Best Ways to Outrank Other Sites as a New Blogger in 2025

Starting a new blog and getting it to rank can feel like an uphill battle, but it’s not impossible. As a new blogger, you’re up against established sites with tons of content and authority. Don’t get discouraged! New bloggers have many advantages over more experienced bloggers.

In fact, most new bloggers are way more on fire for their topic than those who have been blogging for years are. OG bloggers have weathered so many storms, many are burnt TF out.

Experienced bloggers have a leg up on new bloggers because their sites are established and they have already worked hard to gain backlinks and grow their topical authority. These are things you'll have to do as well if you want to outrank other bloggers, so let's talk about how to do all the things to grow your blog and business.

NOTE: My suggestions for tools and process for 2025 have CHANGED quite a bit since I started using RightBlogger and stopped using RankIQ.

Strategic planning and consistent effort can make a big difference in the performance of your blog from Day 1.

Your focus should always be on creating valuable content for your readers, optimizing with keywords, and building a strong brand with a loyal audience.

Note: There are affiliate links in this post. Thank you for your support!

Understanding SEO Basics

Starting your journey in blogging can seem like a tough climb, especially when it comes to SEO (Search Engine Optimization). But understanding the basics can give you the boost you need to get started on the right foot.

You don't have to overthink it, you don't have to become an SEO expert, you just have to get a decent handle on the basics and use them in every blog post you publish. Don't let the bro dudes scare you into thinking you have to hire someone to do your SEO! I've been blogging for half of my life and am still not an expert – yet I have no issue creating blogs and ranking them quickly.

Focus on the fundamentals.

Keyword Research

Keywords are the backbone of SEO. They are the words and phrases people use when searching for information online. Finding the right keywords is happens organically when you know who you're writing to in your blog posts.

If you're brand new and need the training wheels version of learning SEO, I recommend RankIQ but only for the keyword library. As an actual SEO tool, it is overpriced compared to Keysearch.

A word of warning: Do not just go after low-competition keywords. Create a topical map (more about that later) and write in clusters to build your topical authority. All the while, focusing on serving your audience.

Now let's talk about RightBlogger's keyword research tool (great for use with RankIQ's keywords).

Many bloggers who got sucked into going after only low-competition keywords were absolutely annihilated by the Helpful Content Update. While that may not be the only cause, I do believe it was part of it.

I have always recommended a mix between low and high, which is one reason I stopped promting RankIQ so much. Their strategy seemed like it was always “low comp low comp low comp”. High-competition keywords are ones that will probably help your audience the most, so don't skip them!

Also, don't get too hung up on search volume. Many of my highest traffic posts on my blogs come from keywords that claim to be “zero” volume.

On-Page SEO

On-page SEO involves optimizing elements within your website and its individual pages. This makes it easier for search engines to understand and rank your content.

Meta Tags: These are snippets of text that describe a page's content. The most important ones are:

Title Tag: This appears in search results as the clickable headline for a given result.

Meta Description: A brief summary of the page content below the title tag.

Headers: Use headers (H2, H3) to structure your content. This helps search engines and your readers understand the hierarchy of your content and improves readability.

Keyword Placement: Place your primary keyword – or a version of it – in the title, first 100 words, and naturally throughout your content. But don't overdo it—keyword stuffing is a big no-no. Aim for a natural flow.

Technical SEO

Technical SEO is all about the backend stuff that supports your site. Even if you aren't super tech-savvy, you've gotta pay attention to technical SEO or you'll have issues and errors all over the place. This can negatively affect your rankings.

Site Speed: A slow-loading site frustrates users and hurts your ranking. Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to check your site’s speed and get suggestions for improvement.

Mobile-Friendliness: With more people browsing on their phones, having a mobile-friendly site is non-negotiable.

XML Sitemaps: This is like a roadmap for search engines, helping them navigate and index your site. Tools like RankMath or Yoast can generate an XML sitemap for you automatically.

Creating High-Quality Content

When it comes to standing out in a crowded blogging space, creating high-quality content is your golden ticket.

So many bloggers – especially these days with low-quality AI posts everywhere – are phoning it in.

If you put in actual effort? Cha-ching, baby!!

People want human connection!

Side note: if you crave human connection but also love AI, join me over in the Women of AI Community on Facebook (yes, women only; all women!)

Content Relevance

Making sure your content is relevant to your target audience and keywords is important. However, don't get hung up on creating your “ideal avatar” too much. Often times, our blog posts are targeting US… just from a few years ago.

With that being said, a very common question I get is “how do I improve my messaging?” So I'm going to give you some typical questions to ask yourself if you're struggling with this. If you're not struggling with who you're writing to and for, skip to the next part. 😉

Imagine you're writing for a specific person (perhaps your past self).

What interests them? What questions do they have? Address their needs and you'll keep them coming back for more.

Know Your Audience: Start by understanding who your readers are. What age group do they belong to? What are their hobbies? Use this info to create content that speaks directly to them.

Keyword Alignment: Use tools like RightBlogger to find keywords that relate to your audience’s interests. These keywords should align with your blog's topics. Stay. On. Point. Do not veer off and create 15 categories. Your blog only needs 2-3 categories to get started.

Answer Questions: Focus on solving problems or answering questions that your audience has. Check forums, social media, and other blogs to find out what people are asking. Facebook groups are a WEALTH of knowledge.

Stay Updated: Trends change. Make sure your content reflects the latest information in your niche. No one wants to read outdated material. In the blogging niche especially, I have to stay on top of things! With each update, there is more information to add.

Content Volume and Frequency

Publishing content consistently is of UTMOST importance if you want to be successful as a blogger in 2024 and beyond.

Stcik to a content creation schedule: Decide how often you can publish new content without sacrificing quality. My suggestion is 2-3 posts a week, depending on your niche. But more important than publishing fresh content, you have to make sure your content goes somewhere. More on that later.

Stick to it: Consistency helps build a loyal readership and signals to search engines that your site is active. Use a content calendar to stay on track. If you're struggling with organization, I cannot recommend building a Second Brain enough (not an aff link). It's literally changed my whole life.

I have tried pretty much every project management/organization tool out there (Trello, Monday, ClickUp, Notion, etc) and this is the only one that has helped me stay on track.

Use the best tools for efficiency: RightBlogger is a great tool to help you publish content regularly. It can help manage your posting schedule and keep everything streamlined.

Quality over quantity: Never sacrifice quality for the sake of posting more content. One well-written post is better than three subpar ones. Quality content not only engages readers but boosts your SEO too. However, one post a week doesn't cut it anymore in most niches… aim for at least 2.

Building a Strong Site Structure

Creating a well-organized site structure is like setting the foundation of a house; without it, everything falls apart. If people don't know how to find your posts, if you don't build your posts in clusters and interlink them, then you're only going to get one pageview per visitor.

You can get 5 or more pageviews per visitor if you structure your site properly! That's literally 5X-ing your pageviews without adding much extra work at all.

A strong site structure helps search engines understand your content and improves user experience.

Using Topical Maps

Topical maps help you organize your content into clusters, making it easier for readers and search engines to navigate. You can build a topical map yourself, or you can use a tool and save yourself tons of time. The best tool for this is Topical Map AI.

What is Topical Map AI?

Topical Map AI helps you design content silos and structured site architecture. Imagine it as a personal assistant that organizes your blog posts by topic, ensuring each piece of content supports and relates to the others.

How to Use Topical Map AI

This is a top-level overview; I have an entire post on building a topical map for your blog with TMAI if you want to check it out.

1. Identify Core Topics: Start by pinpointing the main topics you want to cover. These are your broad categories.
2. Create Subtopics: Break down each core topic into smaller, more specific subtopics. These will be your content silos.
3. Organize Your Content: Use Topical Map AI to map out where each piece of content belongs. This tool will suggest ways to connect related posts through internal links and structure your site effectively.

Internal Linking

Internal linking is like the road map within your house. It shows visitors and search engines how to navigate from one room (or post or page) to another. Done correctly, internal linking can boost your SEO and will keep readers engaged.

Why Internal Linking Matters

There are many reasons why you want to interlink, but it boils down to growing topical authority and serving your readers. It's like weaving a thread throughout your blog so they can follow it, you know? Like having aisle headers when you go to the supermarket… it's just helpful.

Improves navigation: It helps readers find related content, increasing the time they spend on your site.

Boosts SEO: Search engines follow links to discover and index pages. More internal links mean better crawling.

Distributes page authority: It shares the ranking power of your most popular pages with less visible content, helping them rank.

How to Implement Internal Linking Correctly

As long as you're focusing on writing in clusters, it'll be easy to interlink your posts. For example, this blog post is about – you guessed it – blogging. So, it's super easy for me to interlink to the tools I use, my other posts, etc. It is natural and organic, and it works. I'm not trying to force myself to interlink to other posts. When you do that, it creates a mess.

Use descriptive anchor text: Anchor text is the clickable text in a hyperlink. Use descriptive words that tell readers and search engines what to expect.

Link to relevant content: Make sure each link is relevant to the context of the content. Don’t link just for the sake of linking. Forcing links will tangle that thread all in knots, frustrating your readers and causing them to leave.

Balance your links: Avoid having too many or too few internal links. A balanced amount keeps the user flow natural.

How many is too many or too few? Read through your post – are you linking to 5 posts in every header section? That's probably too many. Did you only link to one in your whole post? That's too few.

Consider your word count and your topic. I aim for at least 5 in each post, but my posts are almost always 2,000+ words.

Update old posts: Go back to older posts and add links to newer content. This creates a web of connections throughout your site.

By focusing on internal linking, you’re creating a network of content that’s easy to navigate and well understood by search engines – and more importantly, your readers.

Promoting Your Content

Once you’ve created compelling and well-optimized blog posts, the next step is to make sure people see them. Writing and publishing your content is about 20% of the work. Marketing and promoting? That's the other 80%.

Social Media Marketing

Social media platforms are gold mines for reaching a broader audience and driving traffic to your blog. Each platform offers unique ways to engage with your audience and boost your content’s visibility.

However, I recommend picking one platform to start with. If you try to be in all the places all at once, every piece of content you share will fall flat. There's no way you can give 100% to LinkedIn and Facebook and Twitter and Instagram and TikTok and Pinterst and and and.

To get the most out of social media marketing, you need to:

Be consistent AF: Posting regularly keeps your audience engaged and brings new visitors to your site.

Engage with your audience: Reply to comments, create polls, and ask questions. Engagement boosts your visibility. Don't just schedule a bunch of posts in your Facebook group and expect it to take off. It doesn't work that way.

Share varied content: Share links to your blog, but also mix it with infographics, videos, and quotes to keep your feed fresh. I post 2-3 times per day in my Facebook group. 2 posts are scheduled and then the third (or more, if I do more) are live – usually from my phone.

My audience knows to expect ideas, questions, and memes from me. What does your audience know to expect from you?

Email Marketing

Building and maintaining an email list is the best way to a direct line to your most interested readers. Algorithms will change with search, social, etc but with email? You're in like Flynn! Your most loyal readers will subscribe to your email newsletter, so don't waste it!

Build an email list: I like to use lead magnets (aka freebies) to build my email lists. It's an easy no-brainer way to get people in.

Create engaging newsletters: Send out regular newsletters that include your latest blog posts, exclusive content, or updates about your journey.

Make sure they’re engaging and offer value. Remember, this isn't just a diary! If you're struggling with what to write, I highly recommend Liz Wilcox's email membership for just $9/month.

Building Backlinks

Building backlinks is a must-do for all bloggers. Backlinks, also called inbound links, are links from other websites to your blog. They act as “votes” of confidence, so to speak, telling search engines that your content is valuable and trustworthy.

My favorite ways to grow backlinks is through PIPs VIP, as we have a robust backlink directory that makes it easy to snag (and give) links. However, if you aren't in BMA yet, here are a few other ways you can get backlinks – if you're willing to put in the work.

Guest Posting

Guest posting involves writing articles for other blogs in your niche. This method helps you gain exposure to a broader audience while earning valuable backlinks to your blog. It can be difficult to be accepted as a guest poster because there's so much spam out there. I recommend joining Facebook groups for bloggers in your niche and answering guest post requests to get started.

Two tips for succeeding with guest posts, which actually is the same advice I give people when they're going on podcasts!

Write high-quality content: When your pitch is accepted, write an engaging, informative article that provides real value to their readers. This means doing some research ahead of time to make sure you know who their readers are, so you can tailor your messaging to them.

Don’t forget to include a link back to your blog, either in the author bio or naturally within the content. Follow the rules given by the blogger when they accept your post.

Follow-up: After your post is published, share it on your social media platforms and thank the blogger for hosting you. This not only builds a good relationship but also shows your appreciation, increasing the chances of future collaborations.

Guest posting is like getting an endorsement from a well-known brand. It amplifies your reach and helps establish your authority in your niche.

Syndication

Sharing your content far and wide – beyond just your audience – will help it get more mileage. You can use Newsbreak, Microsoft Start, Medium, or any other syndication platform to get started.

Again, the key here is consistency. Don't just syndicate one post and expect results. Work syndication into your blog publishing workflow.

Monitoring and Adjusting Your Strategy

As a new blogger, it's important to keep an eye on your progress and fine-tune your strategy as you go. By monitoring and adjusting, you ensure that what you're doing is working and make changes when it's not.

Using Analytics Tools

Tracking analytics is tedious but necessary. I like to use Google SiteKit as a minimum viable way to track my stats, because it shows pageviews as well as search traffic and search terms.

I also use Microsoft Clarity, which is a free tool that shows your reader's exact path once they land on your blog. It's SO helpful.

You can dig in deeper with Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and even tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush, but it's not necessary right now – especially if that feels overwhelming to you.

Google Analytics: This free tool is a must-have. It gives you insights into user behavior, traffic sources, and more. You have to have Google Analytics to have Google SiteKit. But you don't have to dig in deep right away if you don't want to.

How to Use: Set up your account, add the tracking code to your blog, and monitor metrics like page views, session duration, and bounce rate. I set my GA up by using the SiteKit plug-in.

Google Search Console: Another freebie from Google, this tool helps you understand how your site appears in search results. You can click through from SiteKit to access Search Console.

How to Use: Verify your site, submit your sitemap, and review reports on keywords, clicks, and indexing issues.

Your Next Steps

Starting a new blog and trying to outrank established sites is challenging but doable. Focus on the basics: serving your audience, basic keyword research, on-page and technical SEO, high-quality content, and site structure (writing in clusters and interlinking).

Promote your content through social media and email marketing, and build backlinks through guest posting, podcast interviews, etc.

Consistency and patience are key. Monitor your progress and adjust your strategy based on analytics. It takes time, but by implementing these steps, you’ll see your blog grow.

The effort and commitment you put in today will set you apart from the competition – and what you do today is what will pay your bills next year.

If you need extra help with setting your blog up, understanding the blog business, or even creating a membership for recurring monthly revenue based on your blog topic, I highly recommend joining us over in PIPs VIP!!

If this post helped you in any way, please pin one of these images below!

It helps my blog tremendously. Thank you!