4 Organic SEO Steps to Outrank “Big Media” — Step 1: Pick Your Topic
When I started the Zenscope weblog early this month, I set out a challenge for myself: my article about the ABC News website redesign would outrank ABC’s own official announcement in Google searches about their new site’s launch.
I did it, and I’m going to tell you how. This is the first post in a 4-part series aimed at those who are new to search engine optimization (SEO). Each post will detail one of the four steps that I took to get highly ranked for my chosen topic and keywords:
- Choose a topic that will attract attention. (see below)
- Write good code for your website, so that search engines can tell what’s important.
- Write good copy, using keywords appropriately.
- Get links, the non-spammy way.
Be aware that there are no cheap tricks or easy, unethical methods for high search rank that won’t eventually come back to bite you (more on this in parts 3 and 4). This series deals with “organic” SEO—using the nature of the Web itself, and the people who surf it, to promote your site’s content. It takes a little work, but the payoff is worthwhile.
The Challenge
This weblog started out like most others: no subscribers, no readers, and no links. Of the four “launch articles” I wrote, I knew that the critique of the new ABC News website had the greatest chance of drawing traffic. As I wrote that post, I set out the following goals:
- Outrank ABC’s official announcement in a Google search for
abcnews.com redesign, ideally placing within the top three results.- Outcome: currently #1, with ABC at #3.
- Rank within the top 10 Google results (i.e. the “first page”) in searches for
abcnews redesignandabc news redesign. Ideally, rank above the official announcement for these searches as well.- Outcome: currently #9 vs. #13 and #10 vs. #4, respectively.
- Quotation marks don’t count. They can be used to search for a phrase, but few people actually use them. In terms of search engine optimization, they’re essentially useless.
As of this writing, I’ve been successful at all three. The first step in reaching my goal was choosing the right topic. This article will cover the “three -ations” of topic selection:
- Specialization
- Education
- Agitation
Step #1: Picking Your Topic
Specialize to Avoid Competition
One of the most effective techniques for getting a high rank quickly is choosing a topic—and associated keywords—that isn’t already overloaded with competition. It may seem like there are already a million Web pages on every imaginable subject, but specialization is the key to standing out.
Specialized content also draws more qualified readers. “Qualified,” in this context, is marketing jargon for people who actually care about what you have to say. If your site is commerce-focused, these people are more likely to buy.
Some areas of both content and commerce are just inherently crowded. I do Web design and development, graphic design, and consulting. People like me are a dime a dozen, and all of them seem to have weblogs. To stand out, I needed to write about something that few others were.
I happened across the ABC News website redesign—and the angry reader reactions to it—by accident on the day after their new site launched. Curious what others in my field had to say about the brewing controversy, I searched for related blog posts… and found squat. I knew I’d hit on a good subject for a launch article.
Trying to outrank ABC News for its own story was just a fun challenge I set for myself. If regularly outranking major news sites is important to you, however, highly targeted content can help that happen. Big media companies tend to aim for a broad audience, leaving ample room to target a niche. On the Web even a small niche may contain thousands of potential visitors, or potential customers.
UPDATE (6/1/2007): If you’re trying to gain rank quickly, try the new Google Trends tool, from Google Labs1. Trends lists the fastest-growing searches, sorted by a ‘hotness’ level that goes from from “mild” to “volcanic.”
Right now the #1 entry in Trends is Joslyn Noel Morse, a stripper from Iowa who—according to today’s New York Post—is involved with baseball player Alex Rodriguez (A.K.A. “A-Rod”).
When You Can’t Specialize, Educate
You can’t always write a highly specialized and unique article for your site. For one thing, ferreting out appropriate subjects can be time-consuming2. I got lucky, frankly, by stumbling across a good one. It also takes time to write good content (see step 3). By the time you’re done writing, a thousand other people might have already beaten you into Google’s index of Web pages. Just like a newspaper reporter that covers breaking news, you’re always in danger of getting “scooped.”
There’s a more reliable, but slower, way to the top of search results: educate your readers. People are always looking for a way to get ahead in their jobs, be more productive, enhance their skills, or otherwise improve. Sites like Lifehacker are devoted exclusively to this kind of content, and gather loyal audiences with it.
Numbered lists of helpful tips (i.e. “The Top 5 Ways to Improve Your Gas Mileage”) or how-to articles (“How to Convince Your Boss You Need a Raise”) are always popular. Pages with educational content tend to gather links from other sites, get e-mailed to friends and co-workers, and slowly climb to the top of Google for related searches.
You may not see an immediate payoff, but a steady stream of educational articles or blog posts can become the bread and butter of a highly-ranked, popular website. Make yourself an authority in your field, and some of those readers will become customers.
When You Can’t Educate, Agitate
Another common strategy to gain high rank in search engines is to find a controversial topic, pick a side, and argue your position. If you make a strong and passionate case for your argument, then follow up by attracting some links, you’ll soon find yourself getting traffic from people on both sides of the issues. Some of those visitors may also link to your site, pushing it higher in the search engine results (see step 4).
If you allow public comments on your site, be prepared to deal with the backlash on controversial articles. Skillful handling of both agreement and dissent will enhance your credibility, and the added content from the comments will help you get indexed for more keywords related to your original article. Be careful not to shoot yourself in the foot by being too strident, unless strongly opinionated writing is what you’re counting on for continued popularity.
If you decide to draw visitors with controversy you’ll be competing with a lot of opinionated bloggers, not to mention several major media sites that have become famous and well-trafficked by taking sides3. You can gain an edge by being timely with your writing and beating others to the punch on hot issues. The other tips in this article can also help you stay ahead of the competition.
Putting it All Together
In my article about the ABC News website redesign, I used all of the “three -ations” to some degree.
- Specialization: I picked a highly specific topic that few others were writing about.
- Education: I framed my critique as an educational piece about user-friendly website design.
- Agitation: I picked a topic with controversial elements, namely the anger of ABC News readers over the changes that had been made.
For more organic SEO strategies, stay tuned for parts 2 through 4 of this series.
UPDATE (5/17/2007): Part 2 is now available.
Footnotes
1 My thanks to SitePoint for cluing me in to Trends via their “Site Point Tribune” newsletter.
2 The keyword difficulty tool from SEOmoz can give you an edge on finding subjects without tons of competition. Because of overwhelming demand, this tools is currently limited to paid SEOmoz members.