In a world or if you like say kingdom that is oversaturated by content, high-quality content is king and your ability to produce quality content pushes Google to place a crown on the head of your site to move up as the king of your industry.
Creating high-quality content is demanding though. Even if you are an ace writer, getting to number one on Google, or even in the top 10, is a very tall order to climb.
As of 2016, there were 130 Trillion (yes, trillion) pages indexed by Google.
which means your next blog post is a small drop in a very large ocean. Is it even possible to rank, especially if you have a new website with low domain authority?
Yeah, there`s a way to go about it and be recognized, counted, and ranked by the search engine giant
There’s a simpler way to structure your content so it can rank for any target keyword. You can do a SERPs analysis.
If it sounds too technical, hang in there, it’s easy enough that anyone can do it with 30 minutes of prep before writing content – SEO novices and pros alike.
Walk the road of this article with me to learn the steps for writing an article that ranks on Google. But first thing first.
What is a SERP Analysis?
SERP is one of those puzzling acronyms that SEO experts throw around, but it’s extremely simple to conduct and highly effective in creating content that can break the glass ceiling and take you out to the top 10 of Google.
SERP means Search Engine Results Page, so a SERP analysis is nothing more than looking at the top results on Google for a term, and checking for similarities in them and how you draw inspiration from them and outrank them.
When SEOs talk about conducting a SERP analysis, they are just talking about reviewing the top-ranking content on Google and spotting opportunities for them to leverage and get their content to rank.
The secret to getting your next blog post to rank is to understand what Google has already considered quality content worth of making the top 10 list of Google pages.
If you start hammering on your keyboard and mine out 800 words without taking the time to review content already ranking in your niche, you will spend a lot of money, time, and effort and get poor results.
How to Conduct a SERP Analysis
Pick a keyword that you want to focus on for content on your site and run a quick Google search for it.
You don’t have to obsess over choosing the most excellent keyword. Just choose a keyword that you think you have a fair chance at ranking for, and can create a high-quality piece of content around it.
Run a Google search and take note of what ads are bought for the keyword. Which companies are buying the ads?
Take note of what type of content is currently ranking fairly. Is it landing pages or blog posts? In-depth case studies or List articles?
Do the pages include videos, pdf downloads, or the potentiality to listen to the post on an audio recording? Take note of the length of the content that is ranking.
Who is ranking? Are their competitors? How fierce is the competition? Are there unexpected websites? Are they overlapping with you in other ways? What related topics are they including in the content?
By taking note of what the successful pages are doing to rank, you will have a bright idea of what kind of content you need to create to rank with them or outrank them.
This is not encouraging you to become a copycat, shouldn’t copy the existing top-ranking content to join
the league of successful pages.
Google is very smart and they can see right through your veil to note lifted content. Instead, use the top-ranking content as a sort of blueprint for what Google is looking for.
Rather than writing an article blindly hoping it will rank, you can build a plan of attack and structure your post in a way that it mirrors what Google has already considered top-quality content.
Follow These Steps For Writing An Article That Ranks On Google.
#1. Post Relevant Content
Quality and relevant content is the number one driver of search engine ranks and there is no substitute for quality content.
Quality content made especially for your targeted user improves traffic, which boosts your website’s relevance and value.
Consider how your reader may search for this particular webpage (with phrases such as “Chemical technologies in Michigan,” or “Michigan Tech levels”. Then, repeat this term many times through the webpage once or twice at the opening & closing paragraphs, and just two to four times through the rest of the content.
#2. Update your Articles Regularly
Do not ignore to utilize italics, bold, heading tags (particularly an H1), along with other accent tags to spotlight those keyword phrases, but as a best practice, do not overdo it.
Never forfeit great writing for SEO, note that. The top web pages are composed for the consumer, not for your search engine. So write for the consumer first, the search engine`s interest should come behind the customer`s.
You have probably noticed that content appeals strongly to people. Search engines enjoy quality content, also. Frequently updated articles are viewed among the best indicators of a website’s relevancy, so be sure to keep it up to the minute.
#3. Metadata
When crafting your website, each page contains a gap between the tags to insert metadata or information regarding the contents of your webpage.
If you have got a CMS website, the UMC web team will have pre-set this information for you:
#1. Title Metadata: Title metadata takes care of the page titles displayed on top of a browser window & as the headline contained in search engine results.
It’s very important metadata on your page. For those with CMS websites, the internet team has advanced an automatic system for creating the meta name for every page.
#2. Description Metadata: Descriptive metadata describes content for search & discovery contexts, it allows users to connect to resources, and offers important context about a resource once it is discovered.
A great meta description will usually include two full sentences. Search engines may not at all times apply your meta description, however, it is important to give them the alternative.
#3.Keyword metadata: Keyword metadata is rarely if ever utilized to tabulate search engine positions. However you need to already know your keyword phrases, so it doesn’t hurt to include them in your keyword metadata.
#4. Use Descriptive Links in Your Site Instead of a “Click Here” CTA
Focus on generating relevant links inside the text. Instead of getting”click here” links, think about writing out the title of this destination.
“Click here” has no research engine value past the connection URL, whereas” Minnesota Tech Enterprise Program” is loaded with keywords and will improve your search engine positions in addition to the rank of the page you are linking to.
Using descriptive hyperlinks by linking keywords always, not only improves search engine optimization but also adds value to your visitors, such as users with disabilities or those using screen readers.
#5. Use Alt Tags
Always describe your video and visual sites using alt tags, or other text descriptions. They allow search engines to find your webpage, which is important, particularly for visitors using text-only browsers or screen readers.
#6. Building Backlinks
Building backlinks for your site is necessary. Backlinks are links on other websites that link to your website, & building them can be done through link exchanging or buying links from other websites.
You can get backlinks on any website. However, it’s better to have backlinks on sites that relate to your website.
Furthermore, try to get links to your website from websites within your niche with a high Google Page Rank.
#7. Get Listed on Directories
If you are a business, then countries such as UK & Canada offer business directories to submit your business information and get listed.
Another way to get listed is through Google Maps. You can list your business address & website on Google Maps.
If you run a Blog, you can get your blog listed on Technorati, which has the largest blog directory. Get verified by Technorati, & they will syndicate each new post you put on your blog.
This will earn you good exposure to a targeted market, build backlinks and boost visits to your blog.
#7. Choose a keyword for the article, this is what the SERP analysis will be based on
There are 1.7 billion sites on the internet. So if you are writing content for SEO, you need to be thoughtful while choosing keywords to rank for.
Failure to choose wisely causes Google to go blind on your content thereby ignoring it and going for others.
You need to narrow it to a specific niche within your domain that you would like to own, & then subsequent content topics.
For instance, it may be hard to rank for a keyword like “social media advertising” because it’s a highly competitive keyword. That means lots of marketers have already written articles trying to rank for this keyword.
However, intent-based advertising & social intent data are keywords you could consider. They will get enough traffic that you will bring prospective customers to your website because they don’t have so many articles already written by authoritative brands (high domain authority) that you will never get to the top.
#8. Write Beautifully and Write Enough
The actual quality of your writing impacts your rankings. Gone are the days of getting to page one of the Google search results page (SEPR) by writing a poor 500-word article.
So make sure your writing is up to par with quality and lengthy. Your article should follow the guidelines below:
#1. Conclusions: There are some users who will decide whether to read an article by first reading the conclusion.
You should use the conclusion to summarize the key points of the post to encourage such readers to read your entire article, so make sure to write a conclusion that captures and summarizes the key takeaways from the article.
#2. Introductions: It’s one of the first things your readers see (unless they are among those who first jump to a conclusion), so make your intro count.
Make it catchy, but also firm and authoritative: they want to figure out as quickly as possible if your page will offer them the answer they are looking for. Don’t waste their time.
#3. Proper length: In most search cases, longer-form content does better in the rankings engine, so make sure yours are longer (in the range of 1,000-word at least).
#4. Keywords: While John Mueller has said that keyword density doesn’t matter, it does to some extent. Google’s crawlers do want to see your target keywords & other semantically similar keywords in your content.
You don’t need to go overboard, but you do need to include relevant keywords early and frequently.
#5. Suitable verbiage: High-quality content doesn’t necessarily mean using big words & industry jargon. You can write great posts without isolating audiences that don’t have a specific background or experience.
Write conversationally in the first person perspective. They should be action-oriented & concise, & make sure to keep it readable with varying sentence structure, shorter paragraphs, & good formatting.
#9. Make Article Readable
Long articles don’t mean lengthy paragraphs. Many people flip through articles before diving in properly, so you should help out the readers who won’t sit through 2,500 words of dense content.
Some great ways to add formatting to your blog article:
#1. Ensure that each section has clear headlines/main takeaways so that the article is easy to skim.
#2. Break up the paragraphs into short paragraphs of two or three lines. Each one should have no more than 3 sentences.
#3. Vary the length of sentences. It’s easier to read articles that have a mix of long & short sentences. It keeps users engaged and scrolling!
#4. Use bullets, numbered lists, & bolding for emphasis.
#5. Add images, infographics, charts, and tables to illustrate more complex points.
#6. Ensure to optimize for mobile so that it looks good on small screens. Google mostly uses mobile-first indexing, meaning if your mobile site looks horrible, even super incredible content won’t rank on it.
Conclusion
The bottom line is, if you are serious about getting recognition from Google, You shouldn’t jump from one SEO strategy to another in the hope to show up on top of the Google search page.
If you find a good tactic, go with it for a good amount of time if you want profitable results. Leverage the steps for writing an article that ranks on Google as provided in this guide, Google does not rank content that bypasses the set rules.
With a little push and preparation, your next article will be in the best position possible to start ranking on the first page of Google.
