An SEO strategy is the process of planning and implementing steps with an aim towards improving search engine rankings. An effective SEO strategy is a must for businesses in today’s day and age, regardless of the nature or size of their operations. An effective SEO strategy can help businesses in growing the organic traffic to their website along with providing other benefits. This piece has been put together to enlist the 10 steps integral to creating an SEO strategy in 2026. Read on to know more about it.
1. Generate A List of Keywords:
Keywords are very integral to SEO and that is the reason why the first step of any solid SEO strategy is keyword research. You can use Google Suggest to find keywords that your target audience searches for. Since the keywords come directly from Google, you can go ahead targeting them because you are assured that people are actually searching for them.
Further, you can focus on targeting long-tail keywords as they are less competitive than short-tail keywords. You can get started with about 10 keywords and can check their search volumes and competition levels with tools like SEMrush or Ubersuggest. Once you have a list of keywords to get started with, you can move onto the next step of creating an effective SEO strategy.
2. Inspect Google’s, First Page:
Once you have jotted down a list of keywords to work with, you need to see what’s already working for those keywords. You can do so by typing one of the keywords into Google. Analyze the top 10 results that you see and then jot down the patterns or themes that you notice. If you want a cover a topic on your site and you notice that the first page results are made up mostly of list posts, then it will work well for you to publish a list post for your blog.
3. Produce Something Different or Better:
Your next focus after completing the first two steps should be on creating some unique high-quality content. You can either create something different or you can create something better. When you produce different content than what’s out there, it helps you to stand out from your competition. You also can try a different approach and focus on creating content that is infinitely better than what’s out there.
4. Get Backlinks:
You need to get backlinks if you want to improve your search engine rankings. Links can help you in getting first page Google rankings. For do so, you need to figure out why people link to different content in your industry. You need to find the hook and then include it in your content. Data and ultimate guides are two different types of “hooks” that you can use in your content.
5. Build Pages for Each Topic:
Trying to get one page to rank for a handful of keywords is borderline impossible. You need to create a web page for each one of your shortlisted keywords that outlines the topic at a high level with the use of long-tail keywords that you also have jotted down.
The number of your different pillar pages will depend on your keyword list. The number of topics for which you create pillar pages should correspond with the number of products, offerings and locations that your business has. If and when you do so, it will get easier for your customers to find you, no matter what keywords they use. Make sure that all web pages have relevant content to enhance the user experience of your prospects and customers.
6. Set Up a Blog:
Blogging is a very good way to rank for keywords and also engage your target audience. There are many benefits of blogging so if you haven’t set one up already, it is time to do so now. You can use blogs to elaborate on different subtopics and start showing up on Google. Make sure to not include long-tail keywords on your blog more than three or four times. It is important to link out to the pillar page that you have created on this topic.
7. Make Your Content Visually Appealing:
You may have the best content written but if it looks bland then it is not going to be effective enough. You need to invest as much time in content design as you do in content creation. You don’t always have to break the bank for a great content design. There are some types of visual content that can easily be achieved. You can use graphs and charts because they make hard data very easy to understand. You can also use screenshots for describing something technical and pictures to describe something in a non-technical niche. Additionally, you can also use graphics to visualize concepts.
8. Blog Every Week:
You need to blog every week on a continuous and ongoing basis to develop page authority. This will lead to Google paying more attention to your domain as you go about adding content to your primary topics.
You need to blog at least once a week. Your focus should be on writing for your audiences and not for the search engines. Don’t overstuff your content body with keywords but instead use them wisely without breaking the natural flow of the content. Use keywords in running sentences and write content which is informative and provides value to your target audiences.
9. Update Your Content:
Every now and then you need to improve and update your content. You can delete obsolete parts of your content and replace them with content which is new and relevant. This strategy works more often than not and if and when you push out changes and make them live, your old yet ‘updated’ posts will see a high amount of traffic. You need to put in the efforts to ensure that they have been updated and edited to be relevant.
10. Stay Updated with The Changing Trends:
SEO is ever-evolving and you need to be up-to-date with all the relevant changes or run the high risk of being left behind your competition. Staying on top of all the current trends is difficult, but it is imperative that you do so to get the best possible results for your business. Thankfully, there are some seo tools that you can use to know about changes that may impact your website and your SEO strategy. Some of these resources are SEOmoz, SEOBook, Search Engine Land and so many others!
The Bottom Line
There you go. Those were the 10 steps that you can use to create an effective SEO strategy in 2026. No matter which approach you use, you should know that SEO takes a lot of time and effort. Therefore, you will need to track your SEO metrics on a regular basis using SEO Looker Studio templates. This will help you in keeping your SEO plan on track.
You can use different tools to track your overall organic traffic number along with how your different pages are ranking. The following tips will definitely help you in achieving your goals and objectives but in case you want a better outcome, you can hire digital marketing services of a white label digital marketing agency.
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