How to Get Free Traffic from Google in 2024: A Simple Guide for Businesses
It’s 2024, and Google search results are crammed with SEO-optimized content, meaning your business has no chance to rank for keywords and get free, organic traffic from Google search, right? Wrong!
What if I told you that everything changed last year?
What if I told you that Google is tired of their search results being gamed by SEO writers (who have no expertise in the subject they’re writing about) just Googling keywords and then compiling information already out there into yet another article?
What if I told you that Google wants you – a business owner or executive who actually knows stuff about their industry – to use your expertise to write content that is, you know, good?
Well, I am telling you that. Because it’s true.
Here, I’m going to tell you how search is changing – and what you can do about it right now to start getting free traffic from Google. Read on.
Table of Contents
What Is ‘Information Gain,’ and How Will It Help Me Get Free, Organic Traffic from Google?
How Do I Determine What Content Will Put My Business on Top of Google Search?
You Don’t Have to Do This on Your Own – We Can Do It Affordably for You
What Did Google Change in 2023 and Why Should I Care?
Some very big changes went down in 2023 in the SEO world. And these changes specifically affect you as a business owner or executive.
You should care because like most businesses, you probably want sales leads, and if you want sales leads you are aware of just how difficult and expensive it can be to get these leads. These new SEO changes open up a whole new pipeline of highly targeted leads that are free and easy to obtain.
You understand the free part, probably – after all, you wouldn’t have clicked on this article if you weren’t already aware of the benefits of organic search traffic. But easy? Yes, it’s easier than you think.
The fact is that there is something between your ears that Google craves, and that is insider expertise about your industry. You see, if Google’s search results aren’t helpful, then people stop using Google, and ad revenue falls, and so on and so forth. Google doesn’t want that, so they know that content needs to improve. After all, if you have a plumbing question, you want it answered by a plumber, not an SEO writer.
That’s where you come in. Google has adjusted algorithms in the past year and is now favoring content that demonstrates authority and expertise. They don’t want some hodgepodge of information gathered from existing articles around the web and collected into a new article, which is what SEO writing has been for ages. They want expertise, from an expert – like you. To be more precise, they want “information gain.”
What Is ‘Information Gain,’ and How Will It Help Me Get Free, Organic Traffic from Google?
Information gain is the key to your future SEO success.
Google patented the "information gain score" in 2022, and since then, it has become key part of their ranking algorithms. As per usual, Google doesn't go into detail about how it works (they don't like providing too much info as they fear businesses will try to game the system, and they're probably correct about that).
However, what we do know is that this score is a measure of just how unique your content is compared to everything else out there written for the keyword you're targeting.
If your content offers insights and information that you can't find elsewhere on the web, then you've provided "information gain" and have a strong chance of moving up in the results. It could be an anecdote about a client who had a unique challenge that you helped solve, or it could be information on some relatively unknown software feature that most people don't realize they need until 6 months after they start using it.
The advantage you have is you're in your industry day in and day out, and so you know the problems people face and practical ways to solve them. That's extremely valuable and not something an SEO writer can provide.
How Do I Determine What Content Will Put My Business on Top of Google Search?
The answer lies in figuring out which keywords you should write about.
Download our “How to Build an SEO Pipeline” guide by clicking on the image above.
You could use SEMrush, and that’s a good way to start. I would advise looking for highly relevant keywords with low competition and good volume. I’ve created a free download to help you find these keywords (as well as help you understand how to build a content strategy) here: "How to Build an SEO Pipeline."
But the truth is that SEMrush is often a crutch. Your customers may be able to tell you what content to write.
What do your customers ask you about? If your current customers are often asking you certain questions, how much do you want to bet that potential future customers who don’t know you exist are asking Google these same questions? And if that’s the case, how nice would it be to show up at the top of search results when they enter these questions into Google’s search box?
That’s where you should start. Reach out to a few customers and ask them the following questions:
What specific challenges or problems led you to our business? This question can help you understand the pain points that drive customers to your business, which can be excellent topics for content.
What types of questions did you have about our industry or services before you found us? The answers will highlight the kinds of information potential customers are looking for, which can guide your keyword strategy.
How did you search for solutions online? What search terms did you use? This will give you direct insight into the keywords and phrases your customers use, which can be gold for SEO.
Are there any questions you still have about our industry or services that you feel aren’t adequately answered online? This question can uncover gaps in the current online content which you can fill.
What features or aspects of our service/industry are the most confusing or could use more clarification? This can guide you in creating content that demystifies these aspects, potentially improving both SEO and customer satisfaction.
If you could ask us to create a guide or article on any topic, what would it be? This direct question can lead to valuable content ideas that are directly in line with your customers' interests and needs.
Examine the answers you get to these questions, and jot down some common words or phrases you hear repeated. Then use that to come up with ideas for blog posts that could answer some of the questions your customers have.
Want us to identify a content strategy for you? We’ll do it for free, and we’ll deliver it within 24 hours! Get a free custom content strategy and a breakdown of potential traffic to your site by just providing us with your name, email, and website URL.
How to Write and Publish SEO Content: 6 Basic Tips
Now that you know which keywords to target and topics to write about, it’s time to write the content.
I can’t tell you what to write – that’s your expertise, after all. But here are six tips I provide to businesses when they ask me:
Stay focused. Keep the article narrowly focused on the keyword you’re writing about, and avoid going on tangents or talking about related subjects, except to further illustrate the topic. I’ve seen a lot of bad content in my time, and this is the No. 1 sin I see: content that’s about everything, and therefore nothing.
Use good SEO formatting. The title of your blog should be an H1. Your main headers should be formatted as H2s. If you have subheaders underneath your H2s, they should be formatted as H3s. This just helps the Google bot understand how your content is organized (and it’s good for the reader, too).
Make it scannable. Nobody likes long blocks of text. Keep paragraphs to just 3 to 4 lines each if you can help it, and mix things up with subheaders and bullet-pointed lists (like I’m doing in this section). Use images, too. If you’ve got a relevant video to embed, that’s even better.
Check out similar content on the web. There’s already content ranking for this keyword you’re going for. Do they have other sections that you forgot to include? If so, maybe you need to build out your article a little more if you want your article to leapfrog the competition.
Internally link your content. Internal links are very important for helping Google both find other content on your site and determine which content is most relevant to the keyword, so be sure to internally link to related content or web pages on your site. Also, use one or two external links to authoritative content outside your site. Make sure to use good anchor text.
Don’t forget title tags and meta descriptions. Title tags should include the main keyword you’re going for, and so should the meta description. The meta description should be no more than 155 characters and provide a basic description of why the person should click on your content – it’s what shows up under your headline in Google search, so make it count.
There are, of course, a million other SEO tips and tricks out there. But right now you’re just trying to get the basics down and push out some great content to start getting seen in Google. If you a) identify the right keyword and b) follow the tips above to produce an exceptional piece of content, you’re 80% of the way there, which is good enough to get you on the first page of results – and possibly No. 1 in many cases.
Why Not Just Use Chat GPT to Crank Out a Bunch of Articles?
I love Chat GPT – it helps me write great content a lot faster.
But if you’re just asking Chat GPT to write you articles from scratch, you’re wasting your time. In fact, Google will probably penalize your content as a result.
It’s a bad idea because this content doesn’t provide that information gain – it’s just doing what SEO writers already do, which is aggregating information out there into another article. Google sees this as low-quality content and will not favor it in search results.
That’s not to say it’s bad to use AI – Google has specifically said they don’t care if you use AI to write content. They care about the quality, and content generated from scratch by Chat GPT is of low quality. So just be careful with how you use it, and learn more about how to use AI to generate high-quality content.
You Don’t Have to Do This on Your Own – We Can Do It Affordably for You
Yes, you can do all of this on your own. Many businesses do.
But what I’ve found in my time working with small and medium-sized businesses is that folks just don’t have the time. That’s where Zentriq.ai comes in.
For a fraction of the price of SEO agencies (we know you don’t have an unlimited budget), we do all the keyword research for you and write exceptional content using your expertise. You don’t have to lift a finger – just provide us with access to your content publishing platform and give us an hour of your time each month so we can interview you for that precious expertise. We’ll produce incredible content that Google will love, and build a dashboard so you can watch the traffic roll in.
But don’t take my word for it. Fill out our simple form and we’ll create a 3-month SEO roadmap for free, and deliver it to you within 24 hours. There’s no obligation – it’s a service we provide all of the businesses out there that we believe should be telling the world their story.
We’re ready to help. Just reach out. Schedule a call with me, and I’ll even create an article for you for free to just prove what we can do. I look forward to speaking with you!