You’ve managed to build a brand that’s super-successful (or launch a startup that’s killin’ it), but for some reason, Google didn’t get the memo. There’s nothing quite like the stench of obscurity on Google to ruin the sweet smell of your success. Your content still isn’t ranking. Your competitors are ranking higher. And truthfully, your search engine presence just doesn’t do your brand justice. 

First things first: kudos on your success. Not everyone can do what you’ve done. The time and effort you’ve put into building your business has paid off, and that deserves to be acknowledged. Now, back to the problem…

Unfortunately, real-world success doesn’t always translate to success on Google, and when that happens, it can be confusing and frustrating. Not to mention, it can impact your brand credibility and, ultimately, your bottom line. Like it or not, Google’s algorithm is the gatekeeper to your organic search presence.

But here’s the thing: conquering Google isn’t about luck—it’s about strategy, and that’s where I come in, with a map and a flashlight to lead the way. (And, over a decade of experience driving results for hundreds of brands, including other marketing agencies. But I digress…)

So, let’s get to it.  It’s time to make your search engine presence as kickass as your brand.

A good SEO strategy starts with the end in mind

I’m sure you’re excited to dive right into content ideas and SEO tactics. But, hold your horses—or, shall we say, your keywords? Before we get to the nitty-gritty, ask yourself: Why am I creating content?

The last thing you want to do is create a piece of content that ranks and gets a ton of traffic… but does absolutely nothing for your overall marketing and sales strategy. Or worse, create a piece of content that totally falls flat with your audience and leaves them wondering, “Why the fluff did I just waste my time on that?”

A lot of people talk about creating content that’s “valuable” and “relevant” – both super important things, no doubt – but not enough people are talking about creating content that truly serves a purpose. So, before you even consider investing in your content and SEO strategy, you need to embrace a mindset shift.

Repeat after me:

• “I will not create content just for the sake of creating content.”
• “I will not try to rank on Google just for the sake of ranking on Google.”  

Ensure your content has a purpose

Every piece of content you create needs to have a purpose, both for you and your audience, or you’re wasting your time and money. There are a hundred different ways your content can drive impact, and only you can decide which aligns best with your brand goals.  

Is it a beacon for brand awareness? Is it a magnet for traffic, sales, or leads?   Is it a way to prove authority over competitors? Is it a way to become a go-to resource for new clients and customers? 

If you’re unsure of what you’re truly trying to accomplish, ask yourself these two questions:

• “What do I want my audience to get from this content?”

• “What do I want to get from my audience as a result of them viewing this content?”

Whatever your goal, it should scream purpose and impact. The end result will be content that not only has the potential to dominate Google Search but also delivers true value to your bottom line. Now, let’s get into the dirty details!

Why don’t I rank on Google?

We’re back to the costly dilemma that brought you here in the first place: “Why doesn’t my content/website rank on Google?”

Ah, the million-dollar question—or dare I say, the organic, keyword-rich, user-engaging query 😉

Maybe you’ve been pouring your heart and soul into your content, but it’s not even close to ranking on page one. Maybe your content has so much more value to deliver than your competitors, but they’re still ranking higher for the same key phrases. Or perhaps the worst of all, you’re paying someone else to create content or manage your SEO, and after months of waiting, your search engine presence is still lackluster. 

I’ve seen this a million times. In fact, it’s one of the most common reasons other marketing agencies reach out to me for help. The good news is it’s fixable. 

If you’ve managed to build a successful brand, then I have zero doubt that you have a ton of value to add to your audience. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be where you are right now. It’s simply a matter of shifting your mindset and your approach to ranking.

The 7 reasons you’re not ranking

Most clients I work with who have a successful brand that still isn’t ranking on Google are struggling due to a few common reasons: 

• • Outdated SEO strategy: Let’s stop pretending it’s 2010 and realize that the search engine optimization game has changed.  Google’s not fooled by content riddled with keywords and spammy backlinks; neither is your audience. In fact, using these tactics could get you penalized by Google, as it makes your site look untrustworthy. The goal should always be to aim for value, clarity, and content that serves a purpose, not just SEO fluff. Less is usually more.

• • Lack of planning & research: Don’t put the cart before the horse. You may have great ideas that you’re ready to share with the world, but even the best concepts need planning and research first if you want a shot at ranking. Without planning and research, your great ideas are likely to remain your best-kept secrets. If you don’t know where to get started with research, don’t worry, we’re getting there. 

• • Strategy…or lack thereof: Too many brands I’ve worked with approach their SEO strategy in a very disjointed way. They’ll create an editorial calendar with a list of target keywords they think their audience may be interested in and then go to work creating content. Sound familiar? The problem is that there’s no cohesion between the topics. We’ll talk more about this when we dive into the topic of creating content pillars. 

• • Taking shortcuts: With the influx of AI SEO tools flooding the market, the allure of quick, easy results may be tempting. Don’t get me wrong, some of those AI tools are super valuable, but they should never be used as a shortcut to a well-researched strategy built around purpose-driven content. Your SEO strategy still very much needs human input, creativity, and commitment. If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. 

• • Technical SEO issues: Technical details and onsite SEO issues can impact your ability to show up in search. The digital world waits for no one, least of all for a slowly loading, poorly designed page. Things like a lack of technical onsite SEO, poor page design, slow page loads, and a design that isn’t mobile-friendly can all impede your ability to rank. 

• • Lack of marketing strategy: There’s a reciprocal relationship between SEO and the rest of your marketing channels. Simply waiting for your content to be seen is not a strategy. Promoting and marketing your content feeds SEO, usually through backlinks, and SEO, in turn, improves the rest of your marketing, namely through traffic and exposure. Makes sense, right?  We’ll talk more about marketing your content in the next section. 

• • Unrealistic expectations: I know that you’re probably sick of waiting for results – rightfully so – but the reality is that getting to the top of search engines does take time. Firstly, it takes Google time to index and crawl your content. You also need to consider the time involved in research/planning, content development, optimization, and marketing. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither is a winning SEO strategy. 

Building a successful search engine presence doesn’t need to be complicated. It’s only when we try to circumvent the process or take shortcuts that we make things more difficult and costly than they need to be. 

Key components of a winning SEO strategy

Define the purpose of your content

Decide what you want the content to do for your audience and, subsequently, for your brand. 

For example, before I developed this blog post you’re reading now; I started with this purpose, “I want to create a piece of content that shows potential clients that I’m an expert in creating content that ranks on Google and, as a result, I want to them to download my free guide at the bottom of the blog post.”

By creating a very clear purpose for the content, you can develop it with your goals in mind instead of just creating content for the sake of ranking. The end result is content that not only ranks but also engages and converts. 

Brainstorm a list of topics 

Once you have a purpose in mind, brainstorm a list of potential titles for your content. 

When I decided I wanted to create an informative guide on helping 7-figure brands rank on Google, I came up with a topic list that looked like this: 

• Why You’re Not Ranking and How to Fix It

• Why Your Competitors Are Ranking Higher: The SEO Secrets Your Enterprise Needs

• SEO Strategies for Elite Brands

• Fixing Your Organic Search Engine Presence

Although the titles were basically a variation of the same concept, writing out a few different variations comes in handy for keyword research. 

Conduct key phrase research

It’s important not to skip this step. Even if you have an engaging topic and a compelling title, if you’re targeting key phrases that aren’t really relevant to your audience or brand, or if the key phrases are too competitive, you may be relegated to Google obscurity. Consider the following: 

• What is your target customer searching for on Google? Make a list of potential search terms that you think align with your audience’s needs. You’ll use this in the following steps. 

• Ask yourself if those search terms are truly aligned with your brand. If they aren’t, take them off the list. Just because you can rank for something doesn’t mean you should. 

• Once you have a list of key phrases that are related to your title, relevant to what your audience is searching for, and aligned with your brand, use a keyword research tool to do some research on search volume and competition. Google Keyword Planner is free, but a few of my other favorites are Ahref Keyword Tool and SEM Rush. Essentially, what you’re looking for is a search term with a decent search volume and low to medium competition.  

• Pick your key phrases and update your title to include that phrase. Your title should speak to your ideal audience’s search intent, and it should also include your key phrase.

Google Keyword Planner

In the photo below, you can see that I landed on the key phrase “rank higher on Google.” I chose this term because it had a great search volume and low anticipated competition. 

 

Identify content pillars and content clusters 

Now that you have some content ideas and key phrases in mind, you need to organize them into a cohesive strategy, instead of producing a random assortment of topics that you want to rank for, develop a structured approach to content using content pillars and clusters. 

Content pillars are in-depth pieces of content that represent a broad theme that you want to cover for your audience, while clusters dive into specific aspects of a topic that support the main content pillars. 

“Pillar content will remain one of the major influencers of a successful SEO strategy in 2024. It assists you in creating large, comprehensive, thorough articles as the central hub, thereby commanding authority and trust from both users and search engines,” explains Andrii Latenko, SEO expert at HARO Links Agency. 

For example, this blog post is one of my content pillars, as it does a deep dive into the topic of how to rank on Google, which is something I want to be seen as an expert on. Some of my content clusters might include blog posts on the ‘Best Tools to Use to Boost SEO’,  or ‘Creative Ways to Build Backlinks to Your Content.’

Ideally, you’ll identify 2-3 broad topics, which will be your content pillars, and 5-10 (or more) content cluster ideas to support each pillar. 

Develop your content

Creating content that ranks well and resonates with your audience takes more than just a good idea and a keyboard.  Every time you develop a piece of content, it should address the following three criteria: 

Align content with search intent

What is your audience searching for and why? Search intent refers to the reason behind a user’s search query—what they hope to find, learn, or accomplish. Your content needs to give them what they’re looking for.  

You’ve already done some research on relevant key phrases, so you should have a general idea of what your target audience is searching for. However, you can take it a step further by using Google’s “People Also Ask” section. This section provides a wealth of information on what users are looking for. 

By searching through this section and looking through the common questions, you can shape your content to address some of these specific queries. By writing content that answers some of these questions, you not only align with user search intent but also increase your chances of appearing in featured snippets.

For example, in the screenshot below, you can see that when I google the term “rank higher on Google,” I come up with the list of related questions in the screenshot below. Although I don’t go into detail on every single question in this blog post, I do cover most of the common questions people have. 

Google’s “People Also Ask” section

 

Keep your purpose in mind

Every piece of content should serve a clear purpose, whether it’s to inform, engage, or convert. If your goal is to generate leads, drive email subscribers, increase sales, or simply become a thought leader in your space, your content should include subtle and direct calls to action (CTAs) that guide your readers toward some sort of ongoing relationship with you. This might include:

• • Organic Callouts: Throughout your content, naturally integrate mentions of your services or products. These should feel like a part of the narrative rather than disruptive ads.

• • Direct CTAs: Strategically place CTAs that encourage readers to take action. Whether it’s subscribing to a newsletter, downloading a resource, or contacting your team, make sure the CTAs are clear and compelling.

• • Content Upgrades: Offer additional valuable resources or exclusive content in exchange for contact information. This can be in the form of eBooks, checklists, or templates that align with the topic of your content.

The reality is that Google algorithms do change from time to time, and even if you succeed in getting your content to rank, you don’t want to rely solely on the whims of Google to give you an influx of traffic and customers. 

If you are going through the hard work of trying to rank on Google, then you need to find compelling ways to get your audience to stick around or re-engage with you once they land on your content. 

Provide a unique perspective or new information

To stand out in search results and captivate your audience, your content needs to offer something unique. No one gets super excited about doing business with someone who sounds exactly like everyone else. And Google doesn’t care for it much, either. 

Avoid the temptation to create generic “top 10 lists” or to have AI write you an article that just rehashes what’s already available. Your content either needs to provide a fresh perspective or new information. 

Again, this will help you immensely not only as you try to rank on Google but also in attracting the attention and loyalty of potential clients and customers. 

Here are a few ways to go about it: 

• • Don’t be afraid to be different: Share unique insights, personal perspectives, case studies, or first-hand experiences that your competitors cannot replicate. Your unique perspective can set your content apart and establish your brand as a thought leader.

• • Conduct original research: Invest in creating original research or data-driven content. Surveys, studies, and industry reports can offer new information that others don’t have, making your content more valuable and link-worthy.

• • Innovative formats: Explore different content formats, such as interactive infographics, videos, podcasts, or webinars. These formats can engage your audience in new ways and make your content more shareable.

By focusing on these three key points—aligning with user search intent, developing content with purpose, and providing a unique perspective—, you can create content that not only ranks well in search engines but also resonates deeply with your target audience, driving both traffic and engagement.

Remember, your brand’s personality should shine through every pixel and punctuation mark. 

Optimize your content for SEO

Yay, your content is done! Well, almost. Congrats on making it this far. 

Now that you have a content strategy mapped out and your first piece of kickass content developed, it’s time to optimize. (And not in a 2010 keyword stuffing sort of way). 

You’ll want to focus on these optimization steps before your content goes live: 

Add links to reputable outside sources

Add links to authoritative external sources that support your content. These should be reputable sites that support your ideas but not direct competitors. Linking to trustworthy sources can improve your content’s trustworthiness. Incorporating links to outside sources can also come in handy when you’re marketing your content and asking for backlinks. More on that soon. 

Don’t forget internal linking

Don’t forget to include internal links to your other content to create a cohesive structure between your content clusters and content pillars. Internal links signal to search engines the importance and relevance of your interconnected content, boosting your SEO efforts. Even more importantly, it keeps your audience engaged longer and further elevates you as an authority figure in your niche. 

Add meta tags and descriptions

Each piece of content needs to have optimized meta tags and descriptions that include your primary key phrase.  Meta tags and descriptions not only help search engines understand the content of your pages but also influence click-through rates from search results. The goal should be to develop compelling descriptions that accurately reflect your content and entice users to click.

Focus on design

Even if your content is in written form only, it’s critical to incorporate images, videos, or graphics to make your content more engaging and visually appealing. Multimedia elements break up large blocks of text, making the content easier to read and more attractive. They also offer opportunities for additional keyword optimization through alt text and descriptions.

Use reputable optimization tools

Running your (nearly) completed content through an affordable SEO tool like Frase can provide you with further optimization suggestions. Frase analyzes your content against top-ranking pages and provides actionable insights to improve its relevance and rank-worthiness. It identifies gaps, suggests additional keywords, and ensures your content is competitive within its niche.

While there are other tools, like Clearscope, that have similar capabilities, I’ve personally found Frase to be the most affordable and easy to use. 

Optimizing your content might not be the sexiest step of the process, but it’s one of the most important.

Don’t forget marketing

Your content might be developed, but your work is just getting started. Your mission is to get your content in front of as many relevant people as possible. The reward? Improved street cred with Google and higher search engine rankings. 

Essentially, you’ll want to consider, at minimum, these two factors when it comes to marketing your content: 

Social signals are important for SEO

A social signal is any interaction on social media that shows people are engaging with your content. Likes, shares, and comments on social media platforms indicate to search engines that your content is valuable and engaging, which can positively impact your rankings. Aside from the potential search engine benefits, getting more visibility to your content on social media just makes sense from an exposure and engagement standpoint. 

To boost social sharing and engagement, follow these simple tips: 

• • Allow social sharing tools like Quuu Promote to do some of the heavy lifting. Quuu Promote boosts your social signals by sharing your content with a highly engaged and relevant audience…on autopilot! This increases your reach and boosts likes, shares, and comments. It also saves you time by showing your content to the right people without you having to invest a ton of time into audience building.

• • Share engaging content regularly and consistently. Don’t overthink it. Simply maintain a consistent posting schedule to keep your audience engaged and coming back for more. Be sure to include well-researched hashtags and include the occasional thought-provoking question to encourage engagement. 

• • Collaborate with influencers: Whether you already have a big social media audience or none at all, it might make sense to partner with influencers to get more eyes on your content and to improve your social signals (you may even end up with some backlinks if people like what they’re seeing!). You can reach out to influencers in an old-fashioned way or use a tool like Collabstr to filter relevant influencers easily based on niche, audience size, engagement, and price. 

The power of backlink building

Backlinks in SEO are like pineapple on pizza—some people swear by them, and others think they’re an abomination. Either way, I think we can all agree that they’re not going away. 

Like it or not, you need backlinks if you want your content to rank. Backlinks signal to search engines that your content is authoritative and trustworthy. And that’s exactly what you’re here for! 

But not so fast – not all backlinks are created equal. They need to be real and organic links to your content. Trust me, Google knows the difference between a paid link on a spammy blog and a real link from a credible media source. 

You’ve come this far, and you’re almost to the promised land. Don’t jeopardize your entire strategy by buying shitty backlinks from an unscrupulous backlink reseller. Seriously, just don’t. 

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, here are some legit ways to build backlinks. 

• Newsletters: 

Share your new content with your newsletter or email list.  If people like what you have to say, it’s not unheard of that they’ll reshare your link on social media or even on their own blog.  You may end up with a few easy backlinks or social shares just by sharing with your existing audience. 

• Reach out to your sources: 

Did you link to any sources in your content? You should have. And if you didn’t, you need to go back a few steps and add credible sources to your content!

When you have relevant sources in your content, it would be strategic to reach out and let them know that you found their work to be valuable and that you linked to them in your content. Share the link, and let them know that you’re totally cool with them sharing a link to it or using you as a future resource if they find it valuable. Don’t beg, of course. But this should be a good way to get a few backlinks and build relationships with relevant people in your industry who will serve you again and again. 

• Guest posting on niche blogs:

Reach out to reputable blogs in your industry and pitch them on a guest post. Yes, people have been doing this for decades now. And yes, it totally still works…as long as you’re actually providing valuable insights and not just SEO garbage. 

Provide valuable, high-quality content that includes a link back to your site. This not only builds backlinks but also positions you as an authority in your field.

• Pitch reporters using tools like Qwoted, HARO, & Featured 

Pitching reporters on services like Qwoted and Connectively (formerly HARO) is an effective way to gain valuable media coverage and backlinks. When you give reporters exactly what they’re looking for, you’ll get what you need, too. Win, win. 

The key is to provide insightful, expert comments and not just reach out with spammy promotional pitches. If you do this,  you can get your brand mentioned in reputable publications, often with a backlink. 

Benefits of content that ranks on Google

Let’s face it: snagging that top spot on Google is like the ultimate game of King of the Hill. The view’s great, but everyone’s trying to topple you. So, why hustle to get your content to rank? 

I think you already know that the hard work is worth the effort, or you wouldn’t have read this far. But alas, I’m going to spell it out for you anyway – 

Being front and center on Google means you’re more likely to be found, more likely to be taken seriously, and more likely to win over clients and customers. Period. 

Armando Del Riego, Chief Operating Officer at Corepay, explains how SEO has had a profound impact on lead generation for their brand, “We achieved the #1 spot for one of our biggest keywords by optimizing our on-page, building out internal links, and creating an affiliate program that attracted some huge backlinks. [As a result], We see over 60 daily hits to our page mentioned, and it is one of our biggest lead magnets.”

To drill down even further, winning at the SEO game also has a massively positive impact on these areas of your marketing and sales strategy: 

Traffic: Ranking higher is like having a neon sign on the internet highway. It directs traffic straight to your doorstep. More eyes on your site generally translates to more action.

Street cred/brand trust: Consider Google’s prime real estate like the cool kids’ table. If you’re there, you must be doing something right, and people trust that. Your brand gets a halo of credibility.

Warm leads: The leads from organic search are like friends of friends at a party – already somewhat interested and potentially easier to chat up, resulting in higher conversion rates.

Thought leadership: Rank higher, and you’re the go-to guru, which can lead to more opportunities, like speaking gigs, media opportunities, bigger clients or potential partnerships.

Making content rank is like winning Willy Wonka’s golden ticket, but for the web world. The goal is to make it visible, trustworthy, and oh-so-clickable!

This helpful infographic below, by DemandSage, really drives home the importance of SEO.

We’ve already established that you’re sick of your competitors ranking higher, your content being unseen, and your search engine presence being mediocre at best. So, let’s pivot that, shall we? 

Picture this: your website, gleaming atop Google’s first page, catching clicks like a pro. That stellar user experience you’ve crafted is paying off in the form of lower bounce rates, stronger inbound links, and a buzz around your content that’s sweeter than hummingbirds to nectar.

The only question now is, how would you like to move forward?

I’m glad you asked. After reading this far, which of the following sounds most like you: 

Option 1: This guide was super helpful. I’m more confident than ever, and I have everything I need to get started!

If that’s you — go get ‘em, tiger! If you do run into any questions, feel free to reach out or refer back to the blog for more resources. 

Option 2: This guide was great, but I’m still a little confused about backlink building and marketing my content. 

Understandable. It took me years to master the art of backlink building. I wouldn’t expect you to be a pro after one blog post.

Option 3: Fluff this noise! Ranking on Google sounds awesome, but I don’t have the time, energy, or expertise to do all of this. 

I got you. Your time is valuable. Spending time on SEO takes time away from the things you’re truly good at.  It’s a super strategic, brilliant business move to recognize your limitations and admit when something is not your wheelhouse. 

Lots of super successful business owners recognize the value and necessity of SEO and have no interest in doing it themselves. Sometimes, it just doesn’t make sense for you to spend your valuable time on it.