[case study] - is it possible to rank with only content (no backlinks)

[davids355]

I haven't got anywhere near the content yet! But I have been testing the various software offerings in this niche - these are the subject of the ranking content - so now I have some practical information to add into my content once I get to that stage.

This morning I have been researching the competition. I looked at the top 10 sites currently ranking for my chosen topic - I picked one keyword that seems to get the most attention, but I will not be strictly writing for this keyword. Rather I am going to be targeting the topic itself. This should give you an idea of the competition though (Now even I am scared to start lol).

Next I am planning to read all of the articles from the top 10 and make some notes about the content, for example -

• What angle they are taking with the article
• What sub-topics they are covering
• What outcome they are reaching (The keyword is comparison based)
• What are the common keywords and phrases used
• How much information the articles share with eachother
• Any points that are vague and not fully covered
• Any points that seem incorrect or not based on facts

 

[tazarbm]

so you're still in the research phase... OK!

Also, all of your competitors are having quite a few RDs, if you manage to outrank these guys without a single backlink it will be quite the shocker for me given the niche (software-related, which tends to be pretty competitive).

Oh well, awaiting for your updates over the coming months. I'd genuinely love having to focus on content only and not having to worry about getting and monitoring links all the time, but I feel that we're not there yet (I mean, google is not there yet)

 

[davids355]

so you're still in the research phase... OK!

Also, all of your competitors are having quite a few RDs, if you manage to outrank these guys without a single backlink it will be quite the shocker for me given the niche (software-related, which tends to be pretty competitive).

Oh well, awaiting for your updates over the coming months. I'd genuinely love having to focus on content only and not having to worry about getting and monitoring links all the time, but I feel that we're not there yet (I mean, google is not there yet)

I agree with you on all points And of course, we know that good content + backlinks is the golden recipe of course. I would not forsake backlinks ordinarily. But I like doing these case studies and it will be interesting for me as well, just to see how the article does fair without links. Once the case study is over I will then build some links and hopefully rip the the serps apart

And yes; still in the research phase for sure. I am just trying to syke myself up now to start reading through all that content

 

[tazarbm]

I am just trying to syke myself up now to start reading through all that content

I feel you, man. I never liked reading (although, weirdly enough, I do prefer reading blog posts to watching videos) and the older I grew the less I enjoyed reading even more. I totally feel you

 

[davids355]

I feel you, man. I never liked reading (although, weirdly enough, I do prefer reading blog posts to watching videos) and the older I grew the less I enjoyed reading even more. I totally feel you

Well I've read one sentance so far.....

 

[k2h2]

This willl not work in all niches. Like if someone is doing this for make money online niche or weight loss niche, it is very hard.

But I feel that it is possible for some niche. Content has to be great and OP seems to have that level of writing skills as per first post in this thread.

 

[tazarbm]

Well I've read one sentance so far.....

such determination

 

[HoneyWhale]

There isn't a hard-and-fast rule that you must have backlinks no matter what, but if you don't have any, your website is only accomplishing half of its SEO, but it doesn’t mean you won’t rank. While content is crucial, ranking without backlinks may take some time. Good luck if you're doing this for your case study, but I'd never advise skipping the backlinks.

 

[davids355]

Thats the research for the longest article out of the way (that one, the number 1 ranking post, was 7k words in length). I now have 2500 words of research notes and snippets specific to that article along with a draft version of my own article at 1800 words. The article was fairly well written, breaks everything down into appropriate sub-sections and has lots of internal linking to supplimentary content. However, the opinion and the outcome from the ariticle isn't fantastic so I feel like there is a lot of value to be added, despite that being the number 1 peice of content.

Next step is to read through the remaining 9 articles, doing the same thing for each one and also adding to my draft article based on what I learn. I also have a few additional topics to research after I had read through those articles - that will allow me to expand further on what is being covered by the number 1 ranking article.

I will probably take a break from it now, need to get on with some other stuff.

 

[yogib34r]

Yes, but based on my experience of building websites, those links may not give any significant impact on ranking improvement. The most important thing is putting quality content in a low-competition niche. I build no links on my inner pages and they are still ranking well

View attachment 229053

So I think without backlinks, it will still work if the content is good enough along with good on-page SEO (improve page speed, design, on-page EAT optimization...) and the competition should be LOW

Such low difficulty but high volume, I'd love to know your secret

 

[ThaiDreamer]

It's definitely possible.

I started a website in July and it has 0 backlinks. It's ranking for many keywords already and is approaching 100 organic visits per day.

 

[KHer0]

You don't need a journey for that.

Of course you can rank with content alone. All you need is keywords with no competition. When I was younger I was able to get 80K UV/Month with 20 Articles. The problem, there was no competition because the traffic doesn't worth anything. 30 Bucks a month or something.

To be honest 30 Bucks a month / 20 Articles means 1K a month / 500 Articles. I believe this how informational websites work. So, yeah, too lazy for that

Anyway, you don't need backlinks if your competition doesn't use it. Which means it all comes to keyword research.

 

[ThaiDreamer]

You don't need a journey for that.

Of course you can rank with content alone. All you need is keywords with no competition. When I was younger I was able to get 80K UV/Month with 20 Articles. The problem, there was no competition because the traffic doesn't worth anything. 30 Bucks a month or something.

To be honest 30 Bucks a month / 20 Articles means 1K a month / 500 Articles. I believe this how informational websites work. So, yeah, too lazy for that

Anyway, you don't need backlinks if your competition doesn't use it. Which means it all comes to keyword research.

How were 80k UV/month worth just $30?

 

[KHer0]

How were 80k UV/month worth just $30?

This is the kind of keywords you rank without backlinks ^_^

Not tier one country nor English

 

[KLASEO]

yes, but only you use unique and seofriendly contents...

 

[ThaiDreamer]

This is the kind of keywords you rank without backlinks ^_^

Not tier one country nor English

It still sounds super low though.

By the way, my screenshot above is showing a website with 90%+ traffic from the US.

 

[kingvegeta]

Inspired by a post from @k2h2 here - https://www.blackhatworld.com/seo/is-a-good-writer-enough-to-make-blog-succesful.1436926/

I am going to do a case study to determine if content alone is enough to rank on page 1.

Here is the scenario - I have a brand new website (not quite live yet, just finishing the build, pending content). The site is in the technology niche.

My plan is to write an informative and well researched peice of content which covers a particular topic in my niche.

I will be researching all of the top ranking articles on this topic and I won't be looking at any particular keyword but rather on the broad topic and all of the keywords related to it.

I am also looking to add some real value to the topic, with a sort of case study that nobody else has done - the idea behind this being new content and ideas that Google has not seen before.

I won't build any backlinks to this site either, so we can see if it ranks (and how well) with just content alone.

I have grown a site without link building just by posting content

While we say Content is King, which means content should help the user and complete the user search goal

Also, your Content Posting Strategy should be significant enough to generate traffic

Initially target LSI keywords to generate a small amount of traffic

 

[blackhatkb]

This is very interesting. I like the idea of not having to build backlinks.

 

[Beklink]

Good luck with your journey, waiting for updates

 

[TeamTCP]

Very interesting journey. Goodluck!