Branding has gone from being an aspect of marketing to an art form. You need to engage with clients at all levels and devise a strategic SEO plan to increase visibility.

Getting on the first page of Google search rankings doesn't happen overnight. Strategy and consistency are vital for the initial stages of higher awareness. Also, patience is required to achieve long-term goals in marketing and sales. Google currently holds 92.58% of the total search engine market share and 68% of online experiences start with a search engine.

Maricielo Solis, founder of BLENDtw, studied the inner workings of how SEO works to elevate her platform for college students. BLENDtw is the leading community for Gen Z, covering college life, wellness, and culture. Although it took over a year for her SEO efforts to gain traction, Solís now runs a seven-figure business.

“I had spent all my savings and spent about $10,000 hiring all these writers and making the publication prettier,” he explains. “I didn't know why we weren't getting the traction that we were getting four months ago with one particular story. I started to realize that I was doing something wrong. I was doing everything wrong because I didn't know how the publishing world worked… Then I understood that I was completely missing SEO. So in order for you to create content that ranks in Google, there are specific guidelines you need to follow… I applied that whole framework to my website. And it took off. We went from having 10,000 readers a month to having 10,000 readers a day. We started steadily earning $10,000 in ad networks every month to $100,000 in affiliate marketing. Once we knew how to use it, the website took off.”

Growing up in Peru, Solís wanted to work in the media. She attended a university in the United States and applied to the NBC Page show upon graduation. The Program is a rotating apprenticeship and development program for students seeking to enter the industry. She worked as an assistant to Lester Holt at the Today's Show, SNL, MSNBC's Morning Joeamong others.

From NBC, he moved to CNN as a production assistant. For four years, Solís helped produce CNN's flagship morning television show. New day with Alisyn Camerota as she supports news teams at anderson-cooper Y Wolf Blitzer. During this time, at a Telemundo event, she met a member of the Columbia University Journalism faculty, who invited her to speak to a group of students. This became commonplace.

“From these conversations,” says Solís, “I realized two things. First of all, Gen Z and the youth are not consuming mainstream media; they have a very interesting relationship with her. They probably believe that YouTuber more than a presenter with a name. I could tell there was this mistrust and at the same time they felt like their stories weren't being accurately represented. This is how BLENDtw was born, which means mixing the world. It was just a grassroots project that we created in 2017.”

Solís published the platform and collected stories from around the world ranging from gun control and violence in America to immigration and LGBTQ issues. One of her early stories went viral, enough to monetize it. After that, she left CNN to freelance and focus on BLEND.

Before you truly learned how to optimize your site, you fell into the trap of thinking that the one viral article would support your vision. Quickly realizing that wouldn't be the case, she worked odd jobs to pay her bills and keep the platform afloat while delving into the world of SEO.

Solís shares his top three SEO tips for 2023:

Focus on creating EAT content

Google values ​​websites that demonstrate Expertise, Authority, and Trust (EAT) because their priority is providing accurate information and answering questions from users searching for a specific query. Google always rewards EAT content with higher rankings in the algorithm. This type of content includes having clear expertise in the topic you are writing about, primary research such as data, surveys, charts, and case studies, and unique images and videos that add value to the reader.

Write for people, not machines.

The number one mistake of new publishers is that they overuse keywords in their articles. Doing this frequently can hurt your Google rankings, making it look like you're spamming people. Instead of using the same keyword in an article multiple times, focus on using variations of that keyword.

Also, don't rely on artificial intelligence tools to write content. The quality of the content is low and will affect your ranking. AI tools are good at telling someone how to do something, but they can't show someone how to do it. Focus on quality content with real life examples. The experts will become more critical in the coming year.

Don't ignore the web's core vital issues

Core Web Vitals metrics are more critical than ever with the latest Google updates, as they are a critical part of the user experience. For example, suppose you're trying to take advantage of SEO to drive organic traffic to your website. In that case, it's essential to monitor Google Search Console regularly to identify issues affecting the pages of your website. A url with good Core Web Vitals will give you an advantage over your competitors.

Now, Solís speaks on panels to help others understand SEO and how to develop their own platforms. Additionally, he has started an SEO marketing company and the platform attracts millions of readers a year.

As you continue to develop BLEND, you focus on the following essential steps:

• Be flexible in your pivot and how to get there.
• Prepare to work hard, especially if you want to start your own company.
• Be willing to ask questions and ask others in the industry for help.

“You have to go out and look for opportunities,” concludes Solis. “I truly believe that you manifest the life that you desire. It's a mentality; that is, ‘I'm going to do this.' It's going to happen to me. But you need to put yourself out there to take advantage of the opportunities; they are not coming to you.”

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Update: Lester Hall; Lester Holt