Getting a how-to post to rank highly is like search traffic gold. Well, maybe more like search traffic silver. You only hit gold when your answer lands in Google’s featured snippet box. But that’s another story for another day. Silver is still pretty dang good.
If you’ve written a how-to post and it isn’t ranking, you’re really missing out on some valuable traffic. Today’s the day to get back some of that traffic you’re missing out on.
Head over to your latest “how to” post and get ready to edit along with Ross from Siege Media. His tips:
- (0:34) Use Ordered Lists, “Step” H2s, and Verbs. Rather than just listing your steps as 1, 2, 3, etc., put the word “step” in front of those numbers. That helps Google understand that you’re clearly giving people the steps to do something. Also, make sure you give each step an <h2> tag because that helps to show importance.
- (2:54) Improve CTR With “in X Time/Steps.” People prefer to learn about things that they can do in 5 steps, or in 30 seconds. If people prefer it, so will Google. If your post is a “how to” about email marketing, title it something like “How to Get More Email Subscribers in 5 Easy Steps.” (We should totes write that)
- (4:13) Solve for Multiple Learning Methods. People learn in different ways, right? Include different methods in your blog post – anything from video to illustrations to pictures that match each step. Use them all.
- (6:28) Restate the Title Before Step 1. It’s as simple as this: “These are the 5 steps you need to know to get more email subscribers.” That helps Google know exactly where the action takes place. Plus, a few more keywords in your blog won’t hurt.
Today’s Listen is technically a video, but whatever. It’s still actionable, packed full, and short. Ain’t nobody got time for a 90-minute podcast.
