Ranking high on Google is a game-changer. It drives organic traffic, boosts visibility, and grows your business. But getting those top positions is no small feat. Over the years, we’ve driven millions of clicks for our clients using a no-nonsense SEO strategy. Now, we’re breaking down our process into 10 simple, actionable steps that you can implement to rank higher on Google and increase your traffic.

Ready to dive in? Let’s go!

Step 1: Comprehensive Keyword Research

Your SEO journey begins with one key step: keyword research. This is where you identify the terms your audience is searching for, laying the foundation for your entire strategy. Here’s how to do it:

• Start with 10 seed keywords relevant to your niche.
• Run these seed keywords through tools like Semrush to find more related keywords.
• Filter by keyword difficulty (start with 0-20).
• Extract all relevant keywords into a Google Sheet and repeat the process for all difficulty levels.
• Use AI tools like ChatGPT to generate more keyword ideas.
• Aim to gather a list of 200-300 keywords to build a robust SEO strategy.

Why does this matter? The more comprehensive your keyword research, the better you can align your content with what your audience is searching for, ensuring better rankings from the start.

Step 2: Conduct a Comprehensive Content Audit

Before you start creating new content, it’s crucial to clean up what’s already on your site. A content audit helps you optimize existing posts for better rankings. Here’s the process:

• Extract all your published blog posts’ data from Google Search Console (GSC) and upload it into a CSV file.
• Organise the data in a Google Sheet, and create a column titled “Action.”
• Manually go through every blog post, labeling each with one of the following actions: Keep As-Is, Rewrite, Upgrade, or Merge.
• Posts that miss search intent or underperform? Rewrite them.
• Posts that are decent but need more substance? Upgrade them by adding new sections or relevant stats.
• If you find duplicate or overlapping content, merge them to avoid cannibalisation.

This step ensures your content is fully optimised before adding anything new.

Step 3: Execute Your Content Audit Findings

Now it’s time to act on the audit. Refreshing old content is one of the fastest ways to see ranking improvements. Here’s what to do:

• Merge cannibalising articles and 301-redirect the lower-performing posts to the stronger ones.
• Upgrade any content that’s ranking in OK positions (e.g., pages 2 or 3 on Google) by adding more depth, statistics, or trends.
• Rewrite content that misses the mark on search intent or quality.
• Conduct an internal linking run, ensuring all relevant articles are interlinked for maximum SEO juice.

Focusing on upgrading old content can lead to faster SEO results compared to just publishing new content.

Step 4: Set Up Your Link & Content Operations

Before you start producing content and building links, it’s important to set a strong operational foundation. Here’s how:

• Decide on a monthly content volume (aim for 20,000-30,000 words/month).
• Create a Google form to vet content writers—ask for their portfolios, writing samples, and rates.
• Promote your writer job postings on platforms like ProBlogger.
• Set up 5-10 fresh domains for outreach emails (this protects your main domain from being flagged as spam).
• Use tools like TrulyInbox to warm up your outreach emails and ensure better deliverability.

Good content and outreach operations are key to scaling your SEO efforts without interruptions.

Step 5: Build SEO Landing Pages

Landing pages optimised for SEO are some of the most powerful assets for lead generation. Here’s how to create them:

• Define 5-10 high-intent keywords that you want to target (e.g., “project management software”).
• Create a templated landing page that can be adapted for each keyword.
• Tailor the content to each specific keyword while maintaining consistent structure.
• Interlink these landing pages across your blog posts.
• Add a “Services” or “Use-Cases” drop-down in your site’s navigation and link to these landing pages.
• Place links to the SEO landing pages on your homepage.

When done right, these pages can generate 80% of your leads, making them essential for your SEO strategy.

Step 6: Create Great Content

AI can help, but great content requires human touch. Here’s how to create content that stands out and outranks competitors:

• Research the top 3 ranking articles for your target keyword.
• Write content that’s more comprehensive than any of the top-ranking competitors.
• Use sites like Reddit and Quora to find real user questions and answer them within your content.
• Avoid complex words or jargon—use the Hemingway App to keep your language clear and concise.
• Use the PAS formula (Problem, Agitate, Solution) to craft a compelling introduction (50-80 words max).
• Include the latest trends, statistics, and research.
• End your article with a detailed FAQ section to cover any missed questions.

Your content needs to be user-focused, rich in value, and easy to understand if you want it to rank well.

Step 7: Regularly Interlink Your Content

Internal links are a game-changer for SEO. Here’s how to maximise their power:

• Instruct your content writers to add internal links to fresh posts from related existing articles.
• At the end of every month, review older content and make sure they link to newer pieces.
• Use direct match anchor texts for internal links where possible.
• Add as many internal links as you can, as long as it makes sense for the user experience.

Internal linking helps distribute authority across your site and keeps visitors engaged longer.

Step 8: Competitor Backlink Audit

Before chasing new backlinks, review what your competitors are doing. Here’s the process:

• Extract all your competitors’ backlinks and filter out the low-quality ones (link farms, scrapers, etc.).
• Categorise each backlink (PR link, guest post, paid link, etc.).
• Develop tailored outreach email templates for each backlink type.
• Personalise your emails to increase the likelihood of getting links.

By auditing and reverse-engineering your competitors’ backlinks, you can build a solid foundation of high-quality links for your site.

Step 9: Kickstart Your Link-Building Campaign

Stealing competitor links is a start, but building unique links sets you apart. Here’s how:

• Identify 5-10 adjacent niches (related but not direct competitors) and target them for backlinks.
• Create a link magnet (e.g., a valuable piece of content like a study or resource).
• Get a virtual assistant (VA) to research long-tail keywords your prospects rank for and extract their contact details.
• Send a personalised outreach email with a strong value proposition and offer.

You can also automate much of this process using tools like Pitchbox.

Step 10: Ongoing Tracking, Analysis, and Improvement

SEO isn’t a one-time effort—it’s a continuous process. Here’s how to stay on top:

• Regularly track your rankings and make updates when necessary.
• Analyse competitors that outrank you and investigate what changes helped them.
• If competitors gain quality links, replicate their strategy.
• Perform root-cause analysis for content that isn’t ranking well and adjust your approach.

Staying ahead of the competition means constant monitoring, analysis, and adaptation.

Want These Results for Your Business?
Our proven SEO strategy has driven millions of clicks for clients, and we can do the same for you! Let’s talk about how we can help your website climb the ranks on Google and bring more traffic to your business. Get in touch today!