---
title: 'SEO Checklist: How to Get More Organic Traffic (Fast)'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=SEQBi9LtZjQ'
video_id: 'SEQBi9LtZjQ'
date: 2026-07-28
duration_sec: 1144
---

# SEO Checklist: How to Get More Organic Traffic (Fast)

> Source: [SEO Checklist: How to Get More Organic Traffic (Fast)](https://youtube.com/watch?v=SEQBi9LtZjQ)

## Summary

Brian Dean, founder of Backlinko, presents his proven SEO checklist that helped him achieve first-page Google rankings for competitive keywords. The video covers essential tools, keyword research, on-page optimization, technical fixes, content creation strategies, link building tactics, and advanced techniques to boost organic traffic.

### Key Points

- **Introduction to the SEO Checklist** [00:00] — Brian Dean shares the same checklist he uses to get first-page rankings, developed from his experience overcoming initial SEO frustrations.
- **Set Up Essential SEO Tools** [00:56] — Three tools are crucial: Google Search Console (tracks performance and ranking data), Google Analytics (tracks traffic sources and user behavior), and Yoast SEO Plugin (makes content SEO-friendly).
- **Find Keywords Customers Search For** [02:08] — Three techniques: use Google Suggest for long-tail keywords, use Google Keyword Planner for suggestions, and spy on online communities like Reddit to find recurring questions.
- **Optimize Your On-Page Content** [03:48] — Use the target keyword in the first 100 words, in the title tag (early), in a short URL, and in at least one H1/H2/H3 heading.
- **Fix Technical SEO Issues** [05:33] — Check mobile-friendliness with Google Mobile-Friendly Test, fix crawl errors via Google Search Console Coverage Report, and improve loading speed using PageSpeed Insights and WebPageTest.org.
- **Create Content Designed to Rank** [07:06] — Use the Skyscraper Technique (improve on existing content), break content into chunks for readability, cover topics comprehensively (in-depth), and include visuals like images and infographics.
- **Build Backlinks** [10:53] — Backlinks remain a top ranking factor. Effective methods: link roundups (getting listed in curated lists), strategic guest posting on relevant sites, appearing as a podcast guest, and broken link building (replacing broken links with your content).
- **Advanced SEO Techniques** [14:12] — Delete or redirect zombie pages (low-traffic pages that hurt site quality), boost organic CTR by optimizing title tags and meta descriptions to match search intent, and regularly update old content to keep it fresh and relevant.
- **Conclusion and Call to Action** [18:21] — Brian summarizes the checklist, encourages subscribers, and asks viewers whether they will update old content or build more backlinks.

### Conclusion

Implementing the complete SEO checklist—from tool setup and keyword research to content creation, technical fixes, and link building—can significantly increase organic traffic. Consistent updates and removal of low-value pages further enhance rankings.

## Transcript

In fact, this is the same checklist I've used to get first page Google rankings for competitive keywords, I'm Brian Dean, the founder of Backlinko,
my entire SEO checklist, When I first got started with SEO, So, I started to search for things,
and how to SEO my site, and despite following all the advice It was really frustrating. Today, my site brings in hundreds of thousands
and major media sites, like Entrepreneur, My secret, I developed a repeatable, and that's exactly what I'm gonna share with you right now.
Set Up Essential SEO Tools and Plugins. three important SEO tools set up and ready to go.
is the Google Search Console. to track your site's performance in Google. that are holding you back, but most important of all,
that you rank for, and where you rank for them, this data comes straight from Google, The next tool you wanna set up is Google Analytics.
to see how people find and use your website, With Google Analytics, you can do all sorts of cool stuff identify the exact websites that send you traffic,
and Time on Site, and lots more. you need to install the Yoast SEO Plugin. and for good reason.
SEO friendly right outta the box. Find Keywords That Customers Search For. The question is, how do you find keywords
Here are three simple techniques. First, find long tail keywords with Google Suggest. but don't press enter or the search button.
Instead, take a look at the keywords that Google shows you. that people are actually searching for, you know that lots of people are searching for that term.
Next, find keywords with the Google Keyword Planner. is Google's official keyword research tool. but it's still super useful for SEO keyword research.
and check out the suggestions that the tool spits out. Finally, spy on online communities. I'm talking about reading threads on sites like reddit,
All you need to do is head over to the community and find questions that crop up again and again. on the Paleo sub-reddit
so if you ran a site in the Paleo niche, and Keto friendly desserts With that, let's jump into Step #3,
So, you've installed all of the important SEO tools, Now it's time to actually optimize your site. in the first 100 words of your page.
that show up at the top of your page, For example, on this post for my site, you can see that I use the term SEO tools right off the bat.
Just like with your page's content, on terms that show up early in your title tag. is SEO case study, and, as you can see,
Third, use short URLs that include your target keyword. Well, a recent SEO industry study and higher Google rankings,
so you'll wanna keep your URLs short and sweet. uses a super short URL, and that short URL for my target keyword, SEO techniques.
in a H1, H2, or H3 tag. but every little bit helps, especially if you're trying For example, my main keyword for this page
is Content Marketing Tools, so I use that exact keyword Moving right along, let's quickly blast through Find and Fix Technical SEO Issues and Errors.
can tank your rankings, you'll wanna find and fix 'em right away, here's how. As you might've heard, Google now runs
on a mobile-first index, which means if your site What the heck, I can't click anything. with the Google Mobile-Friendly Test.
whether or not your page is mobile-friendly. A crawl error just means that Google is having trouble and if they can't index your page,
in the Google Search Console using the Coverage Report. Your site's loading speed is a confirmed ranking factor.
page loading speed isn't gonna make or break your rankings, but in general, the faster your site loads, the better. check out Google's PageSpeed Insights and WebPageTest.org.
for how quickly your site loads. to help you speed things up, nice. Create Content Designed to Rank in Google.
you need to publish great content, Uh, it's content that's great. that actually ranks in Google,
to create the type of content that ranks First, create awesome content with the Skyscraper Technique. for creating amazing content.
to double my search engine traffic in two weeks. First, find a piece of content Next, create something even better,
For example, last year I noticed that lots of people are writing about SEO for Ecommerce, and make something even better,
on an 8,000-word post called Ecommerce SEO, The Definitive Guide. and using email outreach, and this three-step process
It also helped me crack the top three results Second, break your content down into chunks No one, and I mean no one likes reading
That's why I always break things down into chunks, because it makes my content super easy to read and skim, my Bounce Rate, a key Google ranking factor,
Next, make sure to cover When I recently analyzed Content that covers an entire topic in depth
ranks above content that only covers part of a topic. I mentioned earlier? a lame blog post, like five ways to get high rankings
that covered everything there is to know about optimizing Ecommerce sites, which helped my page Besides making your content in-depth,
I'm talkin' about stuff like images, polls, For example, I use lots of screenshots, visuals, and videos in pretty much every post.
on content formats that are working best right now. to analyze almost one billion blog posts, Well, there was some good news and some bad news.
The bad news is that most content is completely ignored. In fact, we found that 94% of all published content That's right, zero.
that attract more backlinks than others. and infographics get significantly more backlinks
For example, this why post has been linked to Obviously, you can't just publish a why-post but our data shows that sticking
to these three content formats can increase the odds Speaking of links, it's time for the last step So, are backlinks still important for SEO?
by Stone Temple Consulting found that backlinks are still one of Google's most important ranking factors. about ranking in Google, you need backlinks,
that are working great right now. First up, build backlinks using link roundups. to get backlinks, why?
is to link to amazing content. there's a good chance For example, here's a roundup in the marketing space.
and content marketing that came out a giant guide to SEO, and because my post they happily linked to me.
So, why do I say strategic guest posting That's because guest posting can work,
and if you do guest posting the wrong way, So, how do you do guest posting the right way? on a respected site in your niche.
on any website that has a Write For Us page, A good rule of thumb that I follow that are gonna send me targeted traffic,
For example, here's a guest post Buffer's blog focuses more on social media, but those two topics are related enough.
If I publish the same post on a site about cute cats, Anyway, I got a solid backlink for my post, of targeted traffic to my site.
is to go on podcasts as a guest. link-building techniques on the planet. from your podcast appearance,
You don't need to pitch topics, or work with an editor. and show up and provide value, that's it. I've actually appeared on over 70 podcast episodes
Last up, we have the age-old strategy This process couldn't be any simpler. Then, let 'em know about it.
I published this giant list of SEO tools. and hoped and prayed that people actually see it, So I reached out to each person
and as you can see, most of the people that I reached out to Now, before we close out this video, Tap Into Advanced SEO Techniques and Strategies.
so lemme walk you through a handful that are working really well right now. is to delete what I call zombie pages.
that don't bring in any traffic, with lots of zombie pages. that they prefer to rank sites
over those that are bloated, That's why I make sure In fact, Backlinko generates
I've only published around 70 total blog posts. I focus 100% on quality, not quantity.
like a crazy person. so use Google Analytics to find a handful of pages then delete them, or redirect them to another related page.
Then, over the next few months, For example, the team at Proven.com noticed that they had almost 50,000 pages indexed,
As it turned out, a lot of these extra pages so they deleted them, and thanks to this Proven's organic traffic significantly increased.
is to boost your organic click-through rate. to how many people click on your site in the search results. and click on the other results,
but if lots of people click on your result, and you'll get a rankings boost. "when you click on a link in Google Search,
"when ranking that search result." Scan the first page search results what someone searching for that keyword
Then, optimize your title tag and description For example, if you search for video SEO, are guides and tutorials.
don't want a handful of tips, they want a complete guide, I made sure to include the word guide
The last advanced SEO tip I have for you Back in the day, I'd publish a new post and as time went on, my content got really outdated.
and overall, content that just looked kinda dated, Go back and update every single post on my site.
Like I said earlier, I only have about 70 posts, to go through and update. I only had to update about 20 posts,
I'd notice a huge spike in search engine traffic, it was still much higher than before the update.
For example, a few months ago, I updated this post. that page still gets 30% more organic traffic And, thanks mostly to these content updates,
my site's overall organic traffic is up 24.6%, which means 249,000 more people So that's it for my SEO checklist.
make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel right now. and if you want exclusive SEO and traffic techniques head over to Backlinko.com
Now, I wanna turn it over to you. Are you gonna update your old content, Let me know by leaving a comment below, right now.
(keyboard clicking) I was like, who said that (laughs)? Usually, it's higher at the end.
It's kinda on here.