How to Use PLR to Rank on Google
Ranking on Google with PLR is similar to ranking on Google with 100% original content. If you use PLR correctly, you won't have to worry about duplicate content issues or failing to rank.
There are pros and cons to using Private Labels Rights (PLR) or Done-for-you (DFY) content. The pros are obviously tons of time and energy saved while building your blog and making more of a passive income. The cons are, if you don't change the content up at all, it could end up being duplicate content on your blog. If you're publishing PLR from websites that have been publishing the same PLR over and over for 10+ years, chances are it's been published hundreds – if not thousands – of times already.
Ranking on Google with PLR
Ranking on Google comes down to a few factors. A few that will help you rank higher include:
- domain age
- on-page SEO
- keywords in headings and subheadings
- mobile-friendliness
- security (https)
- table of contents
- page load speed
- image optimization
- and more!
See the list of factors Google uses to rank your blog.
How to rank on Google
Improve your SEO. Search engine optimization may seem elusive, but it's not as difficult as we make it out to be.
Target long tail keywords with low competition. You can use affordable search tools like Keysearch to find search volume, but you'll mostly want to rely on your experience with blogging to figure out which keywords to target first. All of the keyword research tools are helpful in their own way, but none have the actual search volume listed accurately for all (or even most) keywords.
I remember looking up a handful of keywords and seeing there was search volume of 200 per month for each of them. Usually, that wouldn't be enough volume for me to go after, but it was a topic I loved so I did it anyway. I ended up getting more than 10,000 pageviews each month on that post alone! That's because you aren't using just one keyword when writing a blog post. You're typing a post organically, about a topic your readers want to learn about, and you're including dozens of keywords in the process – without even realizing it!
Focus on search intent. The reason I got 10,000 pageviews instead of just 200 is because I focused on what my readers were searching for, and what their intent would be. Why are people coming to this particular blog post? What else are they searching for? Which questions can you answer for them, before they ask them? Which questions can you answer better than the other blogs do?
Publish the best content. When I first started blogging 15 or so years ago, there wasn't a whole lot of competition to be had in the niches I was focusing on. However, it's 2021 and everyone is online now! Everyone is trying to learn how to become a “digital nomad”, and with the internet being so accessible, it's possible for most people to follow that dream. With that comes more competition.
The great part about the competition is, many believe blogging is a “get rich quick” kind of thing. Chances are, you've already discovered that to be completely false. The people who believe they can make money fast with blogging are the same ones that will slap crap content up on their blog because they haven't yet discovered that it's quality, not quantity, that matters with ranking on the front page of Google.
Build domain authority (DA). Many times, you'll see crap content on the front page of Google. Why is that? Well, it usually means their blog has a high domain authority.
Build your domain authority by:
- linking out to high-quality content on websites with higher domain authority
- get backlinks from well-ranking websites
- making your website mobile-friendly
- improving your website speed
Improving DA for your website isn't a one-click-and-done type of deal. You will need to consistently work on improving your website and putting out high-quality content in order to rank on Google, especially in 2021.
>>> Check your domain authority here.
If you search “how to rank on the front page of Google?” you will get snippet answers like this:
While it is true that the more pages you get indexed, the more likely you are to rank, that's not the full picture. You must work on what is outlined in this post (and many other well-written posts on this topic) to consistently rank on the front page of Google – especially when publishing PLR.
Make your PLR unique.
It may seem like you're defeating the purpose (of saving time) if you edit PLR, but using PLR as a foundation rather than as the full content of your blog is ideal. I try to find longer PLR that is at least 750 words, so I can add just a little bit to it and it's 1,000+ words. My top ranking posts are almost always at least 1,000 words. In fact, there was a study showing that content length correlates with your ranking position in search.
How can you make your PLR unique? Oh, let me count the ways! 🙂 I'll be adding a series of blog posts on this topic over the coming months, but here are a few ways I use DFY content on my own blogs:
- turn “reports” into cornerstone content – sometimes these are 3,000 words
- interlink several related posts – a mix of unique content with the PLR content
- create a workbook with the PLR content, to be an add-on (opt-in or paid product) to your top posts
How to use PLR effectively to rank
Using PLR is an awesome way to save time while building and growing your blog, but you want to make sure you're buying content that is up to date. You should always download a sample of the content before buying, especially if the website looks like it was built in 1998. Information changes so quickly, especially online. You should be using DFY content that is recently written, thoroughly researched, and read to go for your blog.