How to Do SEO For a New Website ( Step by Step )

Summary

In this video, Gulam Ali shares his 10 years of SEO experience, highlighting how he can now rank websites in just a month, compared to the two years it took him initially. He emphasizes strategic keyword research, focusing on competition rather than search volume, and building topical authority through semantic content. Ali details his refined SEO process, including on-page SEO, technical optimization, and backlink strategies. He discusses how AI-driven content creation, when done properly, can contribute to Google rankings and user value. Ali also explains how he teaches students in his SEO program to implement these strategies successfully.

Takeaways

• 😀 The SEO journey of the speaker progressed from 2 years to rank a website to now being able to rank websites in a month.
• 😀 Strategic keyword research is crucial; selecting keywords based on competition, not just search volume, leads to better ranking potential.
• 😀 Comprehensive keyword research is essential; half-done research often results in issues like duplicate keywords and incomplete website structure.
• 😀 Topical mapping is a key SEO strategy, where grouping similar keywords into a single topic helps rank for multiple related keywords.
• 😀 Semantic content writing is the future of SEO; focus on writing content around topics rather than repeatedly using keywords.
• 😀 AI can be used to generate content, but the preference should be for high-quality human-written content for better rankings.
• 😀 On-page SEO practices are a checklist that includes optimizing page titles, headings, image alt text, external and internal links.
• 😀 Technical SEO includes ensuring fast hosting, SSL security, mobile responsiveness, and fixing issues like redirects and content cannibalization.
• 😀 The importance of internal linking is emphasized for boosting the authority of a website and ensuring no orphan pages exist.
• 😀 Backlinking is still important but should not be the sole focus; the strategy is to build foundational backlinks first and high-quality backlinks later.

Q & A

How long did it take Gulam Ali to rank his first website, and how has his SEO speed changed over 10 years?

Gulam Ali's first website took 2 years to rank on Google. After 10 years of experience, he can now rank a website within a month, or even within a week or overnight for certain keywords.

What is the key difference between Gulam Ali's 2016 and 2026 keyword research strategies?

In 2016, he focused on high-volume keywords without thorough research. In 2026, he chooses keywords based on competition rather than volume, completes 90–95% of research before starting a site, and uses topical mapping to target multiple related keywords on a single page.

What is 'topical mapping' and why is it important for SEO?

Topical mapping involves grouping related keywords under a single topic and creating content around that topic. This allows one page to rank for hundreds or thousands of related keywords, increasing organic traffic significantly.

What is semantic content writing and how does it differ from old content practices?

Semantic content writing focuses on creating content around a topic rather than repeating a single keyword multiple times. This approach helps content rank for relevant keywords that might not even appear explicitly in the text, unlike old practices that relied on keyword repetition.

What are the main steps Gulam Ali suggests for creating semantic content?

1. Build a content outline using top-ranking competitor pages. 2. Collect semantic keywords using tools like Rankability, Surfer SEO, or Neuron Writer. 3. Use these keywords to create high-quality content either via a human writer or AI, ensuring readability, proper grammar, and active voice.

Which on-page SEO factors does Gulam Ali consider essential?

Essential on-page SEO factors include placing keywords in the title, H2 headings, and image alt texts, adding at least one video, internal and external linking, and auditing meta titles, descriptions, headings, and schema using tools like Chrome extensions.

What technical SEO practices does Gulam Ali follow to improve website ranking?

He uses fast hosting to reduce load times, installs SSL for security, ensures mobile responsiveness, builds and submits a sitemap in Google Search Console, manages redirects, fixes 404 errors, optimizes robots.txt, avoids duplicate content, and properly canonicalizes pages.

How does Gulam Ali approach backlink building in 2026?

He focuses on foundational backlinks in the first 1–2 months, including social profiles, local citations, Web 2.0s, forum and profile links. In the third month, he adds high-quality backlinks like guest posts, niche edits, and podcast backlinks. The strategy emphasizes ranking without over-reliance on backlinks but maintains some for stability.

Why is internal linking important according to the transcript?

Internal linking connects all pages of a website, distributing link equity (link juice) across the site. It prevents orphan pages, ensures authority flows through the website, and helps improve rankings.

What role does AI play in Gulam Ali’s content creation strategy?

AI can be used to create semantic content if the budget is limited. However, the content must still be high-quality, readable, schema-optimized, and valuable for both Google and users. Human-written content is preferred for credibility and better long-term results.

What is the significance of monitoring competitors' backlinks?

Monitoring competitors’ backlinks helps identify new linking opportunities. By analyzing recent backlinks using tools like Ahrefs, one can contact those sites to build their own links, which supports stronger and more stable rankings.

How did Gulam Ali help a client double traffic in two months?

By using a competition-based keyword strategy, completing thorough research, implementing topical mapping, creating semantic content, optimizing on-page and technical SEO, and strategically building foundational backlinks.