Here are some of the strategies that will give you a guarantee result for your startup based on my experience.
1. Set up Google Search Console.
Google's free tool to help you monitor your SEO performance. Has the most accurate data.
This can help you:
2. Set up Google Analytics
Google's free tool to help you monitor website traffic.
Pro-tip: Connect Google Analytics with Search Console to get access to deeper insights.
Again you will do this only once.
3. Create and submit a sitemap
Sitemap helps Google find pages on your website easily & effectively.
You can submit a sitemap manually through Google Search Console or setup an automated script to update & submit your sitemap regularly (recommended).
Frequency: One-time
4. Make sure your website uses HTTPS.
HTTPS is a must for modern websites. While it isn't a heavy ranking factor, Google will prioritize https over http.
HTTPS webpages over non-HTTPS ones.
Moreover, Chrome & Safari will warn users against browsing non-HTTPS websites.
Frequency: One-time.
5. Have a clean site structure
A balanced site structure helps Google navigate your website easily. Eg. for e-commerce sites, every product page can be mapped to a category, and have linked pages like reviews, alternatives etc. Frequency: One-time
6. Add default title & meta tags.
Title & meta description tags are key elements of on-page SEO.
It's a good practice to add default title & meta tags so that you never encounter missing tags error. You do it one-time.
7. Keyword Research
Come up with a list of seed keywords,
Keywords, topics or even broad themes you already know or have read about. Eg. if you target remote workers, your seed keywords can be - remote work - telecommuting - digital nomad. Frequency: Once every X months.
8. Use online communities to get keyword ideas
- Wikipedia: Table of contents.
- Quora: Questions & related questions.
- Google: Autocomplete & People also ask for.
- Reddit: Discussions in specific subreddits.
Also, use a tool like Keywordit. Frequency: Once every X months
9. Use Google autocomplete to get specific suggestions
- Type something on Google & you'll see predictions that can be your seed keywords
- To get more results, type in letters sequentially. For ex. "funding a", funding b" etc.
Frequency: Once every X months
10. Use a keyword research tool to expand the list.
I've used Ahrefs & SEMRush love both of them.
- Enter your seed keywords in keyword explorer
- Ahrefs: "phrase match", "having same terms"
- SEMRush: "keyword variations", "related keywords"
Frequency: Once every X months.
11.Filter keywords for low difficulty
Every tool will have a keyword difficulty (KD) score.
Filter your list by a low KD, say 20. KD is only a heuristic & helps you get an initial list.
You have to do manual work to filter the list further.
Frequency: Once every X months.
12.Filter keywords for low-to-mid volume.
You rank faster for low volume keywords vs. high volume ones.
Plus, high volume keywords usually have high competition.
It helps in short-term to put min & max volume filter.
Frequency: Once every X months
13.Manually check for search intent.
The only reliable way to confirm search intent is to manually check the top 10 results for:
- Content type
- Blogs, ecommerce pages, company website.
- Format - Listicles, tutorials, opinion pieces.
Frequency: For every new article.
14. Check website authority for top 10 results
Your aim is to kick out one of the top 10 results.
So ideally you should have at least 1 or 2 results in top 10 that have lower authority than your website.
More the better.
Frequency: For every new article.
15. Write for humans
Writing high-quality content is a must to get SEO results, and to retain your ranking & traffic despite Google's changes.
While you optimize content for Google, you must always write for humans. Frequency: For every new article.
16.Focus on solving the searcher's problem.
Checking for search intent is key while doing keyword research. But more importantly, you need to create content, which then solves for the searcher's exact problem. Frequency: For every new article
17.Focus on readability
General pointers for writing on the web apply: - Powerful headlines - Clear subheadings - Short paragraphs - Short sentences - Bullet points Recommended tool: Hemingway app Frequency: For every new article
18.Check for grammatical errors
Recommended tool: Grammarly Frequency: For every new article.
19. Create SEO-friendly URLs
Simple rules to follow
- Short slugs, preferably with your keyword
- No numbers, special chars, connecting words
- Reader friendly
Example
❌ /21-top-code-editors-of-2021
✅ /top-code-editors
Frequency: For every new article.
20. Write an SEO-friendly title.
- Concise & relevant to what your page is about.
- Contain keyword in a natural & non-over-optimized way - Has max of 1 keyword and 1 related keyword.
- Hack: Make it roughly similar to already ranking sites.
Frequency: For every new article.
21.Write an SEO-friendly meta description.
- Effectively summarises the content, and is catchy
- Contain your target keyword(s) - Should be around 150-160 characters long
- Pro-tip: Should not contain double quotations ("") Frequency: For every new article.
22.Use a mix of internal & external links Internal links
- Helps Google know your website structure
- Page authority flows across pages External links
- Connects you with other quality websites in the same domain
Frequency: For every new article.
23. No sub-domains
Google treats them almost like separate websites.
Always use sub-folders. Frequency: For every new article.
24. No orphan pages.
Orphan pages are pages on your website that are not linked to any other pages. As a rule of thumb, each page on your website should have at least 1 internal link. Frequency: For every new article.
25. Make your website fast
- Speed is an important part of user experience
- Google prefers to show search results from fast websites
- Aim for 90+ score on for both desktop & mobile
- More importantly, benchmark your speed vs. your competitors.
Frequency: For every new article.
26.Make your website mobile-friendly
- Mobile responsiveness & speed are key factors in Google’s rankings.
-Making your site mobile friendly should be a conscious decision from the start, and not an afterthought.
Frequency: For every new article.
27.Find & fix website errors
- Perform regular website audits using tools like ahrefs or SEMRush
- Fix all errors, and aim to minimize warnings too Frequency: For every new article
Thats all, you should be ready to rank in a few months if you keep it consistent.
1. Set up Google Search Console.
Google's free tool to help you monitor your SEO performance. Has the most accurate data.
This can help you:
- Monitor keywords you rank for
- Find website errors
- Submit sitemap Frequency, this a one time thing.
2. Set up Google Analytics
Google's free tool to help you monitor website traffic.
Pro-tip: Connect Google Analytics with Search Console to get access to deeper insights.
Again you will do this only once.
3. Create and submit a sitemap
Sitemap helps Google find pages on your website easily & effectively.
You can submit a sitemap manually through Google Search Console or setup an automated script to update & submit your sitemap regularly (recommended).
Frequency: One-time
4. Make sure your website uses HTTPS.
HTTPS is a must for modern websites. While it isn't a heavy ranking factor, Google will prioritize https over http.
HTTPS webpages over non-HTTPS ones.
Moreover, Chrome & Safari will warn users against browsing non-HTTPS websites.
Frequency: One-time.
5. Have a clean site structure
A balanced site structure helps Google navigate your website easily. Eg. for e-commerce sites, every product page can be mapped to a category, and have linked pages like reviews, alternatives etc. Frequency: One-time
6. Add default title & meta tags.
Title & meta description tags are key elements of on-page SEO.
It's a good practice to add default title & meta tags so that you never encounter missing tags error. You do it one-time.
7. Keyword Research
Come up with a list of seed keywords,
Keywords, topics or even broad themes you already know or have read about. Eg. if you target remote workers, your seed keywords can be - remote work - telecommuting - digital nomad. Frequency: Once every X months.
8. Use online communities to get keyword ideas
- Wikipedia: Table of contents.
- Quora: Questions & related questions.
- Google: Autocomplete & People also ask for.
- Reddit: Discussions in specific subreddits.
Also, use a tool like Keywordit. Frequency: Once every X months
9. Use Google autocomplete to get specific suggestions
- Type something on Google & you'll see predictions that can be your seed keywords
- To get more results, type in letters sequentially. For ex. "funding a", funding b" etc.
Frequency: Once every X months
10. Use a keyword research tool to expand the list.
I've used Ahrefs & SEMRush love both of them.
- Enter your seed keywords in keyword explorer
- Ahrefs: "phrase match", "having same terms"
- SEMRush: "keyword variations", "related keywords"
Frequency: Once every X months.
11.Filter keywords for low difficulty
Every tool will have a keyword difficulty (KD) score.
Filter your list by a low KD, say 20. KD is only a heuristic & helps you get an initial list.
You have to do manual work to filter the list further.
Frequency: Once every X months.
12.Filter keywords for low-to-mid volume.
You rank faster for low volume keywords vs. high volume ones.
Plus, high volume keywords usually have high competition.
It helps in short-term to put min & max volume filter.
Frequency: Once every X months
13.Manually check for search intent.
The only reliable way to confirm search intent is to manually check the top 10 results for:
- Content type
- Blogs, ecommerce pages, company website.
- Format - Listicles, tutorials, opinion pieces.
Frequency: For every new article.
14. Check website authority for top 10 results
Your aim is to kick out one of the top 10 results.
So ideally you should have at least 1 or 2 results in top 10 that have lower authority than your website.
More the better.
Frequency: For every new article.
15. Write for humans
Writing high-quality content is a must to get SEO results, and to retain your ranking & traffic despite Google's changes.
While you optimize content for Google, you must always write for humans. Frequency: For every new article.
16.Focus on solving the searcher's problem.
Checking for search intent is key while doing keyword research. But more importantly, you need to create content, which then solves for the searcher's exact problem. Frequency: For every new article
17.Focus on readability
General pointers for writing on the web apply: - Powerful headlines - Clear subheadings - Short paragraphs - Short sentences - Bullet points Recommended tool: Hemingway app Frequency: For every new article
18.Check for grammatical errors
Recommended tool: Grammarly Frequency: For every new article.
19. Create SEO-friendly URLs
Simple rules to follow
- Short slugs, preferably with your keyword
- No numbers, special chars, connecting words
- Reader friendly
Example
❌ /21-top-code-editors-of-2021
✅ /top-code-editors
Frequency: For every new article.
20. Write an SEO-friendly title.
- Concise & relevant to what your page is about.
- Contain keyword in a natural & non-over-optimized way - Has max of 1 keyword and 1 related keyword.
- Hack: Make it roughly similar to already ranking sites.
Frequency: For every new article.
21.Write an SEO-friendly meta description.
- Effectively summarises the content, and is catchy
- Contain your target keyword(s) - Should be around 150-160 characters long
- Pro-tip: Should not contain double quotations ("") Frequency: For every new article.
22.Use a mix of internal & external links Internal links
- Helps Google know your website structure
- Page authority flows across pages External links
- Connects you with other quality websites in the same domain
Frequency: For every new article.
23. No sub-domains
Google treats them almost like separate websites.
Always use sub-folders. Frequency: For every new article.
24. No orphan pages.
Orphan pages are pages on your website that are not linked to any other pages. As a rule of thumb, each page on your website should have at least 1 internal link. Frequency: For every new article.
25. Make your website fast
- Speed is an important part of user experience
- Google prefers to show search results from fast websites
- Aim for 90+ score on for both desktop & mobile
- More importantly, benchmark your speed vs. your competitors.
Frequency: For every new article.
26.Make your website mobile-friendly
- Mobile responsiveness & speed are key factors in Google’s rankings.
-Making your site mobile friendly should be a conscious decision from the start, and not an afterthought.
Frequency: For every new article.
27.Find & fix website errors
- Perform regular website audits using tools like ahrefs or SEMRush
- Fix all errors, and aim to minimize warnings too Frequency: For every new article
Thats all, you should be ready to rank in a few months if you keep it consistent.
