A lot of people think SEO is all about backlinks, but before any links come into play, what really matters is the content. Well-crafted content can position a page on Google’s first page even without a single backlink pointing to it. And that’s exactly what I want to talk about here.

The Right Content Generates Backlinks

Content and backlinks are directly connected. When you create something that is shareable – something people want to send to friends, post on social media, or link to from their own blogs – you naturally start attracting backlinks. And the more backlinks, the higher your chance of reaching the top.

A good example is the Moz blog, which appears first when searching for “SEO”. They created a complete guide, with several chapters, extremely well done. And what happened? It got lots of shares, which naturally pushed the page to the top of Google.

How I Created an Optimised Piece of Content That Ranked Without Links

On my blog, eborges.org, I wrote an article titled “The technique I use to read books online in just 15 minutes”. I wanted to rank for the term “read books online” because it has a good search volume and low competition. And the most interesting thing: I didn’t need a single backlink to reach the first page.

Choosing the Keyword

I used tools like Ahrefs, SEMRush and the Keywords Everywhere plugin to find out:

• How many monthly searches the keyword has.

• What the competition level is.

• How many backlinks, on average, are needed to reach the top.

For example, “read books online” has around 60,000 monthly searches and a very low difficulty score (level 3 out of 100). Meanwhile, “books online” has twice the search volume, but the competition level increases significantly. So I focused on the long-tail keyword, which is easier to rank for.

Page Structure

I created a long article (about 2,000 words) with several headers (H2, H3), well-distributed paragraphs, and content that really helps the reader solve a problem: how to read books online in a practical way.

I included various related terms: book summaries, ebooks, reading tips, audiobooks, digital reading. I didn’t keep repeating “read books online” in every paragraph – that would be overoptimisation. I used semantic terms related to the main topic to enrich the text.

Optimised Images

Every image on the page was optimised:

• File names reflected the content, like readingtipsinternet.jpeg.

• ALT attributes filled in with relevant and descriptive keywords, such as “tips and books to read online”.

These details help Google understand even more about what the page is about.

Title, Meta Description and HTML Structure

I used a catchy title with the keyword: “The technique I use to read books online in just 15 minutes”. The meta description was also written to create curiosity and encourage clicks.

The H1 sums up what the article delivers. The H2s divide the topics clearly. This not only improves SEO, but also makes reading easier.

Internal and External Links

I added internal links to other articles on my own blog and external links to trustworthy sites like Blinkist and other relevant blogs. This boosts the authority of the page in Google’s eyes.

Results

Even with zero backlinks, this article is already ranking seventh on Google for “read books online”. That shows the power of a well-optimised piece of content.

With just a few clicks – around 10 per day – I’ve already started getting financial return. I’m a Blinkist affiliate, and with this one article alone, 4 out of 16 clicks became conversions. That’s a 25% conversion rate, generating commission.

Now imagine when this page climbs to the first or second position and starts getting 18,000 clicks a month? The impact can be massive.

What to Do to Create Truly Optimised Content

Here’s a practical checklist based on what worked for me:

• Choose a keyword with decent search volume and low competition.

• Use related and semantic terms, avoiding excessive repetition of the main keyword.

• Create complete content that truly helps the reader.

• Optimise titles, subtitles, images, and page structure.

• Include relevant internal and external links.

• Write articles with at least 2,000 words, if possible.

• Analyse your competitors and offer something better or more useful.

Conclusion

The secret to ranking well on Google isn’t magic, nor just links. A strong, well-structured and optimised piece of content can already land you on the first page, even if your domain is still new.

That’s how you build authority and start generating consistent traffic. After that, with the right backlinks, you can scale and fight for the very top spots.

And it all starts with quality content, created with intention, strategy, and focus on the person on the other side of the screen.