SEO strategies that helped my blog rank #1 in Google. Have you ever had a blog post stuck on the first page of Google but buried so deep that no one clicks it? That was our situation. Our post was sitting at position #7 for the keyword “blogging tips.” Not terrible—but not great either.
Our mission? Rank it at #1 in just 24 hours.
No advanced SEO. No shady tactics. Just simple, basic SEO techniques. Here’s exactly how we did it, step by step.
Diagnose the Problem with SEO Strategies
When a page isn’t ranking well, it usually comes down to two things:
- Weak content
- Weak backlinks
We checked our backlink profile using an SEO tool, and guess what? We had more than 200 quality backlinks, while our competitors had fewer than 100. So, backlinks weren’t the issue. The problem had to be the content.
Understand What Google Wants
We searched for “blogging tips” on Google and looked closely at the top results. We noticed something important: the featured snippet was being pulled from a clear, well-structured table of contents. Each heading was linked to a specific tip that was clearly explained. Our page had a table of contents, too, but our topic headings were vague. That was our weak spot.
Quick Fix Attempt (Option B)
Instead of rewriting the entire post, we tried something faster: just rephrasing our headings to make them clearer. At first, we tried doing it manually. It took too long. So we turned to ChatGPT for SEO strategies.
We used this prompt:
“I’ll give you our blog content, and I want you to rephrase the main tips (headings) so they’re clear, direct, and easy to understand at a glance.” In seconds, ChatGPT reworded all 24 tips. They were sharp, simple, and to the point. We updated the post in WordPress and requested indexing through Google Search Console.
First Results – A Mobile Win
- A few hours later, we checked our phones… and we had jumped to position #1 on mobile!
- On desktop, nothing had changed for SEO strategies.
- Still, this was a good sign. But we weren’t done.
Full Content Refresh (Option A)
With time running out, we decided to go all-in.
- We analyzed:
- Top-ranking articles
- “People Also Ask” questions
- The “Also Talk About” report in Ahrefs
Using this info, we realized we were missing critical topics like:
- Social media
- Content strategy
- Email marketing
- Editorial calendars
- Writing tips
- Even AI tools like ChatGPT
So, we speed-wrote a brand new version of the post that covered everything beginner bloggers want to know. We trimmed irrelevant content, added value, and made sure it aligned with search intent. Then we hit Publish. And again, we requested indexing for SEO strategies.
The Final Countdown
- The next morning, we still held mobile position #1.
- On desktop? We were now in position #6—better, but not the top.
- But then we remembered: Google’s results vary by location.
- So we turned on our VPN and searched from different cities across the U.S.
- Boom! We were #1 in New York, Nebraska, and Raleigh.
- Five days later, our post was showing the featured snippet in all 50 U.S. states.
Conclusion
We didn’t use fancy tools or advanced strategies. Just clear headings, better content, and a fast response to what Google wanted. We got the top spot with basic SEO and a little help from ChatGPT. Sometimes, that’s all it takes. Oh—and a really good burrito doesn’t hurt either SEO strategies.