Ranking higher on Google isn’t about luck. It’s about strategy.
No matter how much time you spend writing or optimizing your blogs, organic traffic doesn’t come easily. A highly competitive search landscape, search engine algorithms, and the growing presence of AI make it that much harder to stand out and earn the visibility and traffic you’re working toward.
While SEO is a long game that requires strategic effort and vigilance, we’ve learned what it takes to rank higher on Google. You can see the proof here, but below is just a sample of our organic traffic growth:
Read on for the most important steps to consider if you want to avoid costly SEO mistakes and instead boost your rankings — and then get ready to do the work required to deliver the traffic gains you’re looking for.
1. Create Helpful Content for Real People
It’s true that algorithms and AI are key players in determining where content ranks on search engines, but one of the most fundamental aspects of search engine optimization (SEO) is creating content with readers, not site crawlers, in mind.
Optimizing content should account for both real people and algorithms, but Google’s developers recommend creating helpful, reliable, people-first content in order to rank well. Easier said than done. Ultimately, you should ask yourself if your content is:
- Helpful: Does your content directly address the search query you’re targeting? Does it provide solutions, answers, or insights that would benefit users?
- Reliable:</> Is your content accurate and up-to-date? Do you provide credible sources for information, or is your brand a trustworthy authority on the topic?
- People-first: Is your content clear, easy to read, and scannable? Have you written your content to provide a positive user experience?
2. Provide Unique Value
A thorough, scannable piece of content isn’t enough to score the top spots on Google. You need to do more than rehash existing content — if you want to rank higher, your content needs to go above and beyond what everyone else is writing and demonstrate your brand’s expertise.
Think about how you can make your content unique to stand out from the competition. That might look like:
- Asking internal experts to weigh in on, contribute to, or review content
- Tapping external connections for expert quotes and insights
- Going more in-depth than what’s currently ranking without overloading the content
- Providing helpful visuals, downloadable resources, or proprietary data
- Differentiating your content by changing your tone or style
Creating unique content shouldn’t go against your brand guidelines or SEO copywriting best practices, so make sure you stick to your expertise if you want to rank well.
3. Make E-E-A-T a Priority
Creating helpful content that thoroughly covers a topic is only the beginning; you need to prove that you (or your brand) are actually qualified to discuss it. That’s where the E-E-A-T framework comes in.
E-E-A-T stands for:
- Experience: First-hand experience and practical knowledge that applies to the topic
- Expertise: Formal degrees and certifications or experience through practice that lends credibility
- Authority: Reputation and relevance to a topic, often supported by links and thought leadership
- Trustworthiness: Honest, accurate, and legitimate information presented on a safe, reliable website
Every component of E-E-A-T is essential for Google to consider content high-quality and credible. Writing something comprehensive likely won’t rank unless it’s attributed to an authoritative voice with relevant experience and expertise.
Tip: Not sure how to make your content authoritative and trustworthy? Think about who you would trust to make claims about a given topic and why they would be an authority.
For example, if you’re writing health-related content, a licensed medical professional in a relevant field or specialization should probably weigh in.
4. Include Value-Additive Design
Gone are the days of icon-laden images that rephrase the words already presented in your content. The internet has become more visual, so presenting unique value with the graphics you include in your content is more important than ever.
Add value to your content with the following tips:
- Present data visually in shareable infographics, charts, or graphs.
- Create helpful step-by-step guides with annotations, GIFs, or explainer videos.
- Showcase your products or services in action with demo videos and high-quality images.
- Design custom icons and buttons for clarity and brand consistency.
- Use storytelling visuals to evoke emotions and improve engagement
- Integrate interactive elements like quizzes and calculators.
While visual content can add value, it isn’t always necessary. Check SERP competitors to see what elements they’ve included and make sure any visuals you’re pitching actually add value to your content.
5. Write With Scannability in Mind
Chances are, a good number of users coming to your site will only skim the content to find the answer they need. Maybe they’ll stick around to learn more, but it’s a good idea to appeal to users on a mission so they don’t get discouraged or frustrated.
Some scannability tips include:
- Keep sentences and paragraphs concise.
- Address queries as directly as possible.
- Structure your content neatly with a logical heading structure.
- Break up sections of text with graphics, tables, or HTML elements.
- Use bulleted lists (see what we did there?).
Users searching for specific information don’t want to scroll through paragraph after paragraph to find what they need. The simpler you make their journey, the better their experience will be, and the more likely they’ll return to your site for further information.
6. Update Content Often
Creating and publishing content is just not enough to achieve and hold onto desirable SERP positions; keeping that content up-to-date with accurate and relevant information is critical.
But how often should you refresh your content? Well, unfortunately, it depends. Fortunately, it’s a pretty simple process to figure out for each keyword. Using your keyword tool of choice (ours is Ahrefs), you can identify when ranking content was last updated and calculate the average to determine how often you should be refreshing that piece of content.
If you have content that’s underperforming, check how long it’s been since you initially published the piece or last updated it. If it’s been three to six months or longer and you’re not gaining any traction, it may be time for an update.
7. Optimize for the Right Keywords
We know you’ve heard it before, but it’s worth repeating: Targeting the right keywords is the first key step in setting yourself up for ranking success — and proper keyword research is more nuanced than you might think.
In an arena where big players dominate almost every vertical, identifying relevant keywords that your brand can feasibly rank on Google for is key. That means choosing topics that are:
- Relevant to your industry
- Applicable to your audience
- Aligned with your brand’s expertise
- Suited to your goals
Example: You’re a car insurance company targeting licensed drivers in need of coverage. Topics like “how to learn how to drive” may seem relevant to your industry, but those looking for this information are likely high schoolers or other first-time drivers who may not be buying insurance for themselves any time soon.
In addition to considering what type of keyword you’re targeting, make sure it aligns with your audience and buyers’ journey.
Understanding both who is looking for your content and the need they’re looking to satisfy will help you create posts that are best equipped to earn and maintain a Page One position.
8. Align With Your Brand’s Expertise
Some content marketers fall into the trap of going after top-funnel keywords simply because they have a lot of search volume. While it’s natural to want to target terms with a lot of traffic potential, don’t automatically write off lower-volume terms.
By targeting niche queries where you have unique authority and perspective, you’re more likely to:
- See long-term SEO ranking success.
- Generate higher authority.
- Achieve more relevant link placements.
While fewer users may be searching for hyper-relevant, high-intent keywords, those who are looking are already interested and making their way through the buying process.
Ultimately, search volume shouldn’t be the most important factor you consider when choosing keywords to target. Verify industry relevance and search intent for a better chance of improving your rankings.
9. Verify Search Intent
If you’ve created content that just isn’t ranking, the issue may be a search intent mismatch. Looking into the search intent of your chosen keywords can inform your strategy and guide the type of content you create.
Search intent typically falls into the following categories:
- Informational: The user is looking for information on a particular topic, so create helpful content that can rank.
- Navigational: The user is looking for a specific site or web page, so ensure key pages like the blog and homepage are front and center.
- Commercial: The user is looking to research their options before buying, so ensure your competitor comparison posts are ranking well.
- Transactional: The user is looking to make a purchase, so make sure your product pages are on Page One.
Depending on the intent behind the keyword you’re targeting, certain types of content may not be the best fit. Don’t be afraid to go back to the drawing board to see what content is ranking for your query and how you can adjust your article to better align with search intent and your intended audience.
Tip: Target long-tail keywords to better align with search intent.
When users use longer search terms, the search intent is often much more specific than shorter phrases, meaning you can provide exactly what they’re looking for, earning more visibility and traffic.
10. Consider SERP Volatility and Seasonality
It’s not enough to capture a desirable SERP position if you can’t hold onto it. Some queries will naturally be more volatile than others, often because Google hasn’t figured out what exactly a user wants or it’s aiming to satisfy multiple search intents at once.
Look at the SERP position history using a tool like Ahrefs to better understand the chances you’ll be able to earn — and maintain — a coveted Page One ranking. Use these insights to inform the content you create, when you go live, and how often you update it.
11. Polish Your On-Page SEO
On-page SEO extends beyond keyword selection and veers deeper into optimization, affecting where you strategically place elements on the page to signal relevance and authority.
Every little detail matters in SEO, including your:
- Title tag: Craft compelling, keyword-rich title tags that accurately describe the page content and entice clicks.
- Meta description: Write concise, enticing meta descriptions that include your keyword and summarize the page.
- URL slug: Create short URLs that include your target keyword.
- Heading tags: Use header tags to structure your content logically and hierarchically, including the primary keyword in the H1 tag.
- Image optimization: Compress images and use descriptive file names and alt text to help search engines understand image content and improve accessibility.
- Keyword placement: Integrate your target keywords and semantic variations throughout your content, prioritizing natural language.
- Internal links: Link to relevant pages on your website using descriptive anchor text to distribute link equity.
Effective on-page SEO allows search engine crawlers to understand your content’s topic while simultaneously making your page more appealing and informative for users.
Refining these elements can improve your chances of ranking for target keywords and enhance click-through rates.
12. Optimize for AI Overviews
Think “answer-first”: A clean, user-friendly layout with direct answers and structured data helps AI models understand your content and creates a better experience for real users.
AI Overviews have fundamentally altered how users find information. It’s not enough to optimize your content for featured snippets; if you want to rank in AI search results, your content must be clear, precise, and directly address user queries.
While AI Overviews may reduce top-of-funnel clicks for some content, our study of 50 national websites revealed that LLMs may send up to 10.7% more traffic directly to homepages, especially for bottom-funnel, product-focused traffic.
How you optimize for AI Overviews and other AI search results will depend on your industry and business model. Here are some areas to focus on.
| Strategy | B2C Tips | B2B Tips |
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| Content focus |
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| Keyword strategy |
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| Content structure |
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| Call to action (CTA) |
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| Technical SEO |
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| Authority building (E-E-A-T) |
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| User experience (UX) |
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Ranking in AI Overviews may increase brand recall and conversions. By prioritizing user intent and delivering highly scannable content, you’ll make your site a more valuable and conversion-friendly resource.
13. Make Your Site More User-Friendly
If you want to rank at the top of the SERP, you need a website that is authoritative, trustworthy, and easy to navigate. An unimpressive, slow-to-load, or confusing website can tank your chances of ranking well. Most users will quickly click off the page — increasing bounce rate. In the age of E-E-A-T, creating a site that feels trustworthy is non-negotiable.
Quick ways to improve your user experience include:
- Increasing font size to 18 pt for greater accessibility
- Compressing large image files
- Minifying CSS, JavaScript, and HTML
- Leveraging mobile-first design
- Adding branded social buttons
- Reducing the number of blog categories
- Adjusting blog width
- Placing clear, relevant CTAs throughout content
- Minimizing obstructive or distracting advertisements
- Providing immediate feedback for user interactions, such as form fill completions
Depending on your site, you may need a more in-depth redesign to keep users interested and engaged. Don’t forget to check technical aspects of the site that could be impacting rankings like page speed and Core Web Vitals.
14. Build a Strategy To Get More Links
Successful link building strategies are key to boosting your site’s overall authority and helping individual pieces of content rank. When other reputable pages link back to your content, it signals that your expertise is legitimate and trustworthy, building authority and trust.
A successful strategy that boosts rankings should involve:
- Identifying relevant topics: Newsworthy, timely, and engaging content tends to appeal to users and journalists alike. If you can tie these topics to keywords, you can also see long-term traffic results.
- Conducting manual outreach: Build your link profile through manual outreach to show Google you’re an authority and set yourself up to rank for key queries.
- Creating linkworthy content: Content that earns links may contain original research and data, comprehensive guides, value-additive visual assets, thought leadership, tools, and calculators.
You can take different approaches to manual outreach depending on your business, industry, and availability. Some of the most common and effective link building tactics include:
- Guest posting: Build links to category and product pages with strategic guest posts, ensuring the site and anchor text align with your brand.
- Broken links: Identify broken links on other websites, reach out to the owner, and suggest your relevant content as a replacement. This is a win-win: They fix a problem, and you get a link.
- Resource pages: Pitch your relevant content to be included on other websites’ pages, listing tools, articles, or services to highlight your unique value.
- Digital PR: Respond to relevant queries on HARO with concise, expert answers, or identify reporters who cover your industry and pitch them ideas that include your brand’s unique insights or data.
15. Don’t Neglect Your Technical SEO
Compared to on-page SEO, technical SEO may seem less glamorous, but it’s crucial if you want to rank higher on search engines.
Technical SEO affects your website’s infrastructure, ensuring search engines can find, understand, and index your content. It’s the crucial behind-the-scenes work that provides a solid foundation for all your other efforts.
Some of the many technical SEO elements you should prioritize include the following:
| Technical SEO Factors | Key Elements + Tips |
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| Crawlability and indelibility |
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| Core Web Vitals |
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| Mobile-friendliness |
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| Website security |
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| Duplicate content |
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A robust technical setup directly enhances user experience and signals site quality to Google. Factors like page speed, mobile-friendliness, and security significantly impact both your rankings and user satisfaction.
If you’re unfamiliar with technical SEO best practices, the idea of optimizing these elements can be intimidating. Work with Siege Media’s content marketing specialists and SEO experts to get a comprehensive content strategy that explores everything from keyword research and technical SEO to on-page optimization and promotion.
16. Use Schema Markup
Schema markup, or structured data, is microdata added to your website’s HTML that helps search engines better understand your content. While schema isn’t a direct ranking factor, it can significantly boost visibility by enabling rich snippets.
These visually enhanced search results stand out in the SERP. They display extra information like star ratings, prices, or FAQs directly under your listing.
Schema provides context to search engines in a machine-readable format. There are over 800 types of schema, but some are more popular than others, such as:
- Article schema: For blog posts, news articles, and reports
- FAQPage schema: For pages that list a series of questions and answers; can display foldable Q&A sections directly in the SERP
- HowTo schema: For content that provides step-by-step instructions; can show steps, tools, and materials
- Product schema: For e-commerce product pages; displays product details like price, availability, and review ratings
- Review/AggregateRating schema: For pages with reviews or overall ratings; shows star ratings directly in search results
- LocalBusiness schema: For businesses with physical locations; provides details like address, phone number, and hours
- Organization schema: For marking up your company’s official name, logo, contact info, and social profiles
By strategically implementing different types of schema, you can make your content more attractive and informative to potential visitors in search results.
17. Track Content KPIs and Adjust
You’ve published your content, and it’s starting to rank. Maybe it’s already climbed to Page One! Whatever the case, know that your work isn’t over. Search engines aim to surface the best content that’s most relevant to users, so it’s not enough to land on Page One — you need to be vigilant and maintain your position.
We recommend tracking your content performance weekly and monthly to identify what’s working and where there may be opportunities for improvement. Depending on your goals, you may look at different metrics, but some of the most common and impactful key performance indicators (KPIs) include:
- Organic search visibility/impressions: How often your content appears in search results
- Organic clicks: Number of times users click your listing from search results
- Click-through rate (CTR): Percentage of users who clicked after seeing your listing
- Average ranking position: Your content’s typical position in the SERP for target keywords
- Bounce rate: Percentage of visitors who leave after one page
- Dwell time/time on page: How long users spend on your content
- Conversions: How many users complete a desired action, such as submitting a form, signing up for a newsletter, or adding a product to their cart
- Backlinks gained: Number and quality of new links to your content
- Top-performing keywords: Keywords consistently driving traffic and conversions
Pay close attention to which queries drive traffic, and adjust your strategy accordingly.
Don’t just publish and forget:Consistently analyze your content’s performance to get invaluable insights into user behavior and algorithm preferences so you can refine your strategy for sustained growth.
So, You Want To Increase Your Google Rankings?
Everyone wants the visibility and bragging rights of a Page One ranking, but actually knowing how to rank higher on Google requires a thorough strategy and a range of skills. Ranking higher on Google means consistently delivering the best user experience and signaling that value to search engines.
Our team can help you build a content marketing strategy that helps your business build and sustain a valuable online presence that earns trust and drives sustainable growth. We don’t just write SEO content; we specialize in creating content designed to drive organic growth so you can build authority, foster trust, attract links, and encourage engagement naturally.
Ready to climb the SERP? Don’t let your content get lost in the noise. Reach out to our experts today for a personalized content and SEO strategy consultation and start building the authoritative, user-friendly website that Google rewards.
