The first way Google ranks you first is if you answer a question in your article that is most read on your site (top arrow). This requires the usual way of attracting readers (Google+, comments, social media visibility etc.)
Sure this would be the best way to rank, but there's another way as well.
As you can see the People also ask appears every time someone asks a question on Google (right arrow). It gives you additional questions that people ask on this topic; I consider this an ideal method for attracting more readers that aren’t necessarily looking for your specific keyword.