SEO is not just an art, it’s a complicated discipline with so many components to it. And with so many parts involved, the best SEO practices also keep changing from time to time.

Add to that the fact that Google updates its algorithm frequently, causing ranking shifts that are known to make digital marketers lose sleep.

Not just this, Google has this weird way of releasing new technologies that offer alternative ways to rank. For instance, look at the recently uncovered term “AMP” which now plays important role in mobile SEO.

Of course, SEO is still the act of gaining free traffic from search engines, and avoiding the risk of being banned or penalized by those search engines. But…

As someone trying to make a living out of it, I have to say these small components make the lives of SEOs even more complicated.

People now need to overcome a learning curve to get desired results. One day, it might be easier to become an astronaut than an SEO — Kidding!

However, even now, there are some simple things that make SEO a child’s play. Once you get the hang of these methods, your site’s traffic will skyrocket like never before.

What’s more, the same steps apply to YouTube SEO as well. So, let’s see what it takes to rank a page in organic search results.

#1. Look for Bankable Keywords

When doing keyword research, the first thing you want to do is make a list of important, relevant topics based on what you know about your business.

To kick off this process, think about the topics you want to rank for. If you know anything about your business, chances are you’ll come up with at least 5-10 topic ideas.

Now you need to use those topic ideas to help yourself come up with some specific keywords. Make use of keyword research tools (SEMrush. For instance) and see how you can reach people searching for those topics.

You actually want to identify some keywords that have a reasonable number of monthly searches and are not too difficult to rank for.

These are keyword phrases you think are important to rank for in the SERPs because your target customer is doing searches for those specific terms.

Exploring keywords can reveal new opportunities for you to add new sections or categories to your existing site to reach new audiences that may have an interest in that topic.

Hence, take your time and analyze the data you have. For those who’re totally new, here’s an easy guide to Brain about how to do keyword research.

Meanwhile, keep a track of the keywords your site already ranks for. Are there a few for which you rank 11, 12 or 13?

These could be an incredibly easy opportunity to get on the front page, which is where the views are, by beefing up the quality and depth of the content focused around these keywords.

#2. Provide better Content

You go to such extents to rank better in SERPs. You literally write thousands of words and hundreds of outreach emails with the intent of getting more organic search traffic.

Yet sometimes, you tend to ignore the most basic step — creating valuable content.

The queries people are searching out there are your insight into their intentions and interests. So when you want to rank for those keywords, you actually need to provide something better than what’s already ranking.

Here’s a simple trick I’ve used many times to increase the traffic to existing pages on my website. The method involves relaunch of content and it for sure helps in boosting organic traffic.

#3. Get more Backlinks

Of course, there are options like social signals, but nothing beats having some nice backlinks. To acquire links, your content must be link-worthy, engaging and remarkable.

Today’s SEO has reached a whole new level, so don’t just sit and wait for links.

Instead, take on every opportunity to get some quality links to your site, but keep in mind that link building can be dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing.

Here are some steps people generally use to get some quality backlinks:

1. Guest Blog. Of course, Matt Cutts said that “guest blogging is done,” but that’s the partial truth. If you know how to do it right, you can still win some nice links.

2. Create Infographics. In the past 5 years, infographics generate 57% fewer links, however, they’re still an effective way of getting links to your site.

3. Promote your content. Creating content is just half part of a proper content marketing strategy. The other half is promoting your content. If you promote your content, you’ll start to earn links to it.

4. Ask for Links. No need to get surprised because you won’t get anything until you ask for it. The most effective way of asking for links is by approaching people whom you know personally.

5. Build your Brand. You can’t create links instantly. Growing your personal brand to rank well on search engines. You can build your personal brand by outreach, helping people, speaking at conferences, getting press coverage, and connecting with people.

It might seem that earning links is far more labor intensive, still it’s important. Your SEO simply cannot be complete without generating top-quality links.

Final Words…

By finding a valuable niche, building your content and credibility, and then using SEO to get that content seen, you can easily make money in a way that can scale.

It’s a kid’s stuff! Well, not really… It’s a lot of hard work.

However, if you are willing to put in some effort, even if you’re not that technical, you can achieve great results and dominate in Google.