What you're about to read is far from an expertise article but only my insight. Replicating what I did may not work for you, especially when I don't even know what I exactly did in the first place.

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I published my personal portfolio byimeddjabi.com on Saturday, September 30, 2021. One month later, on September 30. My website ranks on the first page for the long tail keyword "brand designer in Montreal."

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An important factor that I want to highlight is the page indexed for the search result is my "about" page.

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I structured the page as follow:

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1. Hook
2. My services/How can I help 
3. My values
4. My personality

You certainly don't want to talk about yourself in the beginning. I put myself in the shoes of my potential customer, and I don't want to read a bunch of texts about someone I just landed on. I want to know what you can do for me right away. And after that, I may want to know more about you. 

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In my opinion, you want to know more about a person who you may work with and spend thousands of dollars on its services. That's why I included my story after demonstrating my services and capabilities at first.

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I also included a CTA for a 30 min FREE-Discovery Call in between each section. You want to smooth the process for your potential customer. If he wants to schedule a call with you after reading your first line. LET HIM DO IT.

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To be honest, I wasn't sure that I'd be on the first page within the first month. It is a good start for me because my goal was to be reachable as the go-to brand designer in Montreal. Even though the keyword "logo designer" has a higher search volume, he is highly competitive and getting indexed is hard.

Basic SEO Settings

Webflow SEO is user-friendly and easy to understand. I created a strategic title and description for every page.

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Don't just throw your keywords in your description, hoping to get indexed. Google is not stupid, and we're not too. I used Grammarly to craft a decent and practical description, including my keywords.

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Longtail Keywords

Don't go crazy on competitive keywords. I don't stand a chance to get listed for brand designer, brand identity designer, logo designer, etc. All these specific keywords are challenging, so I aimed to get listed for my city.

Content Creation 

My strategy is simple. Creating content around what my audience wants to be informed about, and at the same time, it produces organic keywords for my website. I put all the chances on my side. I repurpose my content for every platform I'm on, such as Instagram, Linkedin, Twitter, and Medium.

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It isn't a magic formula. Consistency is critical. I'm very aware of it, and it's a strategy in the very long term. One piece of content can change your entire career, and it can't be from content you create one day and the other one is three months later.

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Any platform likes consistency, whether it's YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Google, or any of these. To maximize your chances, you need to be CONSISTENT.

Google Search Console

I use it to index my newest blog posts quickly and to understand what content performs better. 

Building Backlinks

It is challenging to have many backlinks when you start. Therefore, I listed my website on clutch.co, a data-driven field guide for B2B buying and hiring decisions. It is a treasure for a newly established freelancer who doesn't want to compete on price.

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As of now, I have four domains targeting my website:

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1. behance.net
2. clutch.co
3. themanifest.com
4. topdesignfirms.com

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You get listed on themanifest and topdesignfirms as soon as you are published on clutch. If you're a freelancer and you're not on this platform, you're sleeping on opportunities.

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My upcoming goals are guest blog posts and getting more involved in Quora and LinkedIn.

Writing Long Articles

Writing is not my talent. I'm learning day by day. One thing I learned is that Google loves long and rich articles. I don't force myself to write an astronomical blog post if it doesn't fit my thoughts. I divide my articles into many sections and write as much value as possible. 

I always try to write deep and detailed posts. I aim for high value and high quality, not a bunch of text for the sake of words. If it surpasses 1500 words, bless. Otherwise, I don't care at all.

Like this article, it's not even above 1000 words. BUT, I covered everything that I assumed was necessary.

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What are my plans

I'm only one month into my journey as a content creator. I want to build an audience and go from there. As of now, I'm creating for practicing. I'm considering investing in an SEO platform in the future.

1. Stay consistent with content creation
2. Produce Reels and Tiktoks
3. Build my YouTube channel

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Quick Recap

If you read it all, you understand that I did half strategy and half luck. You can't measure your successes and failures in one month.

If someone looks for a branding agency in Montreal, he may land on my website organically. It is not a significant accomplishment for sure, but I'm still proud and fortunate.

Bottom line, if you're starting as a freelancer and you're looking to attract organic traffic. You may consider my approach.

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• Well crafted about page
• Basic SEO settings
• Google Search Console
• Backlinks building
• Writing long articles

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