Hey man! Wake up and smell the SEO coffee, because your dreams are about to become a reality. This is not a pipe dream; this is a proven strategy used by the best in the game.
The Shocking Truth About Your Blog (and Why It’s Failing!)
Most bloggers are wandering aimlessly, writing about whatever strikes their fancy, and hoping for a miracle. They are missing a crucial step that separates the content creation champs from the wannabes. The first step is not to start writing; it’s to become an SEO detective.
Step 1: Become an SEO Spy with Ubersuggest (It’s Easier Than You Think!)
Forget guessing games! The first step in creating blog posts that rank is using the right tool. You need a marketing tool that gives you SEO data and stats. Luckily, there is Ubersuggest. It is a marketing tool that can give you all the SEO data and stats you need. To get started with Ubersuggest:
- Head over to neilpatel.com/ubersuggest.
- Enter a competitor’s URL that you know gets a lot of traffic.
- Don’t pick some random small-time blog. Focus on the big players in your niche that show up when you search.
- Click the search button and prepare to be amazed.
Ubersuggest will reveal a traffic overview analysis showing:
- The domain’s keywords rankings on Google
- Their roughly monthly traffic
- Their domain authority
- The number of backlinks they have
- A traffic overview chart
- How many keywords they rank for in specific positions on Google (positions 1-3, 4-10, 11-50, 51-100)
- Their top SEO pages
- The keywords that they rank for
Unlocking the Vault: Top Pages That Actually Drive Traffic
Now, here’s where the magic truly begins. Scroll down to the top pages on the competitor’s site. These are the pages that are actually attracting the lion’s share of their traffic from Google. You need to click the ‘View’ button to see all of their top pages.
- Click ‘View All’ under backlinks to discover the websites linking to each URL.
- This reveals where they are getting their authority from.
- You will see links from sites like “Forbes,” “Huffington Post,” and others.
- Click ‘View All’ under estimated visits, you’ll see the keywords that each article is ranking for and the traffic they’re getting.
- You can click ‘next’ to see even more keywords.
The “Copycat” Strategy (But BETTER!)
Don’t worry; we’re not talking about plagiarism here. It is about understanding what’s working and then making it better! The next step is to go through the top pages of your competitors and analyze each one individually.
- Click on the actual URL and take a deep dive into each blog post.
- Read it carefully and spend some time with it.
- Notice the level of detail, the amount of information provided, and whether it contains images and/or video tutorials.
- Ask yourself these questions to see how to improve upon the existing article:
- Can you go more in-depth?
- Can you provide more detailed and current information?
- Can you add more images, videos, or other media?
- Can you make the article easier to understand?
Repeat After Me: “More Detailed and BETTER Than the Competition!”
The goal is simple: create content that is far more superior than what is already out there. It’s about writing a post that is better than the competition. Don’t just copy the same information. Instead, you want to dig deeper, find new angles, and add your own unique perspective.
Don’t Be Lazy! Do This For 20 Competitor Pages
This is not a drill. This process is not for the faint of heart. You need to repeat this process for the top 20 pages for each competitor. Yes, you heard it right: 20!
Why? Because this is where you unearth the hidden gems that drive massive traffic. Do this process for at least 20 pages and see how it starts to add up..
Ignore the Home Page (Unless You Want to Get Zero Results!)
When analyzing a competitor’s website, ignore their home page. A home page often gets traffic for the name of the brand, and other variations of their name. You need to focus on the blog post pages and other content pages. Anything that provides useful information that is not a homepage.
The Content Gold Mine (Not Always a “Blog” Post)
Remember, it doesn’t have to be a traditional “blog” post. It could be a guide, a tutorial, a listicle, or any other type of content. The goal is to find content that resonates with the audience. It is the content that people are searching for on Google. Focus on any type of content that is attracting traffic, no matter the format.
From One Competitor to the Next (The Power of Multiples!)
Once you’ve mined the top 20 pages from one competitor, move on to the next one.. Repeat the process with another competitor. Search Engine Journal and other sites can be great sources for additional analysis. Go through the same process:
- Find the top pages
- Analyze the keywords
- Examine the content
- Look for ways to improve upon it
The 10 Competitor Challenge (Are You Up For It?)
Aim for 10 competitors!. Yes, it may sound like a lot of work, but it is important to get a holistic view of what your market and competitors are doing and what content performs well. If you want to dominate your niche you need to be willing to do the work!
The Overlap Alert! (Don’t Make This Mistake!)
You might notice some overlap in the topics between your competitors. That’s perfectly normal. You don’t want to rewrite the same page multiple times. Instead you just want to write one article on each topic and you’ll likely have about 150 articles, rather than the 200 you may have initially anticipated because of topic overlaps.
Your Content Plan Is Ready (Now the Real Work Begins!)
After all of that analysis, you will have a list of all the content you want to create. You can send this list to your content team or if you’re a solo entrepreneur, you can start writing yourself. The goal is to make each of your articles more comprehensive and better than what your competition has.
Extra Credit: Link Outreach (The Secret Weapon for Success!)
If you want to go above and beyond, check who is linking to your competitor’s pages. Reach out to them.
- Find the URLs that are linking to your competitor’s content.
- See which websites and authors are linking to your competitor.
- Send them an email.
- Highlight that you’ve noticed they linked to a competitor’s article.
- Mention your own, more up-to-date article.
- Invite them to check it out, and ask them to consider linking to it.
- The email is not about demanding a link, but providing a better resource and presenting it as a good option.
- Even if only a few respond and provide a link, you can still accumulate a large number of backlinks.
- If you write 200 articles, and each article gets three links, that is 600 links.
- Even though each article may not have many links, the site as a whole will. This process will boost your rankings.
Google Traffic vs. Social Media Traffic: What You NEED to Know!
Social media can give you a spike in traffic but it is usually short-lived. You have to constantly create more content to maintain a steady stream of traffic. On the other hand, going after Google search traffic can give you a consistent source of traffic. Your pages will consistently perform well, even if you don’t write content for a while.
Your Time to Shine is NOW!
Follow these steps, and you’ll start to see your content consistently rank high on Google. You will generate traffic that is both consistent and sustainable. This is not a pipe dream; this is a proven strategy that works!
Conclusion
This is a proven strategy to get more Google traffic. Don’t keep writing content that no one reads. Do the work, use the tools, analyze your competitors, and create content that is better and more comprehensive than theirs. You can then outreach to the people linking to your competitors and request backlinks from them. Consistent Google traffic can be yours!
FAQs
Do I Really Have to Analyze 20 Pages Per Competitor? Yes, the number 20 is not an arbitrary one. Analyzing the top 20 pages of each competitor is critical to get a holistic view of the keywords and content that perform well in your niche. It also gives you a better chance of uncovering the most valuable topics and keywords. While it might seem like a lot of work, the insights you’ll gain are worth their weight in gold.
What if I Don’t Have a “Content Team”? That’s okay. You can use this approach if you’re working solo. The process is the same whether you’re a one-person operation or working in a team. The goal is to plan out your content in advance so that you’re not wasting time creating content that no one searches for.
What if my competitors have similar content to me? It’s natural for competitors to have some overlap in topics. Instead of creating multiple articles on similar topics, just write one, more detailed article that encompasses all the related information. Focus on creating something unique and better than anything else that is already out there. Don’t be afraid to add your unique voice, perspective, and additional resources that you may think are important.