My page does not meet the search intention of this keyword.
I will explain…
Most of the “increase site traffic” content rankings list one-size traffic tips.
But my article gives them a high-level process.
This is not the user experience that search engine visitors want. So I rewrote my content to match the search intent of this keyword.
Specifically, I turned my process into a list article:
Now my content matches the search intention, and it ranks in the top 3 of my target keywords:
Compared with the previous articles, this resulted in a 70.43% increase in search engine traffic:
Then say:
You can (and should) post content with search intentions from the beginning.
In fact, that’s what I did for this article: the ultimate SEO optimization checklist.
I see that most of the rankings of “SEO Audit” list non-technical steps.
So I included a simple strategy that anyone can use:
And this search intent optimization helped my article crack the first page of Google within a month.
Step 7: focus on content design
Design is probably the most undervalued part of content marketing.
You can have the best content ever.
But if it looks like this…
… It’s not usually very attractive.
That’s why I put a lot of marketing budget into content design.
For example, the following is an authoritative guide to local SEO optimization:
These guidelines are 100% of design and coding from scratch using WordPress.
This makes them very expensive to manufacture. )
Then say:
Good content design doesn’t have to cost a lot of money.
In fact, there are four types of visual content that are very easy to implement.
Graphs and charts
These effects are so good that I try to include at least one chart in each article.
Why?
Because they make the data easy to understand.
For example, get this statistics from my Mobile SEO guide.
I don’t know you, but it’s hard for me to imagine what 27.8 billion is.
So I asked our designer to create a beautiful chart.
As a reward, people sometimes use your charts in blog posts. And link back to you:
Screenshots and pictures
You may have noticed that I use a lot of screenshots in each article.
In fact, this single article has 78 screenshots:
Be clear:
I don’t just use screenshots just to use screenshots.
I use them only when it helps someone to perform specific steps.
For example, these screenshots make the two steps in this guide easier to follow:
Then say:
Screenshots make sense only when you describe technical content.
If you are in a non-technical field… What about fitness, for example?
Well, pictures serve the same purpose.
For example, my friend Steve Kamb at Nerd Fitness uses pictures to show you how to exercise correctly:
Head picture of blog post
Unlike charts and screenshots, blog post banners have no practical use.
They look cool.
We use the banner diagram at the top of each article:
Graphics and visualization
Graphics and visualization are a bit like charts.
But instead of visualizing the data, they visualize the concept.
For example, in this article, I explained how all four versions of your site should be redirected to the same URL:
This concept is not rocket science.
But it’s hard to picture the idea in your mind.
So our designer created a simple visual effect to make the concept easy to understand.
Step 8: establish a link to your page
Now is the time to actively establish links to your content.
Specifically, we will take advantage of three link-building strategies that are currently working well.
Chain-breaking reconstruction
Here, you can find broken links on someone’s website.
… And provide your content as a substitute.
For example, this is an outreach email I sent to a blogger in the marketing field:
Please pay attention to my specific level. I didn’t say, “Please consider linking to me in a blog post.” I have a specific location on a particular page, and my link is meaningful. )
And because I helped this person before making any request, they were happy to add my link:
Competitor analysis
This strategy is old school.
But it still works.
First, find a website that ranks the keywords you want to rank.
For example, I’m trying to rank the keyword “SEO audit”.
So I grabbed the result from the first page…
… And check their backlinks.
I can see that this page has links from 407 domains:
So I should be able to get at least some of the same links as them.
To this end, I browse their backlinks one by one.
And find a page where my link will add value.
For example, this article mentions my competitor’s content by name:
There is no reason to link to my article. So I moved on to the next opportunity on the list.
I came across this article:
This time, the links to my competitor’s page are part of a large number of resources.
A better and more complete list would be with a link to my SEO review article.
Preaching method
This strategy is not about links. It’s more about making your content appear in front of the right person.
(especially: people who run blogs in your niche. )
I will use an example to explain how this strategy works.
Not long ago, I wanted to promote a new skyscraper technology case study.
So I use BuzzSumo to see who has shared content about skyscraper technology recently.
And sent a variation of this template to everyone via email:
When they answered, “of course, I’ll check it out”, I sent them a link to the article:
Notice how I don’t ask for sharing. This is a judo move that makes your outreach activities stand out. )
This led to the sharing of my brand articles dozens of times:
Step 9: improve and update your content
You may have read the time when I used the old article “refurbishment” to increase natural traffic by 260.7%:
I am pleased to tell you that this method is still valid.
For example, I restarted this list of SEO technologies some time ago.
But I don’t just repost the same content and call it “new”.
Instead, I browsed and deleted old screenshots and images:
New policy has been added:
And removed policies that no longer work:
Result?
The natural traffic on this page increased by 62.60%:
Which strategy are you ready to try first in today’s article? Do you want to update and restart the old content? Or maybe you want to try to establish a broken link. Either way, please comment immediately below.
