The first page of Google’s search engine is the most competitive place on the Internet. Because everyone’s dream is to get on the first-page  No one can afford to be ranking on the second, third or the fourth page

A correctly planned SEO can fulfill that dream to rank on the top without paying. But of course, it is easier said than done because there is already a tough battle going on for just one keyword. As a small business owner, you may get intimidated that how will you beat your well-established SEO competitors?

But do you know outranking your competitors is nothing but identifying opportunities that your competitors are not utilizing.

Today I’d like to share some secrets that can help you outrank your competitors in SEO ranking.

1. Let the Competitors Do the Hard Work for you

Whatever type of business you have, the competition will always be there. Even if you are a leader in your niche or just a startup; keeping an eye on your competitors is always important.

Because spying on them and see what they are doing and do something like that with some improvisations is one of the best ways to outrank your toughest competitors. There is a very famous quote by Jim Rohn,

“Success leaves clues. Be a better observer of the winners and the losers, those who are doing well and those who are falling behind. Take mental notes and say: “I am going to adjust what I am doing based on what I see””.

It simply means you can tap into their strategies to see what’s working for them and what isn’t. For spying, there are two great tools available in the market SEMRush and AHREFs

2. Spying on the Keywords

It all begins with keyword in SEO. There is no other way around.

The first step is to identify the keywords that you can target effectively. For example, if you’re building a marketing automation tool you may want to rank for the seed keyword “marketing automation”. Just search for the seed keyword in Google to find your top-ranking competitors. Unless your brand has the potential to beat the gorilla competitors like HubSpot, ActiveCampaign then the possibility of ranking on this keyword is next to none.

That’s why you need to move your search towards long-tail keywords where there is low competition. Always choose keywords based on,

• Search volume: Number of search on Google per month.
• Competition: Look at the level of each keyword competition
• Relevance: You should also look for the relevance of each keyword to your business.
• Keyword Difficulty (KD): Of course, you should always choose the keywords with low difficulty so that you can beat the competitors easily.

For more keyword ideas you can use any keyword research tools.

3. Improve your Backlink Profile

Source: noobpreneur

Backlinks are the foundation of the search algorithm of Google. We now know that there are numerous other factors that are taken into consideration but that doesn’t mean backlinks are no longer important Backlinks still play a significant role in improving your ranking.

If you seem to have a hard time gaining a lead over a rivals site, then it is possible that they have more appropriate and reputable backlinks pointing towards their site that you do.

Well, fortunately, you can change this by a few link building techniques such as

• Commenting on other website’s blogs (related one),
• Guest posting,
• Sharing regular posts in forums
• Building your internal links

The more you build a community engagement the more you will be able to gain backlinks to your site. Because once you are recognized to be an expert in your niche, then you can expect to receive backlinks from some highly relevant websites. You can use any backlink analysis tools to improve your link building strategy.

Pro Tip: Are you a SEO/ digital marketing agency, trying to win SEO projects? You should Include the list of SEO tools which you regularly use, in your next SEO proposal.

4. Improve the Quality and Quantity of your Content

Now you have a clear idea about who your competitors are, what keywords they rank for, their backlink profile. Now it’s time to analyze their content.

If you are not providing quality content, then your hard work will get lost in translation. So how exactly do you provide quality content consistently?

Well, that’s a million-dollar question.

If you want to grab Google’s attention you will need to provide the content that is far more informative, helpful and in-dept. For example, if the average length of your competitor’s article is 400 words then try hard and aim to provide the articles of 800 words which is rich in every aspect and address the most prominent needs of your audiences.

Let’s check out a few other factors that can help you improve the quality and the quantity of your content.

a. Visuals

One of the easiest ways to break the block of texts is by using visuals in your content. Images and videos have a tendency to grab attention quickly. Did you know that our brain captures 90% of the information visually? That’s right so if you haven’t thought about using video marketing as your weapon to reach your company’s goal then now it’s time. You can develop content in the below forms,

• Videos
• Memes
• Infographics
• Photos (of people using your product or service)

b. Content

A great way to organize the articles on your blog is to assign a level to them as beginner, intermediate, or expert in order to target your content to the specific audience.

Before you publish your content, make sure you read through it and double-check to see if your audience will appreciate it. Ask yourself if the content hooks the interest of your audience and fulfills their needs. If you’re looking to optimize your content but don’t know how and where to get started then give try to some of the content optimization tools.

You also need to optimize your content so that it can be found by readers easily. Ways to optimize it,

• Searchable title
• Meta description
• Keywords
• Internal links

c. Expert’s Quotes

One problem many content creators face is producing content they only know a little bit about. In that case, a great way to present a piece of information is by using expert quotes and revolve your content around their message.

d. Editing and Proofreading

Editing and proofreading are two different concepts. Do not take a risk to publish your content without performing these two tasks.

While editing you need to look if the content is well organized or has smooth transitions between paragraphs. Check the below factors in editing,

• Overall structure
• Clarity
• Style

You should proofread only after you finish with the editing revisions. Consider below factors in proofreading

• Grammar
• Spellings

5. State of Art On-page SEO

Source: searchenginejournal

You got to implement a state of art on-page SEO. Your web page should give,

a. High visitors satisfaction

Google gives first preference to user’s satisfaction, that’s why it is the most important factor for Google for ranking your site on the search page. If people are satisfied with your website then your top shot competitors then Google will definitely prefer you over them and will rank you higher.

b. Viewers engagement

Viewers must stay on your page for a longer time and browse through your content. Trust me, Google loves that and will reward you with the highest ranking in return.

c. Strong internal linking

Don’t be surprised because internal linking is way powerful than those low-quality backlinks. Internal linking is fast and free to create than creating a backlink. So don’t ignore your internal linking if you want to outrank your competitors.

d. Click-baiting

Well, if everything fails then you can go for click-baiting. Even though it may harm you in the near future but if you are looking to beat your competitors quickly then click-baiting is one strategy that you can try.

6. Targeting Mobile Devices and Social Media

Mobile and social media are the two major forces in the world of marketing right now. Two of them mostly work hand in hand.

Google is well aware of the traffic coming from mobile devices and of course, no one can challenge the power of social media. That’s why it is so so important to consider these two major factors.

a. Create a mobile app

Google is more likely to favor a mobile-friendly website than a non-friendly one. You can create a mobile app for your website that users can download. If your competitors do not have an app and you’ve got one then Google will undoubtedly rate you above them

b. Social signals

Hands down, social media is one of the best ways to outrank your competitors in SEO. Social signals do matter a lot. I mean getting more and more retweets, likes, shares and subscribers can certainly change the game for you.

Conclusion:

Search engine optimization isn’t something that will fade out soon, it is something that your website needs to concentrate on right now and in the future.

Well, don’t get overwhelmed, if you want to beat your competitors, you have to go beyond the basics.