---
title: 'How to Rank #1 in Google [New Step-by-Step Case Study]'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=8wNTbifE8QU'
video_id: '8wNTbifE8QU'
date: 2026-07-28
duration_sec: 1190
---

# How to Rank #1 in Google [New Step-by-Step Case Study]

> Source: [How to Rank #1 in Google (New Step-by-Step Case Study)](https://youtube.com/watch?v=8wNTbifE8QU)

## Summary

Brian Dean, founder of Backlinko, shares a step-by-step SEO case study on how to rank number one in Google for competitive keywords. He demonstrates the process using his own successful post on list building strategies, which ranks in the top three and has brought in nearly 80,000 visits.

### Key Points

- **Introduction to the OBP Formula** [00:00] — Brian Dean introduces the OBP formula for getting higher Google rankings and shares his goal to rank for the competitive keyword 'list building'.
- **Step 1: Make Content Insanely Actionable** [01:34] — Google's RankBrain algorithm favors actionable content that users can immediately apply, leading to higher engagement and rankings.
- **Step 2: Improve Bounce Rate with a Content Introduction Formula** [02:45] — Use a three-part intro: start with the outcome, outline the benefit, and give a sneak peek of the content to keep readers engaged and reduce bounce rate.
- **Step 3: Use External Links** [04:25] — Linking to other authority sites can improve your page's credibility and rankings, as shown in Brian's post with 16 external links.
- **Step 4: Use Internal Links** [05:11] — Strategically link from other relevant pages on your site to the page you want to rank, passing link juice and relevance signals.
- **Step 5: Add Images, Visuals, and Multimedia** [05:54] — Content with at least one image performs significantly better than text-only content. Use visuals to make content more appealing and reduce bounce rate.
- **Step 6: Optimize for Click-Through Rate (CTR)** [07:19] — Include numbers in your title, especially odd numbers, to increase organic CTR. Brian used '17 Strategies' to boost clicks.
- **Step 7: Optimize for Semantic SEO** [08:48] — Incorporate related words and phrases to help Google understand the topic of your content, rather than just repeating the target keyword.
- **Step 8: Get Lots of Comments** [10:29] — Reply to every comment and write a conclusion that encourages comments. An active comment section signals to Google that your content is engaging.
- **Step 9: Use Click-to-Tweet Buttons** [12:22] — Add click-to-Tweet buttons for shareable quotes to increase social shares, which drive traffic and attract backlinks.
- **Step 10: Promote with the Content Roadshow** [14:15] — Reach out to influencers with a gentle email asking for feedback (not a share). This gets your content in front of their audience and can lead to shares and links.
- **Bonus: Update Your Content Over Time** [16:52] — Regularly review and update your content to keep it fresh. Replacing broken links and adding new information can boost long-term rankings.

### Conclusion

By following these ten steps and regularly updating your content, you can significantly improve your Google rankings and drive more traffic, even for highly competitive keywords.

## Transcript

how to rank number one in Google step by step. that I used to rank in the top three I'm Brian Dean, the founder of Backlinko,
and the OBP formula to get higher rankings in Google. (soft electronic music)
so let's get started. 17 Insanely Actionable List Building Strategies, and my target keyword for that page was list building.
Now, the keyword list building is insanely competitive. in the world wants to rank for this keyword, against giant companies like MailChimp,
Bring it on, bring it on. I'd be able to outrank these big brands but thanks to the process I'm about to share with you,
for my target keyword. Today, I rank in the top three for list building. for dozens of related keywords like list building tips,
Thanks to all these first-page rankings, has brought in 79,807 visits since I first published it.
It's time for me to show you how I did it. how to rank in Google for competitive keywords. with step number one, make your content insanely actionable.
to their algorithm called RankBrain. interact with your site in the search results. Google gives you a rankings boost.
From my own SEO experiments, the same thing, actionable content. they don't want to read some random person's opinion.
that they can use to solve their problem right away. Google will notice and bump you up a few spots. you don't want to hear
You don't want my take on the future of list building. You want simple strategies that you can use right away. It's literally a short intro
within a few minutes. I rank above sites like HubSpot and Forbes Next up, it's time for step number two,
I recently conducted the biggest and one of our most interesting findings tend to rank above sites with a high bounce rate.
and then quickly jumps back to the search results. it sends a strong message to Google
Like I just mentioned, if people aren't liking your content, Fortunately, there's a simple way It's a content introduction formula
Here's how it works. Start your intro off with the outcome For example, what does someone
More email subscribers, so I start my intro off Okay, so now that you've hooked them Here's where you outline the benefit
For example, my intro says that that'll help you get more leads. what your content has in store for them.
a sneak peak into my post, Now it's time for our third step, use external links. ran an experiment to see if linking to other websites
They found that pages that used external links That's why I always generously link out to other authority sites in my content.
I use 16 external links, including links to authority sites Now, to be clear, I don't think that but every little bit helps,
especially when you're going after competitive keywords. it's time to use internal links. that point to the page that you want to rank.
on your site to your new post. which can help your Google rankings. from these two pages on my site
which funnels juice to the post that I want to rank. are topically related to my list building post, these closely-related pages are all
so you should rank it higher. let's move on to the fifth step, add images, visuals, and other multimedia.
Let's call them Blog Post A and Blog Post B. were exactly the same with one major difference.
and Content B used lots of nice images. According to lots of industry research, Content B.
in the UK found that people judge content Then, they size up the actual written content. If your content is a giant, ugly wall of text,
but if your content uses lots of images, videos, and quizzes, they're gonna stick around For example, my post is packed with screenshots,
that help make my content look nice. and use a million images in every post. found that content with one image
Using one image is way better With that, it's time for step number six, Like I mentioned earlier, Google pays very close attention
and they want to see that people If an above average amount of people people really want to see this content,
This is known as organic click-through rate, that's becoming more and more important every day. you're missing out on a lot of organic traffic.
to optimize my title for click-through rate. use my content right away. They want an answer to their question
your advice works quickly. "That work fast," in my title. Several industry studies show that
than titles without a number, odd numbers perform slightly better than even numbers, the odd number 17 in my title tag.
and using an odd number helped increase my organic CTR, on Google's first page. which is to optimize your content for semantic SEO.
your target keyword a few times in your content. I mention my keyword a handful of times throughout my post. That doesn't work anymore.
to let Google know that my content is about that keyword, I optimize it for semantic SEO. Semantic SEO simply means that
Google now tries to understand the topic of your page, To take advantage of semantic SEO, related words and phrases into your content.
help Google understand your content's topic. about being more productive, and your main keyword for that post is productivity tips.
and related keywords in Google. at the bottom of the first page. You can also use Google Suggest.
and see what Google suggests to you. and you'll help Google better understand In my case, I found semantically-related terms
and how to build an email list, Simple. generate lots of comments on your blog posts.
Definitely. that comments can help a lot with rankings. I tend to get lots of comments on every post.
that I'm able to rank for so many competitive keywords. to comment on your content? First, reply to every single content.
that no one comments on their stuff, that they do get. I reply to almost every comment that comes in.
to reply to everyone that left a comment that I read and reply to comments,
Over time, Google sees that my content but an active community, so they rank it higher. getting the ball rolling with the first few comments,
make a conclusion or call to action to comment. are boring summaries of their post. Needless to say, a conclusion like that
to actually write a comment. Instead, I recommend making your entire conclusion For example, today, my post conclusion
but in the early days of the post my conclusion looked something like this. use click-to-Tweet buttons.
to get more social shares and traffic. in detail in a minute, but the basic gist is that that people can use to Tweet
In fact, my list building post Now, I should point something out. like Tweets, Facebook likes, or Pinterest pins
In other words, people sharing your stuff on social media won't help with SEO directly. more traffic, and the more traffic you get,
will link to your site. Those links will directly improve your rankings. click-to-Tweet buttons step by step.
or quote in your content that's worth sharing. I decided that every technique on my list Next, use clicktotweet.com to make a click-to-Tweet button.
and it'll create a link that you can use. You can use buttons like I used here, or you can just make the links plain text like this.
When someone clicks on one of your click-to-Tweet buttons, to share that specific strategy with their followers. In fact, most of the Tweets that I got on my post
are from people that shared using my click-to-Tweet buttons. promote your content with the content roadshow. you need to strategically promote
In fact, this is a mistake I made When I launched my first website a few years ago, I call this the publish-and-pray approach.
Back then, I underestimated how hard it can be the content that you publish, One day, I read that WordPress-powered sites alone
put out two million blog posts every single day. without any promotion was like winning the lottery, so I decided to promote everything that I published.
of content promotion strategies that work great. Thanks to the content roadshow, bloggers that shared my post with their audience.
First, find people that are legitimately For example, for my content, I found people or people that had shared content on that topic.
or using a tool like BuzzSumo. to see if they're interested in reading your content. You see, when most people promote their content,
In fact, I get emails like this all the time, emails that ask or beg me to share their stuff, Delete, delete, delete.
First, send the blogger this email That way, you're not shoving a link in somebody's face.
saying that they'd like to check out your content, Also, note that I don't ask for a share here. isn't to be a pushy jerkface.
Instead, the goal is to get your content and these people aren't dumb. There's no need to even ask.
happily shared my content with their followers, that would've never seen my content otherwise. let me show you a cool little bonus tip,
Back in the day, I'd publish a post, I realized that, over time, For example, for my list building post,
and tools that didn't even exist anymore. but it was bad for SEO too. and saw that my stuff was outdated,
to find something that was up to date. to review my content and update it. so I'll replace broken links, add new screenshots,
to make them more current. and I've noticed that these small tweaks and upgrades help improve my content's long-term rankings.
My content needs a complete overhaul. It was also lacking a lot of detail that was ranking for my target keyword, white hat SEO,
and upgraded my post. and structure so that Google searchers I also added a new case study
Finally, I answered questions that people asked me For example, lots of people asked me if the ROI of creating awesome content is really worth it,
at least in this example, publishing world-class content that page's organic traffic by over 250%.
and if you learned something new from this video, Just click on the subscribe button below this video.
that I only share with subscribers, It's free. Which strategy from today's video are you gonna try first?
or update your older content? Let me know by leaving a comment below right now. Is that how you make it rain?
I don't know, it's like (moans) Sorry. Bring it on, bring it on.