How I Achieved My Number One SEO Ranking
There are many benefits to having a high SEO ranking. The most obvious plus is that your discoverability is at its peak, meaning you are typically one of the first few clickable options a web user has to consider when searching for a specific term. This can help draw people outside of your typical audience to your content and drive those users to take action if they engage with what they’re seeing.
While I think an effective SEO strategy is only one segment of what you need to provide value to target audiences, spending time understanding how your other marketing and communication tactics can boost SEO ranking is equally important.
When I created WordSpark’s social impact job board one year ago, my goal was to provide a curated online resource for job seekers and those recruiting qualified leads. I also wanted the job board to be a vehicle to talk about larger equity issues related to hiring processes and salary transparency.
The last thing on my mind was getting a number one placement for key job search terms. I think I started out in the low 90s with the term “social impact job board”, which put me several pages behind other pages with similar content offerings.
I could have gone the paid route and there are many tools to implement PPC or pay-by-click approaches that Google outlines. However, I wanted to see what I could do solely through controlled optimization to see how I could organically rise in ranking. In 12 months, I was able to climb to first position for the term “social impact job board”, proudly earning credibility that the entire internet could see!
While Google never reveals the actual steps one can take to be seen as valuable to an SEO crawler, here are some of the marcomm tactics I use that I believe influenced my ascension to the top spot.
I publish a job board newsletter. This newsletter is disseminated monthly to a growing list of job seekers, hiring managers, and HR professionals. The email marketing platform I use publishes each newsletter with a custom web link once live, for ease of sharing. This means that all newsletter content is publicly archived and available to search engines, which increases the number of times key terms are scrolled.
I cross-post blogs that illustrate my commitment to salary transparency. These blog posts include backlinks to the job board and are available on several different platforms, including LinkedIn and Medium. Because they exist in separate places, each with their own diverse audience, this helps to boost content shareability and I’m able to tap into the ranking credibility of Medium and LinkedIn, which Google factors in.
I share a link to the job board on social media each month. I make custom posts on LinkedIn and Twitter, which also increases the amount of scrollable content available and helps with increasing link clicks and page views. These social posts get a high degree of shares as well, which elevates the content further.
I have other relevant social impact content on my website. The job board doesn’t exist in isolation. There are several other pages on the WordSpark website that are educational in nature and show a diverse content stream available for visitors to access. If other pages are receiving similar traction, that also helps to boost the traffic coming to the job board from a variety of sources.
I have credible sources backlinking to the job board. There are other social media users and affiliate websites that are backlinking to the job board and directing their audience to use the resource in their job search or job promotion. That type of “word of mouth” recommendation builds momentum around the job board’s value and diversifies the online spaces featuring the direct link.
I use specific keywords that are targeted to key audiences. I write and organize web content with target audiences in mind, purposefully including specific keywords and phrases I know job seekers and hiring managers are using. Rather than creating awkward phrases or paragraphs just for the sake of using a specific word, I will write the content first and then review to optimize based on what I’ve learned about anticipated audience behavior.
I curate photo alt-text with relevant search terms. Changing the alt-text of an image is a simple way to add keywords as well and I take advantage of this tool. You can do this manually if you have photo-editing software, but most content management systems will allow you to modify this text in the embedded photo panel you see when you upload or replace a photo.
I structure my URLs with simple nomenclature. I make sure the page names and blog titles I use are clear and concise. I typically change the pre-populated URLs to include words that are relevant to the page/blog content. This is one easy way to further brand the page and increase optimization for searchability.
The job board is mobile-friendly. Mobile optimization and content organization that’s rooted in digital best practices can help illustrate that your content is original, useful, and not crafted solely for the purpose of boosting your organic ranking. I intentionally designed the job board with a clean design and responsive navigation to keep users on the page as long as possible, which in turn helps to lower the bounce rate.
I refine my content over time. The job board gets updates monthly, but beyond that, I’m constantly thinking about how I use the analytics I have to make adjustments to the content layout, the visual interest on the page, and other interactive elements, like the embedded newsletter signup. I want to ensure the page feels fresh, not static, even for return visitors.
Only time will tell whether or not I will maintain the number one spot for the search team “social impact job board” in perpetuity or if someone else may claim that ranking in the future.
Overall, my goal is to create content and user experiences that provide value to the audiences I’m looking to engage with. If I’ve done that, ranking aside, I’ll stay proud.
WordSpark Digital Consulting is a social impact consultancy based on the East Coast. Ready to learn more about how you can use effective strategy to deepen your connection with relevant audiences? Let’s connect.