#221: How to Create a 3-Month SEO Plan with Neil Patel

Neil Patel, master marketer and SEO genius, joined me on my show today to dive into the the nuts-and-bolts of some simple SEO strategies that will bring you more traffic, conversions, and revenue! He walks us through a 3-month plan that I’ve broken down for you in a free guide that you can grab right here.
I have to admit, I haven’t spent as much time or attention as I should on SEO strategies, but that’s all changed this year...my team and I are being intentional about learning more about SEO and we’re going to implement the plan that Neil shared with us today, too!
IT’S NOT ROCKET SCIENCE One thing that Neil dispelled immediately is the fear that so many of us have around the idea of SEO strategy, and that is, that SEO is too complicated and we’ll never understand what exactly to do!
Here’s what he had to say about that:
“SEO is not rocket science...it’s not hard, and as long as you follow this plan, which is broken down into three main steps, you should get results.”
And let me tell you the plan is not complicated...it’s very doable and this guide is going to help!
WHAT IS SEO AND WHY SHOULD I HAVE AN SEO STRATEGY? SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and Neil explained that it’s really all about making your site compatible for search engines. Now of course we create our content for our audience to enjoy and find useful, but we need to understand the importance of making our content compatible for BOTH users AND search engines.
HOW SEO WILL INCREASE TRAFFIC, CONVERSIONS AND REVENUE As an entrepreneur, you likely have a strong “why” behind what you’re doing online, but the bottom-line is that you want more people to see or listen to your content, you want to turn followers into customers, and you want to earn a living doing what you love to do. One way to accomplish this is to develop an SEO plan that has the ability to give you these tangible results.
And that’s exactly what Neil shared in today’s show! He broke down exactly what you need to do in order to get a really good, simple SEO strategy running on your website.
THE 3-MONTH SEO PLAN I’ve outlined some of the key points Neil made in the interview here, but for the step-by-step plan download your free 3-Month SEO Guide here.
MONTH 1 - Research & Competitor Analysis
With SEO you may not see results for several months so you want to make sure you are going after the right keywords. Neil explained that if you’re not figuring out what keywords you should be using in your content, you might be getting traffic, but it’s NOT traffic that will turn into customers.
I’ve linked up to the keyword research tools that Neil recommends (below), but you’re going to want to listen in to today’s show for the JUICY hack he shared about using SEMrush to look up your competitor’s keywords as a guide in your research...it’s like he handed us a little piece of gold!!
MONTH 2 - Optimize Your On Page Code and Building Content
So, you’re probably wondering what “on page” means! I was too. : )
In simple terms, Google reads source codes (not the language you and I speak or read!) so it’s our job to make sure Google can read our websites so that we can rank in its searches.
The good news is that if you have a Wordpress website with the free Yoast SEO plugin installed it will handle most of the on-page SEO stuff for you. It basically walks you through the steps (in a very user friendly way) to make sure Google can read your pages.
Neil also discussed the importance of building quality content on a consistent basis on your blog. You’ve gotta have a place to use that keyword research from month-one research, right? Here are a few pointers Neil suggests you implement when you write your blog posts/articles:
Write in a conversational tone Create thorough content (NOT short) Use sub-headings Keep paragraphs short Use images Wrap up your blog posts with a summary conclusion End your conclusion with a question MONTH 3 - Building Links and Getting Social Shares
Links from other people’s sites to yours (backlinks) can be a big SEO boost. Google loves seeing links, but not just any links! Google is so smart that it knows the authority and relevance of where those links are coming from. I know! It’s scary how smart Google is!
Anyway, obviously if you are linked to from a very well-known authority in your field, versus someone who themselves doesn’t have much authority or who doesn’t have much to do with your field, then who is Google going to give more credibility to? The well-known authority who is sharing relevant content with their audience via a link to your content, of course!
Part of Neil’s three-month plan also includes a great strategy for gaining social shares to your content. While social sharing will not directly affect your SEO, it sure will indirectly. Social sharing builds social proof, which ultimately builds awareness and your authority.
Make sure to grab your free 3-Month SEO Guide right here, to learn all about Neil’s technique for getting social shares through Buzzsumo.
I hope you listened to the episode because Neil broke all of this down in such an easy to understand and doable fashion. But let’s not leave it at that...I want you to put this plan in action. Here what I’d love for you to do right now:
Print out the 3-Month SEO Guide Schedule time in your calendar to implement the steps in the plan. Remember to be non-negotiable with the time you block out. Join my OMME Podcast Facebook group so that we can share our SEO successes in a few months. See you there! This episode is brought to you by:
Gravy—my very own 24/7 engagement team who contacts my customers within hours of their failed payment, captures updated billing information and saves the customers I worked so hard to acquire. If you have a subscription model business or offer payment plans, you’ve got to check out Gravy!