Updated Nov 2020

SEO strategy for marketing

6 steps to boost your rankings and grow your business

Quick win

Set up your Google My Business page. This lets customers contact you directly from the search results. Boost your ranking by asking customers for reviews

Keyword research helps you understand what customers are searching for
Google understands topics, regardless of the exact wording customers use. Therefore think of this as “topic research”
Use Google Search Console to find out what people were searching for when they landed on your site, and how you rank for those terms

Find related keywords by looking at autocomplete suggestions on Google, YouTube or Amazon (use incognito mode), or by looking at “people also ask” and “related searches” in the Google search results
AnswerThePublic gives an expansive and inspirational view of what people are interested in
Google Ads Keyword Planner gives search volume for related keywords, and pay-per-click competition (not SEO difficulty)
Google Trends shows if interest in a keyword is rising

To get clicks you have to be in the first few results for the segments you target
Use Google Search Console to see where you rank for specific keywords, tools like KWFinder to check SEO difficulty, and tools like SERPChecker to check how you rank
Can I Rank is useful because it tells you whether it’s realistic for your website to make it to the top for a given keyword
If necessary, target a more specific niche. There are many available. Each day 20% of Google searches have never been seen before

The critical test is whether your content is good enough that your readers want to share it. This matters because other people linking to your site is the most important driver for how high your site appears, and social sharing also boosts rankings
No other consideration is more important. For example don’t repeat keywords if it makes your content less readable. Google wants to show the best content, and is not easily tricked

Shareability is the single biggest driver of SEO success

Make it easy to share your content. Use social sharing buttons
Ask people you know to add links from their site to yours
You can approach sites in your sector and ask for links. Typically you have to write content for them (guest posts) which link back to your site. This works, but is labour-intensive
The best strategy is to do collaborations with others in your sector where you both get value, and exchange links

It is possible to buy links (e.g. from Fat Joe). This is risky because Google may detect that the content is poor, and penalise the rankings. If you’re using an agency, check they’re not doing this
In Google Search Console you can see who has linked to your site, and with tools like LinkMiner you can see your own backlinks and those of competitors (allowing you to identify potential partners to approach)

Sites need to be fast and formatted correctly (“On-Page SEO”). Tools can analyse your site and tell you what to do.
Google can test if your site is fast and mobile friendly
SEO Site Checkup will give you a comprehensive rundown of issues, and Siteliner will check for broken links. Broken links are also visible in the Google Search Console
Browseo shows how your site appears to a search engine
For certain types of content, like recipes, Google can display “rich results”. Look through the gallery, and see if any apply to you. If so, add structured data to your site. You can test if it's working (and test the data)
Try to use readable urls (like site.com/best-toys-for-babies)
If you use a website builder like WordPress, Squarespace or Wix, this will take care of many SEO issues for you

Track search clicks in Google Search Console
Choose a set of strategic keywords (e.g. for each of your top 5 topics), and track your rankings over time. This can be done with tools like SERPWatcher or SEMrush (which also includes a full range of SEO solutions)

SERPWatcher shows all critical rank tracking data on one screen