3 Months to No.1
The No-Nonsense SEO Playbook for Getting Your Website Found on Google
1. SEO’s Not for Everyone
SEO is crucial for website success. Those who neglect it often face business failure. The author, based on tracking over 1,000 UK businesses, divides people who don’t benefit from SEO into three groups. “SEO Begrudgers” view it as an expense and can’t make a decision. “Quick Fix Seekers” expect overnight results and often get poor SEO services. “DIY Money Savers” wrongly think SEO is easy to learn. These attitudes prevent businesses from achieving high rankings on Google.
2. My Journey’s Not a Blueprint, But Here it is
The author, once an airline pilot, transitioned to SEO. Concerned about the financial insecurity of his flying career due to potential medical issues, he started learning online marketing. Through affiliate marketing, he discovered the importance of SEO for making money online. As his SEO skills grew, he was asked for advice and eventually founded an SEO agency. His story shows how SEO can transform a career and lead to financial success.
3. Will SEO Make Me Attractive, Rich, & Wildly Successful?
SEO can drive significant business growth. It acts like a performance enhancer, maximizing a business’s potential based on its existing capabilities. For example, a mediocre product can become successful if its website ranks high on Google. However, SEO isn’t suitable for all businesses. New businesses with low - end/high - volume products or those targeting low - search - volume keywords may be better off with Google Ads. The author lists several types of businesses that may not be a good fit for SEO, like new websites and those targeting very niche keywords.
4. The Marketing Treasure Map
Most new businesses fail because they prioritize product over marketing. The author presents a “Marketing Treasure Map” for effective marketing. It suggests starting with Google Ads to test the market and website viability, as failure in Google Ads indicates deeper issues. Then, businesses should layer on other marketing channels like SEO, social media advertising, content marketing, and PR. Each channel has different levels of risk and return, and layering them helps reduce risk and increase the chances of success.
5. Let’s Talk Time
The time it takes to rank on Google varies widely. It depends on factors like website strength and competition. For example, affiliate websites targeting less competitive keywords can rank in 2 months, while websites targeting highly competitive national keywords may take 12 months or more. SEO requires patience as there’s no immediate gratification. It’s like losing weight, where consistent effort over time leads to results, even if it’s hard to pinpoint what exactly caused the change.
6. How Google Works
Google operates for profit by showing relevant search results. Its process involves three main stages: indexing the web using “Spiders” or “The Googlebot”, matching content to user queries through algorithms considering relevance and popularity, and using user behavior feedback to adjust rankings. For instance, if a website has a high bounce rate, Google may lower its ranking. Understanding how Google works is fundamental to effective SEO.
7. Become a Pro SEO in 5 Minutes – The Common Sense Check
A useful way to approach SEO is to think like a Google engineer. When doing an SEO task, ask yourself if Google would reward, punish, or be indifferent to it. For example, actions like buying Facebook likes or getting backlinks from low - quality forums are unlikely to be rewarded. By following this common - sense approach, you can avoid penalties and focus on legitimate SEO practices that will stand the test of time.
8. The Magic Bullet Fallacy
There’s no single element that can rank a website number one. In the past, there were quick - fix tactics like keyword stuffing and 3 - way linking, but Google has become too sophisticated for such tricks. Today, SEO is about consistency and doing many small things well. Some online content still promotes the idea of a magic bullet for ranking, but it’s mainly to attract readers and sell products, not based on sound SEO practices.
9. The 3 Types of SEO Business Model
There are three main SEO business models. Affiliate SEO involves promoting others’ products for a commission. It offers passive income but lacks control. Business SEO is about using SEO to market your own product or service. You can calculate its potential value using tools like SEMRush. Client SEO is where you help other businesses with their SEO for a fee. The amount you’re paid depends on the value you deliver, and it’s a growing field with significant potential.
10. Anatomy of an SEO Campaign
An SEO campaign consists of five main steps: keyword research, on - page optimization, off - page optimization, progress monitoring, and evidence - based refinement. Keyword research is crucial as choosing the wrong keywords can waste time. On - page optimization involves optimizing elements on the website itself. Off - page optimization focuses on how other websites interact with yours. Progress is monitored through SERPS tracking and traffic analysis, and based on the results, the SEO process is refined.
11. How to Use This Book to its Best
This book is a comprehensive guide to SEO. It includes references to external websites and online tools, but it doesn’t go into excessive detail about how to use them as they have their own educational resources. The book assumes you’re using WordPress for building and editing your website. There’s also a free accompanying video series accessible through the provided website, which is very helpful for visual learners.
12. Keywords
Keywords are the foundation of SEO. There are three types: informational/entertainment, commercial, and branded. Keyword research is essential and involves three phases: brainstorming common - sense keywords, gathering keywords from Google, and checking their profitability using tools like SEMRush. For example, for a plumbing business, relevant keywords could be identified through these steps. It’s important to focus on a few high - quality keywords rather than trying to target too many.
13. Choosing Domains
The domain name you choose significantly impacts SEO. While in the past, exact - match domains had an advantage, Google now places less emphasis on them. There are three types of domains: exact - match, partial - match, and branded. The author recommends choosing a branded domain to avoid the risk of over - optimization penalties. When registering a domain, make sure your contact information is consistent across your registrar and hosting accounts.
14. The Four Pillars of SEO
SEO boils down to four key elements: relevance, crawlability, engagement, and authority. Relevance means making pages useful and rich in target keywords. Crawlability involves making it easy for Google to scan your site. Engagement is about showing that users are spending time on your pages. Authority is demonstrated when other trustworthy websites vouch for your content. These four pillars form the basis of successful SEO.
15. On - Page Optimisation – Page Relevance
Google’s algorithm has evolved, and now we need to think in terms of topics rather than just keywords. For example, a plumber should create topic pages for different aspects of plumbing rather than separate pages for each keyword. On - page optimization factors include URLs, title tags, header tags, keyword use, and more. Each factor plays a role in making the page relevant to the target keyword and improving its chances of ranking.
16. On - Page Optimisation – Crawlability
To improve crawlability, there are several important factors. Mobile friendliness is crucial as Google uses it as a ranking signal. Site organization, like siloing, helps Google understand the structure of your site. Producing fresh content, removing redundant or duplicate content, going ‘https’, using sitemaps and ’noindexing’, and implementing schema markup all contribute to making your site more attractive to Google’s crawlers.
17. On - Page Optimisation – User Engagement
User engagement is becoming increasingly important in SEO, thanks to Google’s RankBrain system. Factors that affect user engagement include meta descriptions, site speed, good media, keeping people reading, having long - form content, and avoiding intrusive popups. For example, a great meta description can increase click - through - rate, while slow site speed can lead to a high bounce rate. Positive user engagement metrics can boost your website’s rankings.
18. Links
Links are a vital part of off - page SEO. They help Google crawl the web and are like “votes” for a website’s popularity and authority. The ideal link is relevant, authoritative, and contextually placed. Tools like Majestic can help assess link quality. When building links, consider link diversity, the difference between ’no follow’ and ‘do follow’ links, and consistency. You can exchange various things for links, such as time, money, expertise, but content marketing is the most effective long - term strategy.
19. Content Marketing
Content marketing is a powerful way to build links and improve SEO. Good - quality content is unique and valuable to the audience. You can come up with content ideas by considering trends, answering customers’ questions, addressing unpopular topics, sharing unique viewpoints, or focusing on what you’d like to read. Promotion methods include manual and automated link outreach, the broken link method, and using platforms like HARO. Guest posting is also an effective tactic.
20. Using Social Media for SEO
Social media has different roles in marketing. Organic social media marketing may not be effective for most businesses to directly attract sales. Paid social media marketing, on the other hand, allows for precise targeting. Regarding SEO, social media can send signals to Google. Building a brand through social media, showing freshness through regular activity, and getting social links (even if they’re ’nofollow’) from high - authority platforms can all contribute to better SEO.
21. Local Area SEO
For local businesses, local SEO is essential. It involves optimizing your website’s content for the local area, getting listed on Google Maps through a Google My Business profile, and understanding Google’s local algorithm. The algorithm takes into account factors like citations (mentions of your business name, address, and phone number), NAP consistency, and the number of 5 - star Google reviews. Directory submissions and consistent NAP information are key to improving local rankings.
22. eCommerce SEO
eCommerce SEO is challenging but possible. Niche down to specialize and compete effectively. The site structure should be logical, with a balance between ‘deep’ and ‘wide’ URL structures. Keyword research for category and product pages is different. On - page optimization for eCommerce focuses on elements like page titles and meta descriptions to attract price - sensitive customers. Schema markup can be used to display rich snippets, such as reviews, prices, and availability, to increase click - through - rate.
23. How to Stop Google Penalties Wrecking Your Livelihood
Google penalties can be algorithmic or manual. Algorithmic penalties, like Panda, Penguin, and Mobilegeddon, target various issues such as low - quality content, unnatural links, and mobile - unfriendly sites. Manual penalties are issued after a human review. To avoid penalties, always ask yourself if a Google engineer would approve of your SEO actions. Unnatural links, spam, thin content, and other unethical practices should be avoided.
24. Accessing the Free Video Accompaniment Series
The book has an accompanying free video series. Whenever you see a specific camera icon in the book, it indicates there’s a related tutorial video. You can access these videos at www.3MonthsToNo1.com/resources, but you’ll need the receipt number from when you bought the book (if from Amazon, it’s the order number). The videos provide more detailed guidance on various SEO topics.
25. How to Use the Week - By - Week SEO Blueprint
The 12 - week SEO blueprint is designed to help your website reach the top of Google. It’s based on a local, service - based business website, but can be adjusted. However, results aren’t guaranteed, as SEO success depends on various factors. Each week has specific tasks, and the work is spread out to appear natural to Google. The blueprint is a starting point, and with commitment, it can lead to significant improvements in your website’s rankings.
26. 3 Months to No.1 Blueprint
The 12 - week plan includes tasks like keyword research, setting up tracking, on - page optimization, content creation, and link building. In the first week, choose primary and ancillary keywords and check for penalties. As the weeks progress, you’ll create and optimize pages, issue press releases, build social media profiles, submit to directories, and engage in content promotion. Remember, SEO takes time and patience, but following this plan gives your website a good chance of ranking well.
27. You Just Gave to Charity – Thank You!
10% of the book’s proceeds go to Unicef. The author encourages readers to donate an additional $10 to support Unicef’s work in providing basic necessities like clean water, medicine, and food. Small donations can make a big difference, as shown by Unicef’s budgets. The author also recommends watching a video by Darren Hardy on YouTube, “Be Successful: The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy”, which can change one’s perspective on the impact of small actions.
28. A Fond Farewell
The author thanks readers and hopes they’ve gained valuable knowledge from the book and its resources. He encourages them to start implementing the 3 - month SEO blueprint. The author also requests that readers leave a review on Amazon if they’re compelled to. He concludes by emphasizing that SEO, though not as quick or flashy as paid advertising, is sustainable and has a high return on investment.