---
title: 'DIY SEO: 9 Powerful Techniques to Rank in Google'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=zYwRt8b7urw'
video_id: 'zYwRt8b7urw'
date: 2026-07-28
duration_sec: 693
---

# DIY SEO: 9 Powerful Techniques to Rank in Google

> Source: [DIY SEO: 9 Powerful Techniques to Rank in Google](https://youtube.com/watch?v=zYwRt8b7urw)

## Summary

Brian Dean, an SEO expert, shares nine white hat SEO techniques to improve Google rankings without hiring an agency. The video covers keyword optimization, user experience, link building, content depth, and SERP awareness, with actionable steps for each.

### Key Points

- **Use Power Words in Title Tags** [01:16] — Ross's study of 7,999 pages found that top-ranking pages tend to use words like 'best', 'guide', 'tips' in title tags to attract clicks.
- **Mine 'People Also Ask' for Keywords** [02:16] — Scroll to the bottom of Google search results to find 'People also ask' and related searches, which provide keyword ideas from Google itself.
- **Find Keywords from Untapped Sources** [02:33] — Use YouTube, Quora, and other platforms to find long-tail keywords that are less competitive than Google Suggest.
- **Reduce Bounce Rate** [03:32] — Pages with low bounce rate tend to outrank others. Improve content and user experience to keep visitors engaged.
- **Optimize CTR with Google AdWords** [04:29] — Run Google AdWords for your target keyword, analyze high-CTR ads, and use similar language in your title and description tags to boost organic CTR.
- **Build Backlinks from Link Roundups** [05:40] — Search for 'link roundup' + your topic, find roundup posts, and email the curator with your best content to get included.
- **Get Links from Resource Pages** [06:59] — Use search strings like 'keyword + resources' to find resource pages, then suggest your content as an addition. Include a sample email script.
- **Create In-Depth Content (Skyscraper Technique)** [07:55] — Emil Shour's 4,800+ word post ranked #1 because it covered everything. Length and depth correlate with higher rankings. Aim for comprehensive, not listicles.
- **Pay Attention to SERP Features** [09:15] — Google now shows ads, knowledge graphs, rich snippets, and videos. Target keywords where SERP features don't steal too many clicks – e.g., avoid 'weight loss' which has low organic CTR due to ads.
- **Use Visuals in Your Content** [10:12] — Skyword research found articles with images/videos get 94% more traffic. Add at least one multimedia element per article to boost rankings.

### Conclusion

By applying these nine DIY SEO techniques, you can significantly improve your site's visibility and rankings without needing an expensive agency.

## Transcript

to help get your site to the top of Google fast. these same techniques to rank number one You don't need to hire an agency
I'm Brian Dean, the founder of Backlinko, of all my all-time favorite white hat SEO techniques. (electronic music)
I had no idea what I was doing so I hired a random SEO agency to SEO my site. Thanks.
That's when I decided to fire the agency and learn SEO myself through trial and error. but I eventually learned how to do SEO the right way.
for some super competitive keywords, "one of the world's most sought-after SEO experts." starting with use these words in your title tag,
to run an interesting SEO experiment. Ross analyzed 7,999 pages Ross discovered that top-ranking pages tended
to use these words in their title tags. that get a high organic click-through rate. to attract lots of clicks from Google searchers.
in their title tag get more clicks, Now, besides the terms that Ross found, to maximize my organic click-through rate.
to boost your organic click-through rate But for now let's jump right into DIY SEO tip number two, Here's exactly how to execute this technique.
Next, scroll to the bottom of the search results This section is where Google shows you keywords And because these terms come straight from Google,
Now it's time for technique number three, of awesome keyword ideas. to find long tail keywords.
and see which keywords Google suggests. but there's one problem with this approach. That's why I recommend using untapped sources
I'm talking about places like YouTube, For example, let's say that you're gonna write an article Instead of typing the phrase paleo diet into Google,
You can get even more awesome keyword ideas That's all there is to it. which is to reduce your bounce rate.
to figure out why certain pages ranked higher than others. with a low bounce rate tended to outrank pages
your bounce rate is the percentage of people and then click their back button. as a direct ranking signal.
of correlation not always equaling causation. might just have straight up better content, Or it could be that Google uses bounce rate
Either way, I recommend improving pages on your site and will probably also help with your SEO. which is to optimize your click-through rate
Look, I already showed you how a higher CTR and now it's time for me to reveal one of my all-time favorite ways to boost CTR: Google AdWords.
with how Google AdWords works, it's basically a big auction. AdWords also takes into account an ad's click-through rate. it gets a steep discount on every click.
is optimized to maximize clicks. to write my title and description tags, With that, let me walk you through
First, search for your keyword in Google. that appear at the top and bottom of the first page. sprinkle them into your title and description tag,
in your CTR and traffic. Now it's time for our first link building technique, I can't believe we haven't talked about backlinks yet.
After all, a Google employee recently said that backlinks are still one of Google's top three ranking signals. link building strategies, link roundups.
that link out to the best content that recently came out. you have a good chance of getting your content included
that I got from a link roundup Okay, let's get into the steps. All you need to do is search in Google
and you should find at least a handful of roundups The last step is to reach out to the person Let them know that they run a great roundup
Here's a real life example of an email that I recently sent. they'll usually have no problem adding a link to your site
Not only do you get a link, the title of your article. but it's not spammy exact match anchor text,
let's cover another white hat link building technique, This strategy is similar to link roundups Like link roundups, resource pages link out
But unlike link roundups, on that topic. And now it's time for me to show you
First, use these search strings When you find a page where your link would make sense, send the site owner this script.
but if your content is amazing, to their resource page. it's time for do-it-yourself SEO technique number eight,
Last year one of my readers, Emil Shour, reached out to me. that he published that quickly hit the number one spot
He published an incredibly in-depth piece of content. found data to back this up. tended to rank best in Google.
It means that articles like Five Tips for X or Four Ways To Do Y simply don't work anymore. everything there is to know about your topic.
about SEO tools. Now, my original idea was to list my 12 favorite tools. but it wouldn't have been the type of in-depth content
That's when I decided to review It took over 70 hours, but in the end I had a piece of very in-depth content,
for my target keyword, so the hard work paid off. pay attention to SERP features. You probably noticed that Google is adding more stuff
Google's results now have knowledge graphs, rich snippets, video results, and, yes, more ads than ever before. Well, most people choose a keyword based on two things,
search volume and competition on the first page, that Google's new SERP features can steal clicks away For example, let's take the keyword weight loss.
As you can see, Google displays ads at the top of the page, And because of these new SERP features, according to Ahrefs, only 44% of people searching
Bottom line, do your best to target keywords That way you won't rank for a keyword I know that I said I'd only cover nine tips in this video,
but I wanted to throw in a bonus SEO tip for you, So, should you use videos, images, Skyword research discovered that articles
got an average of 94% more traffic And our ranking factor study discovered that image-rich content tends to rank best in Google.
at least one piece of multimedia, like an image or video. that this can help you rank higher in Google. That way you won't miss out
Just click on the Subscribe button. that I only share with subscribers, It's free.
Which technique from today's video are you gonna use first? or build backlinks from link roundups? Yeah, when he sees you come around,
Oh, I'm still wearing that. Actionable. So it's gonna be like, "Ding," you know?