If you’ve mastered the basics of SEO and now want a start-to-finish blueprint to move a page up the SERPs, this guide distills the 25-step framework from Moz’s excellent resource into a clear, practical plan you can run this quarter. Source: How to Rank on Google

Start smarter: Target themes, not single keywords

• Seed to theme: Begin with a handful of seed keywords, then expand into a tightly related keyword theme that captures the long tail (often 70–80% of searches).
• Competitors as shortcuts: Pull the other keywords your competitors rank for on pages similar to yours—those “hidden” terms are often your quickest wins.
• Prioritize with intent and difficulty: Keep only terms with real search volume, business relevance, matchable intent, and difficulty you can realistically beat.

Build content that wins the last click

• Intent first: Search your primary keyword and reverse-engineer intent from the current SERP (content type, depth, media, related queries).
• Completeness > length: Cover the topic holistically—answer the core question, related follow-ups, include evidence, examples, visuals, and helpful supplemental content.
• Topic modeling (human-first): Weave primary and secondary terms into title, URL, H1/H2s, body, image/video assets; address related questions as subsections.
• E-E-A-T in practice: Demonstrate expertise (credible author bio, citations), accuracy (sources), and trust (clean UX, minimal errors, transparent policies).

Make the first click irresistible

• Craft click-worthy titles: Specific, benefit-led, and aligned with intent.
• Sharpen snippets: Write meta descriptions that promise outcomes and clarity.
• Earn rich results: Add structured data (Article, FAQ, HowTo, Breadcrumb, Video, LocalBusiness as relevant) to qualify for richer SERP features.

On-page essentials that consistently move the needle

• Nail the basics: Crawlable structure, logical information architecture, clean internal links, descriptive anchor text, and diversified keyword usage to avoid over-optimization.
• Performance matters: Fast pages (Core Web Vitals), mobile-friendly design, secure (HTTPS), low-friction UX. Speed reduces bounce and lifts conversions even if rankings hold steady.

Internal linking and topical hubs

• Build a cluster: Create several related pages around your core topic, then interlink them using natural, varied anchors—especially higher in the content.
• Use category/hub pages: Give your cluster a strong “home” that targets broader head terms, explains the topic at a glance, and routes users to deep dives.

Link building that compounds

• The 50/50 rule: Expect half your links to be ignored—so go after higher-quality, harder-to-earn editorial links. Spend half your effort creating linkable content, half promoting it.
• Pre-qualify outreach: Don’t produce “linkbait” until you know which publishers/journalists actually link to that content type and topic.
• Easy-but-good wins: Do link gap analysis—find pages linking to multiple competitors but not to you; pursue those resource pages with superior content.
• Build flywheels: Publish citable assets (data studies, stats pages, reference guides, tools) that naturally attract links over time.

Keep rankings fresh

• Refresh with purpose: Update materially (not just timestamps), publish on a cadence, add new pages that extend the topic, and continue earning links.
• Monitor engagement: If relevance slips, refine intent match, update examples/data, and improve UX clarity.

A condensed checklist you can run now

1. Pick 1–3 seed keywords; expand into a tightly related theme.
2. Map intent and required formats from the SERP.
3. Audit competitors’ ranking pages for “hidden” keywords and content gaps.
4. Prioritize by volume, difficulty, business value, and your ability to outperform.
5. Outline complete coverage (core answer + related questions + supporting media).
6. Write for “last click” satisfaction; then optimize for “first click” with compelling titles/snippets.
7. Add schema for rich results.
8. Optimize technicals (CWV, mobile, HTTPS) and avoid exact-match over-optimization.
9. Create 3–6 supporting articles and interlink with varied, relevant anchors.
10. Do a link gap analysis; ship one citable asset; plan targeted outreach.
11. Set a 90-day refresh plan (content updates, new internal links, ongoing promotion).

Pro tip toolset

• Keyword/theme building and competitor gaps: Moz Keyword Explorer, Link Explorer.
• Technical/markup checks: Google’s Rich Results Test, Page Experience docs, schema generators.
• Performance: Core Web Vitals tooling (PageSpeed Insights, Lighthouse).

Want the full deep-dive framework this summary is based on? Read Moz’s excellent 25-step guide: How to Rank on Google

If you share your industry and a primary keyword, I can turn this into a custom outline and on-page draft tailored to your audience and SERP.