The main things in SEO never change.
They never stop working, and still haven’t.
There's an illusion proliferated out there that things are always changing.
Yes. Half true.
The most dangerous truth of all is half truth. The problem with half truth is that it’s still half balderdash. And more often than not, the truth is used to support the balderdash part.
Moving on, the thing is, even today, even with AI overview which I’ll touch on shortly, you can establish a business online in 90 days using SEO.
And most of the things you will do in that 90 days will be no different to what you would have done to be successful in the early 2000s.
The first time I SEO'd a website was in 2004. It was after I'd watched a video about a website that was having huge success with SEO.
This video was selling an SEO course. The bummer was, there was no way I could afford the course at that time.
But it was clear the website being used as the poster child of this video was truly successful. That is, it looked to be making a good amount of sales.
Yes, the site was ranking for the keywords and phrases it was setting out to rank for. But, coming from a sales background, not from tech one, my thinking was then and still is:
You gotta have both.
Anyway, by looking closely at the video I was able to see the name of the website. A couple of quick Google's and… bingo.
I was looking at the actual website.
I'd already watched the video many times over, gleaning all I could.
I then started jumping back and forth from the video to the actual website – painstakingly extracting every SEO takeaway I could. What was working for this website, and why.
I noted:
From there, I studied the way this website turned visitors there to gather information into paying customers.
Everything.
And especially everything to do with their customer's buying experience.
All my gleanings went into a notebook.
I was now ready to put my notes into action.
I had no idea whether what I was about to do was going to work. Nonetheless I committed to doing what I believed was going to bring me success.
Over the next 90 days I focused all my energy on one website. I had to date, only paid to get traffic to this site through Google AdWords. I'd never done any SEO before.
Spoiler alert:
It worked.
Really well.
But does it work today?
Heck yes. The foundational SEO pillars haven't changed.
They still stand today.
It does still take that initial 90 day day effort. But that's good news because 9 out of 10 still won't or don't make the effort. And that there is exactly why you'll succeed.
If you make the effort.
Beyond that 90 days, things will be different for you. And like the title of this post says, 90 days will change everything.
Here's what I actually did (in broad strokes) in that 90 days.
And it's what I do today, all these years later to get websites well on the way to ranking in the search engines and making sales.
A quick word before I begin:
Depending on where you're up to on your SEO journey you may (or may not) find missing links in some of what I list out below.
On that;
I'd like to encourage you to do your own research if you find a gap in what I'm relaying to you.
When you join the dots yourself, you'll never forget what you learn. You can then ‘own' the knowledge for yourself.
And the best news is research has never been easier than it is now.
The key is to move from knowing something to ‘owning' something. Joining dots yourself will help make this knowledge your own.
So here it is, in broad strokes.
First, a domain name descriptive of what you're selling, or the result you're delivering is good.
By no means essential, but can be helpful.
Now, before we do anything more, let's focus on the words we'll use to connect with our ideal customers and clients (as they search Google).
The thing to know is:
People wind up at our website when we use their words, not ours.
Okay, how do we use their words?
Start by putting yourself in the mind and struggles of your ideal customer or client.
As you explore the deepest groanings of your ideal customer, ask yourself:
What exactly are their problems? Challenges? Fears? Frustrations?
What do they really want?
You know these answers. Sure enough.
But the really important thing to know is – what are their questions?
What are they actually asking Google?
Note re: Google’s AI overview:
Now, with Google’s AI overview more and more people are asking simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions. They just want to know ‘yes’, or ‘no’.
This opens us up to a ‘new’ opportunity to be visited by our ideal customers and clients.
I say ‘new’ opportunity because answering questions has always been an excellent basis for content creation and SEO.
And with Google’s AI overview, the website that answers the question best, gets a link to their web page giving our ideal customers and clients a perfect segway into our website and world.
So – immerse yourself in the mind of your ideal customers and clients and write down their top 10 questions where in the first instance, they’d be looking for a clear ‘yes’ or ‘no’.
Give a clear ‘yes' or ‘no' answer to a common question, then elaborate with class, care and authority – still making your answer clear and relatable to anyone.
Standard practice is to write like you're explaining it to a fifth grader. You'd think it would sound condescending, but in fact it sounds clear.
That said and done, back to the original question…
Here's how to know:
Think about just one of your ideal customer’s or client’s problems for a moment…
Now, while you're fully immersed in your customers' frustration about that particular problem – write down the 3, 4 or 5 words they'd use in a Google search to get answers around that specific topic.
By specific topic I mean around say, ‘green apples' – as opposed to just ‘fruit'.
‘fix lower back spasm' – as opposed to just ‘back pain'.
‘signs of borderline personality disorder' – as opposed to just ‘mental health issue'.
You get the picture.
Specific.
Now, with that specific problem top-of-mind, type only the first (2) words of that search into Google.
Now, stop right there.
Google will now show you what people are searching for (most).
Now we now have lists of gold!
Because Google has completed all the most popular searches, predictively.
Be sure to note down all these commonly searched phrases.
Then, as you complete these popular searches by clicking on them, you'll notice Google gives us lists and lists of more popular searches.
Gold again.
And it's all right there for the taking.
Now, let's talk about how we'll turn this there-for-all -to-see information into long term success and money.
Here it is:
The absolute authority.
How?
Put simply, our website will contain the pages that best answer and completely satisfy each one of these popular searches.
And all this information will link together in a helpful and relevant way.
Just like Wikipedia does.
That's it.
By best though, I do mean best. I mean better than the website that currently holds the number one position for that search.
Our job is to make a better page than the page that currently holds position one for that search.
For every corner of our niche or industry – one page at a time.
That is, go deep on each individual topic. Stay on topic and completely nail that topic. On one page.
Then, look to link to relevant pages on your site (as it's relevant and helpful to do so). Again, just like Wikipedia does.
Now stay with me here…
Each one of our pages will (better than our competitors) speak to and satisfy the searcher (that's our ideal future customer or client).
And we'll use their words. Not ours.
Especially on our headings.
The title of our pages will especially be more relevant, relatable and compelling than our competitors. And we'll incorporate the language of the searcher (our future customer).
Our pages will be generally more informative, more helpful, more educational, more interesting and more entertaining.
Our page will contain more (and better) words than the page of the current number one position holder. And better, more remarkable images.
But what if the competition is really strong?
They will be strong. Accept it. And accept the challenge. Because most won't. And that leaves you.
This is the thing…
If we cover each challenge/frustration/desire (search) our future customer will have, thoroughly (best the internet has to offer). As described above.
One page at a time. Then link those pages together helpfully.
Gradually, over time, our website absolutely will begin to gain more and more traction in the search engines – which means more traffic.
High fives all round.
But remember…
Presuming for now our visitors are loving spending time on our pages (because their search is being satisfied by them staying), our next goal is make sure we either win a subscriber, make a sale, or both.
Best not to complicate it. Just make sure your calls to action are relevant and clear, and your offer compelling.
Make it make sense for a fifth grader.
Don't be scared to be fun as well as direct with your language on your website. Being relatable will give you a massive competitive edge.
In the end, winning the SEO game is just about being better than the best, one page at a time.
It'll seem like nothing is happening at first, but at about the 60 day mark you'll notice traffic really increasing.
That traffic increase will then give you the encouragement you need to go for another 30 days or more. And at around the 90 day mark, you'll have “changed everything” as the title of this post promises.
Depending on the niche or industry you're in, you may or may not hold position 1’s on Google by now.
One thing is for absolute sure though – you will have a ton more traffic, leads and sales for your efforts.
Feels like too much?
No problem.
You can eat this elephant one bite at a time and win like a turtle. 🐢
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