Fridays with Vicky 66

Having keywords ranked on page 2 and 3 and even low down on page 1 can be a little frustrating. You know you have a good keyword when you see that they get decent traffic, even on page 2.

The thing is, if the keyword get decent traffic on page 2 imagine what the keyword could bring in with a top page 1 ranking…

The question is, how do you boost those page 2 and page 3 keywords? How do you give them an extra “kick” to move up in the rankings?

I was doing a little research and I ran into a post with Brian Dean, from Backlinko, mentioning a version of the below strategy. This was just one of many strategies he shared but this one stuck out to me because of it’s simplicity.

It’s quick and easy to do, the question is though…

Will this quick and simple strategy make any difference to my keyword rankings?

That’s what we will find out.

Below I share this simple strategy. But also the result from it. Did the strategy work and how much of a difference did it make?

Let’s dive in.

Improve Keyword Ranking in Google with This One Easy Method

1. Find the Keywords

The first thing you need to do is find some of your good keywords that are ranking on page 2 or low down on page 1. There are many tools that you can use, here are a few of them:

• Semrush
• Google Analytics
• Google Webmaster Tools (also called Google Search Console)

In our example I will be using the Google Webmaster tool, it’s free and I highly recommend it. If you have not yet signed up with them you can do so here. After you sign up with them you have to verify your website with them. I can not stress the importance of doing this, if you would ever run into issues with your site.

When you are logged in you want to click on the website you are working with.

– search traffic

– search analytics

From here you want to check positions.

Now keywords, clicks and position will show.

I pick 3 keywords. They are kind of seasonal but I do want to give them a boost for next winter. One keyword at the bottom of page 1, two keywords on page 2.

They all get a little bit of traffic as it is, but I know if I can get them ranking higher they would get a lot more traffic.

2. Potential Traffic

After I find some good keywords I want to know what the potential is. If they get some traffic on page 2, the chance are that they get pretty good traffic if they rank high up on page 1. Get your favorite keyword tool and check out the numbers.

Here are the numbers for my 3 keywords:

Keyword A

Some good traffic, 547 monthly searches, possible 93 clicks if you hold the first position in Google.

It has some competition, 165 sites competing. It’s a green KQI (keyword quality indicator) so it’s definitely a good keyword.

Keyword B

This is another good keyword. It has some good traffic, with 2746 monthly searches. 467 possible visits with a first spot ranking. It has some competition though and only a yellow KQI score, which means that it will be a little harder to rank for. It will take a little bit more to get a good ranking with this keyword.

Keyword C

This keyword has less traffic, with 359 monthly searches and possible 62 clicks for a first spot ranking. It does have a green light though, so will give this keyword a go as well.

I use Jaaxy for my keyword research, gives me a great overlook of the keyword. I know if it’s a “go” or a “no” keyword quickly.

You can choose how ever many keywords you want to work with I would start with 3 though.

After you have your keywords picked out, it’s time to find your “juicy” pages.

3. What’s Your “Juicy” Pages on Your Site?

Identify where the “power” of your site is, what pages are being linked to, from other websites?

There are different ways and different tools to pin point these posts or pages. In this case we will continue to use Google Webmaster Tools. It’s a free great tool, let’s take advantage of it.

Click “links to your site” out in the left sidebar.

By doing that you will see “who links the most” to your site and “your most linked content”.

We will take use of the “your most linked content” pages.

There you have it, the top 3 posts/pages that gets most “juice” on your site.

4. Link it All Together

 Now you want to link internally from those “juice” power pages, to the posts that needs a little extra boost to jump up in rankings.

Go to your “juicy” power pages or posts, use the keywords that you have chosen and link them back to the post that are ranking for that keyword.

The Test – Will It Work to Improve Keyword Ranking in Google?

So having a strategy is all fine and dandy, but how does it work in reality? I found that out too, let’s see how it all planned out.

Day 1

This is the stats on the 3 keywords before I implemented the above strategy.

• Keyword A ranked #10 page 1 (11 clicks last 7 days before the test)
• Keyword B ranked #12 page 2 (3 clicks last 7 days before the test)
• Keyword C ranked #15 page 2 (2 clicks last 7days before the test)

Like I said the keywords are seasonal so not getting that many clicks, but lets see if we can improve the rankings.

I ran into a few things…

Keyword A was already linked from my homepage that is one of my juicy power pages. I wasn’t using the keyword though so I changed the link including the keyword.

The second juicy power page, was not really relevant to the keywords, so I added a paragraph at the end so the keywords made sense with the content.

I linked from my top 3 power pages to the posts that need the extra boost. I used the keyword as the anchor text and naturally included the links in the content.

The third power page was actually one of the pages I was linking to. The content was highly relevant to the keywords so I made sure that the keywords where included on the page.

The Keyword Ranking Result After 1 Week

Keyword A

• Rank #7 page 1.
• Up 3 positions.
• 24 clicks after 7 days.
• From 11 clicks to 24. This is a great upswing.

Keyword B

• Rank #11 page 2.
• Up 1 position.
• 6 clicks after 7 days.
• From 3 to 6 clicks.

Keyword C

• Rank #12 page 2.
• Up 3 positions.
• 2 clicks after 7 days.
• Same 2 clicks as previous 7 days.

I’m not doing anything else to these posts or keywords, let’s see if they keep their position. I will get back to this post again in another week.

The Keyword Ranking Result After 2 Weeks

Keyword A

• Rank #7 page 1 (same position it had last week).
• Up 3 positions from original ranking.
• 26 clicks the last 7 days. +2 clicks since previous 7 days.

Keyword B

• Rank #10 page 1 (up one position since last week).
• Up 2 position from the original ranking.
• 3 Clicks the last 7 days. Low clicks due to seasonal keyword even though I gained one position.

Keyword C

• Rank #12 page 2 (same position as last week).
• Up 3 positions from the original ranking.
• 1 Click the last 7 days. Low clicks due to seasonal keyword even though I gained one position.

Final Thoughts on This Strategy to Improve Keyword Rankings

This method to improve keyword rankings, will give your keyword an instant boost in ranking. In my case 2 -3 positions for each keyword by following the easy steps above.

It’s quick and easy with great result!

Overall I think this is a great strategy to give a little boost to your keyword. This combined with other methods can really improve the rankings for your chosen keywords.

It’s quickly done and it’s all in your hands. You don’t have to reach out to others, to link back. Nothing wrong with that but in this case, it’s all up to you to get it done.

This got me a little curious if you can boost your first page rankings, posts ranking in the middle can they gain a couple of rankings with the same method? Ahh, another case study on the way… keep an eye out for it!

Please let me know if you have tried this method, and how it worked out for you. Would love to hear from you in the comment section below,

Have a productive day,

Vicky