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This SEO Podcast features accompanying written notes about the concepts discussed in the video. Also, a downloadable cheat sheet with our “8 Steps to choosing ranking keywords”. See below for more details.
In the SEO Podcast Video:
We cover one of the most important topics for bloggers right now: SEO. We started a brand new niche site in November 2014, and a year later the results are in. We have been overwhelmed by how well our SEO methods have worked. How we’ve beaten off massive domain authority sites from the top spot of google simply by using great keyword research and SEO.
Feature Topics in this episode:
- Our zero to 65,000+ page view niche site – How we did it.
- How to choose keywords that small blogs can actually rank for
- How to understand how to use Yoast SEO plugin better!
Written Notes for SEO Podcast Episode
30 day Stats for November 2015. Now at 73k+ page views
In November 2014 we set up a brand new niche site.
This site had ZERO domain authority. No social media to back it up (as it was not in a niche relevant to any of our current websites). We had no promotion strategy or back linking strategy.
The only focus we had for this site was SEO. 100% SEO. As you can learn in the SEO podcast video above.
We set about creating 8 pieces of SEO content for the site, as well as landing pages and opt-in pages.
Of the 8 pieces of content 5 were long form, heavily SEO’d and with massive authority on a topic we both know a lot about. The other 3 were shorter, still with an SEO focus but more as filler to bulk out the site. The longer form articles have performed better overall.
This whole build took us about 1 week.
Then we waited.
Growth starts slow, then bang! Once you start hitting page one, things really kick off.
We left those 8 pieces of content sitting there. In June 2015, when we started to see significant traffic, we adapted and improved some of the opt-in offers. We made some alterations to our email newsletter too.
We did NOT add any new content at all. Not one single extra article.
By November 2015, one year after putting the site live, we finally added one piece of new content which we expect to rank well in early 2016.
With keyword research alone, and by Nov 2015, a domain authority of just 10, we had knocked off websites with domain authorities of 80+ to put us as number one on google for a lot of high ranking search terms.
With only 8 primary keywords and a string of long tail keywords we are (as of Dec 9th 2015) getting over 17,000 Unique users per month onto the site.
If you want to know how getting keyword research right can beat out high authority sites that have tons of back links, even with a brand new site, then watch the video above.
If you want to get our 8 actionable steps to getting the right SEO keywords, as well as our FREE core concepts cheat sheets for turning your blog into a pro blog, just put in your email address below.
Enter Your details in the form above to get your free cheat sheet
Common SEO Q&A
Does the size of your blog matter?
No. Not exactly. You can achieve results like we did with any size blog BUT some keywords will be much harder to rank for. Choosing the right keywords is more important than the size of your blog.
That’s what we’ll cover here.
Does having a popular blog help?
Definitely. We’ve discovered that putting out a well key-worded article on one of our bigger blogs gives it a much bigger, faster boost. But in the long run the quality of the SEO and the content in the article will help you win out.
Unless… The competition on the keyword is so tough that you just can’t push them out. Once again, this comes down to finding the right keywords. Brand new KW searches happen every month on google. There are always no terms to compete for that old articles are not already ranking for.
Also, social media is becoming more of a factor as time moves on. At the very least, promoting an article to influencers in your niche to get social shares and some traffic will affect your rankings. We didn’t do this with our niche site, but it would help.
How much time should I spend on SEO?
Here is one of the big mistakes most bloggers make. They spend less than 30 minutes on SEO for an article. That may even include putting the keywords in the article.
We typically spend 2 to 5 hours working on keyword research before we even start writing an article – or even deciding what to write about. That time does not include the actual writing – it’s just the planning for multiple focus keywords, which we’ll rank best for etc.
We recently switched to using Long Tail Pro rather than doing manual keyword research. This saves us at least an hour, if not more, for every single article we write. It quickly and accurately gives us instant metrics that we would otherwise have to research manually.
Long Tail Pro saves me hours every time I research an article for SEO
I can literally put a keyword in and assess whether it is worth additional research in a matter of seconds. Rather than just putting it in google and manually checking. Try it out, they have a free trial.
How long will it take me to rank?
This is where the authority of site plays a big part. If you are a brand new site it can take 3-9 months to get to page one – depending on competition.
For a more established blog you could rank in less than 2 months. For a big authority site you could rank in a matter of days or even hours.
There is no definite. Not every article you try to rank will do well, but the more experienced you become at SEO, the more consistent you’ll get at ranking.
Need help getting keywords that will actually get you a ton of traffic?
Grab our SEO cheat sheet, as well as all our other pro-blog cheat sheets.
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Weblinks from SEO Podcast
World Nomads Insurance – Specifically designed for digital nomads, flashpackers, adventure & long term Travellers – Get a 5% Discount with our coupon code: FOOD5
Travel Blog Monetization Virtual Summit – Our monetization summit that happened in March 2016 – it is now a full travel blog monetization course. Click the link for more information.
Canva – The design program we use for a lot of our cover images and other design work.
Longtail Pro – The software that saves me hours in comparing competitiveness of keywords
Scott Eddy – We chatted to scott back in episode 12 when we last did a video podcast. All about growing 500k+ twitter followers in less than 3 years.
Optimizepress – The affordable page building software that plugs into wordpress to allow us to create professional landing pages.
Travel Blogger Retreat – The retreat where this video was filmed.
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DISCLAIMER: We are affiliated with, World nomads, Longtail pro – companies we love and support. Some other links may also be affiliate links – these links help support the podcast financially. All our opinions, as always, are our own.
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Great podcast guys…has renewed my interest in SEO, thanks for the great info!