Learn the basics of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and how you can utilize it the get traffic to your website for free through organic search results.
First, it’s important to note that Google is responsible for 90% of all search queries in the world.
Other search engines like Bing and Yahoo! split the rest.
This guide is designed to help you understand the basics of SEO and how you can get traffic from Google.
The other search engines all use similar search engine algorithms but Google is always updating to ensure searchers are getting the most relevant information.
Once you know how the search engines work you’ll know how to implement an SEO strategy that will bring search traffic for free.
The SEO Basics For Beginners
To get started, the first step is to familiarize yourself with SEO terms, key concepts, and best practices.
Technical SEO (search engine optimization) is a necessary skill to have when writing content for websites, as it can have a positive effect on organic search engine results.
SEO for beginners focuses on developing techniques such as creating content with all the main ranking factors so your own site shows up in search results.
Implementing a basic site architecture that will show up in google’s search results means mastering meta titles and tags that are relevant to your content and web pages, optimizing images, and creating SEO-friendly URLs.
Additionally, SEO requires ongoing maintenance with activities such as checking analytics data and conducting keyword research to determine which target keyword should be used along with additional relevant content.
It’s important to remember SEO is in the details!
If you create quality content but don’t back it up with SEO best practices when people search you won’t show in the search rankings.
However, by making sure every page on your site is optimized using SEO basics like on-page SEO, keyword placement, a good meta description, and image files, you will soon be reaping the benefits of better organic search engine results for your website.
Let’s Jump right in.
What is SEO?
SEO means “search engine optimization” and it plays a very important factor in getting organic traffic to your website content.
It is the process of increasing the quantity and the quality of traffic to your website through organic search engine results.
This means people searching for something specific can find your content if it matches the search term.
SEO (Search engine optimization) helps you attract more “qualified traffic” to your site and your content.
Traffic may vary from niche to niche, but the Google search engine is the dominant key player in providing search results that your business or website would want to show up in.
Understanding these SEO basics will help position your site and its content to rank well in Google and all other search engines too.
You need to understand SEO is the practice of optimizing the content on a website to rank higher in search engine results and this is not that easy these days as google is always changing its algorithm.
SEO can be done on-page (on the website itself) and off-page (outside of the website, such as through link building and social media engagement).
Why Is SEO Important For Search Engines?
SEO is important because it can help your website or blog get buyers so that you can make money but also to:
– Attract more visitors to your website from the search engines.
– Rank higher on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP).
– Because you rank higher on the search engines results page (SERPs) more visitors will click through to your website.
– Increase brand awareness and visibility of your content.
SEO is often a complex and ever-changing practice, but there are some basics you need to stick to that will always work.
For example: getting from point A to point B you can use a horse then as times change you use a horse with a saddle.
Progressively as the times change you finally reach an age where you’re using a car, then a car with power windows, then air conditioning, then…etc.
As things evolve you need to change and understand what’s going to get you from point A to point B in the best way possible.
The main reason SEO can be so frustrating is that it changes continuously as Google tries to provide better and better search results.
Why? Great Question…when online marketers get their teeth into a new “strategy,” that gets them better-ranking results in the SEPR, they use it and get their not-so-great content ranking well.
How Does SEO (Search Engine Optimization) work?
SEO works by making your website more relatable, visible, and accessible to search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo.
This is done by making your website’s content, structure, and on-page elements optimized for the titles, metatags, and anchor text in your content.
Another factor that often gets overlooked by beginners is building backlinks (links from other sites to yours).
These backlinks build trust and authority for your website.
Let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves…
The first step in search engine optimization is to determine what it is you need to optimize your website for.
This means finding keywords that people are searching for online so you can start using those keywords so that your website will rank in the search engines like Google.
Sounds simple enough, right?
Example: I want my Dog Collar company to show up when people look for “Dog Collar” and maybe when they type in things like “Buy Dog Collar.”
The first step is to come up with a list of potential keywords related to your business or content.
To do this, you can use a keyword research tool like Google AdWords Keyword Planner as it comes free with a Google AdWords Account.
Enter in some seed keywords related to your business, and the tool will generate a list of similar keywords.
You can then take these keywords and generate your web pages based on these highly search keywords.
SEO basics are all about optimizing your website for Google (and other search engines) and this means giving them keywords that will rank your pages.
It’s one part creative and one part technical. The goal is to get your site to rank higher in the search engine results pages (SERPs) for certain keywords or keyword phrases.
The higher you rank, the more traffic you get, and the more sales you can make. SEO
What Are The 4 Stages of SEO?
1. Keyword Research
The first stage of SEO is keyword research. This involves finding the right keywords that potential customers are using to search for businesses like yours.
Once you’ve identified the right keywords, you can then start to use them in your website content, social media posts, and other marketing materials.
2. On-Page Optimization
The second stage of SEO is on-page optimization.
This refers to making sure that each page on your website is optimized for the keywords you’re targeting.
This includes things like title tags, meta descriptions, header tags, and image alt text.
Take a look at this article on how Ai can do on-page optimization for you.
3. Link Building
The third stage of SEO is link building. This refers to the process of getting other websites to link to your website.
The more high-quality links you have pointing to your site, the higher your site will rank in the search results.
There are a number of ways to build links, such as guest blogging, directory submissions, and social media outreach.
4. Tracking and Analysis
The fourth and final stage of SEO is tracking and analysis.
This involves tracking your website’s performance in the search results over time and analyzing the data to identify any areas that need improvement.
Keyword Basics For SEO
When selecting keywords to create content you need to consider these basic factors:
- Search Volume – How many people are actually searching for a given keyword? The more people use search engines to search for specific keywords, the bigger the audience you will potentially reach with your content.
- Relevance – If you found a frequently searched keyword that’s great. The next step is to determine if the keyword is relevant to your content. You don’t want to show up for searches for keywords that don’t have anything to do with your niche. Example: Your keyword is “Dog Collar” but you’re showing up in search engines when someone types in the keyword (Dog training).
- Competition – you need to find keywords that have high search volume but low competition. With SEO, you need to consider your competition and the likelihood to rank for a specific keyword.
Where to put your keywords
Although expensive tools like Moz Keyword Explorer are great to research keywords using the free Google keyword planner tool works great too.
It will provide you with detailed information about search volume, competition, and suggested related keywords.
Now that you know how to find the right keywords, it’s time to incorporate them into your content.
Use keywords throughout your content including the Title, First paragraph, and Header Titles (H1, H2, H3, H4).
A good rule of thumb is to use a keyword or phrase once for every 100 words of content.
Including keywords in your content will help Google and other search engines understand what your page is about and if it’s relevant to a searcher’s query.
Don’t go overboard with keywords, as this can actually hurt your website.
You can use a keyword tool called Surfer SEO to apply all the relevant keywords needed to get your page to rank higher in the search engines.
I have a complete article you can read about mastering keywords and what you should know.
Main Ranking Factors You Need to Focus On
1. Keywords as Internal Links
As mentioned, one of the most important factors for SEO basics is the use of relevant keywords.
Use keywords as anchor text that will link to other pages within your existing site.
These are called internal links and all your site’s pages should have at least two.
Additionally, you should ensure that your internal linking keywords throughout your website to pages that are related.
Learn more about how long-tail keywords get traffic faster.
2. Title Tags
Another important ranking factor for SEO is the use of title tags in your blog post.
Title tags are HTML tags that specify the title of a web page. The title tag is one of the first things that a search engine looks at when determining the relevance of a web page.
As such, it is important to ensure that your title tags are accurate and descriptive.
3. Meta Descriptions
Meta descriptions are another important ranking factor for SEO. Meta descriptions are brief summaries of a web page that appear in search engine results pages (SERPs).
While meta descriptions do not directly affect a website’s ranking, they can influence click-through rates (CTRs), which can indirectly impact ranking.
As such, it is important to ensure that your meta descriptions are accurate and compelling.
4. Headings
Headings are another important element of on-page SEO.
Headings are used for structuring a web page and help search engines find your content.
There are six different heading levels, from H1 (the most important) to H6 (the least important).
When optimizing your website for SEO, you should use headings to structure your content in a way that is both user-friendly and search-engine-friendly.
5. Alt Text
Alt text is another important ranking factor for SEO. Alt text is used to describe images on a web page and helps search engines understand the content of an image.
When adding images to your website, you should always include alt text so that search engines can index them properly.
6. Site Structure
The structure of your website is also an important ranking factor for SEO.
Your website’s structure should be easy to navigate and understand so that both users and search engines can find the target keywords and useful information they’re looking for quickly and easily.
A well-structured website will also have a hierarchy, with the most important pages being located higher up in the hierarchy than less important pages.
7. Mobile Friendliness
The fact that mobile users access the internet more than any other device.
As more and more people use mobile devices to access the internet, it has become increasingly important for websites to be mobile-friendly.
Mobile-friendliness refers to a website’s ability to be accessed and used on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets.
A mobile-friendly website will have a responsive design, meaning that it will adjust its layout and content to fit any screen size.
Additionally, a mobile version of your website will have touch-friendly elements such as large buttons and easy-to-navigate menus.
8. The Quality of Your Content
One of the most important ranking factors is the quality of your content. Your content should be well-written, informative, and relevant to your target audience.
In addition, your content should be updated regularly to ensure that it remains fresh and relevant.
SEO tools that can help can be found in your free Google account.
What is Google Search Console?
Google Search Console is a webmaster’s best friend and it’s free.
This free tool is used to track websites’ performance in Google search results and diagnose issues with Google algorithms.
Google Search Console lets webmasters keep up-to-date on their sites’ status, such as website visitors, clicks, popular pages and any security issues Google has identified, and notifications of any manual Google penalties.
It also helps monitor page crawls from Googlebot, submit new URLs for crawling, identify potential indexing problems, receive crawl errors, examine keyword rankings, tell you your site speed and pull search query details from Google Search Analytics.
The Google Search Console enables website managers to maximize potential SEO value by providing valuable insight into how the Google algorithm sees their sites.
Why is SEO important?
SEO can be used to increase traffic, customer base, and sales in a business.
Almost 76% of Google users use organic results.
Only 14% clicked on ads. If you rank in search organically you can expect a 5x boost over paid advertising.
In the age of digital interaction and marketing, SEO success is essential for generating website traffic.
By creating keywords and phrases that are easily searchable on popular search engines like Google and Bing, businesses can increase their visibility online.
This increased visibility increases the chances of customers being directed to a business’s website, thereby increasing overall website traffic.
Furthermore, by using meta descriptions and titles optimized for SEO as well as optimizing elements like page loading speed, businesses can further optimize their strategy to draw in potential customers.
Ultimately, technical SEO is a powerful tool that is integral to success with online marketing in today’s digital world.
How To Rank in Other Search Engines
It’s highly likely that your site appears in other search engines easier because there is not as much technical SEO required.
Stick to the basics and have a good meta description and tiles and some long tail keywords and relevant keyword variations and you’ll see some organic traffic sooner.
How To Improve User Experience
SEO is all about providing an enhanced user experience.
It is an essential part of determining how successful websites are in the search results, so businesses must be aware of user experience with SEO in order to improve their visibility and interactivity.
To address user experience, there are several techniques you’ll need to master.
1. Improve website speed
One of the most important factors for good user experience is website speed.
Users are impatient and if your site speed takes too long to load, they will likely leave before even engaging with your content.
There are a number of ways to improve website speed, including optimizing images, using a content delivery network (CDN), and minifying CSS and JavaScript files.
For a beginner, these terms are a bit more in-depth technical SEO terms and if you need help contact your web host helpline.
2. Optimize for mobile
Another important factor to consider is how your site looks on mobile devices.
More and more users are accessing the internet from their smartphones and tablets, so it’s important that your site is optimized for these devices.
This means having a responsive design that automatically adjusts to different screen sizes, as well as making sure that all of your content is easily accessible on mobile.
3. Use clear and concise language
Your website should be easy to understand and use clear, concise language.
This means avoiding jargon and using active voice whenever possible. It’s also important to make sure that your content is scannable by using short paragraphs, bullet points, and headings.
4. Create compelling content
If you want users to stick around, you need to give them a reason to do so.
This means creating compelling, interesting, and informative content that will hold their attention.
Try to mix up the types of content you create, such as blog posts, infographics, videos, and podcasts.
5. Have a strong call-to-action
Your content should always have a strong call-to-action (CTA) that encourages users to take the next step.
This could be signing up for your email list, downloading a white paper or e-book, or scheduling a consultation.
Make sure your CTA is clear and easy to find; it should be prominently featured on every page of your site.
6. Make it easy to contact you
If users have questions or need help, you want to make it easy for them to get in touch with you.
Include your contact information on every page of your site, as well as a form they can fill out if they need assistance.
You should also make sure you have social media accounts set up so users can connect with you on those platforms as well.
Your Guide to SEO Basics Conclusion
If you’ve been following these SEO tips, then multiple pages on your site should be well on their way to the top of search result pages.
If not, don’t worry; there’s still time to make some changes and see better search results.
Just keep at it, and pretty soon you’ll be an expert like the rest of us!
Do these SEO tips help? Let us know in the comments below!