When it comes to SEO, there is a lot you need to know when looking at how to rank a web page higher on Google. For those new to SEO, the whole process can be very overwhelming so to simplify the process, here are 6 steps to creating a master SEO plan.

1. Keyword Research

The biggest mistakes people make with keyword research are either choosing keywords that are too broad, have too much competition, not enough traction or using keywords that don’t actually convert. Keyword research can be easy at times but also challenging. The best way to rank a keywords is to use multiple long tail keywords with the same piece of content. Try and aim for a keyword theme.

You should know your business enough to understand what type of visitor you’re looking for and whether your main goal is traffic, conversions or both. Regardless of your goal, be specific when defining your theme and then you will find it easier to rank.

2. Using Specific Qualifiers

A qualifier is a word that adds specificity to a keyword to define your intent. These may come in the form of time, date, price, quantity, intent or location. You want to find as many qualifiers that will fit your audience and using a tool like Wordstream, Keyword Spy or Übersuggest is a great way to see real-time insight and is an SEO favourite. You can run a simple query and find over 100 suggested keywords based on Google’s autocomplete feature (based on Google searches) completely free of charge

3. Beating the Competition

Once you have your basic keywords set, you need to find out how and where your phrases actually rank. You can rank the competition by using automated tools like the Keyword Difficulty Tool which lets you calculate on a 100 point scale, a difficulty score for each individual phrase you want to use.

You need to remember that you don’t actually have to rank #1 for any of your chosen keywords to drive traffic, you should be happy making top five.

4. Creating Value

Content without substantial value is considered as spam, as far as Google is concerned. When choosing your keyword theme, first thing about how you can create value. Creating value is harder than producing mere words but the reward is a lot higher. Offering value will help create loyal fans and make your lift a lot easier as value builds links by itself. Utility, emotional response, point of view and perceived value are different forms of value. You don’t have to include all four, but excelling in one will prove successful.

5. Choosing the Right Title

Choosing the right title for SEO purposes may take masters 5 minutes but for the average non-experience SEO Joe, it can take up to two hours. Write over 25 titles before you actually chose one that will help with your SEO. This is an important step to mastering your SEO plan.

6. Design

Great designs receives great rewards. If you do have a budget and find yourself with some spare cash, spend it on design. Having great design will lead to lower bounce rate, higher page views, increased time on site and establish trust.

Once you have mastered the basics, including diversifying your anchor text, building links into your SEO, using Title Tags and all of the above, you will find yourself with a masterful SEO plan that you can use for your business!