The Complete SEO Guide for Beginners: What You Need to Know in 2022
What is SEO? You might be wondering what this acronym stands for. It is the term that people are using to describe search engine optimization.
Think of it to help your website become more visible in the SERPs and rank higher than other websites that only have text on their site.
There are many ways you can do it: write content, use keywords, link out to other sites, and share posts with friends and followers on social media networks like Twitter or Facebook.
This blog post has been created for those who want a quick guide about starting SEO without all the technical mumbo-jumbo, so they no longer need an IT degree to understand it.
Let’s start with the Basics.
First of all, you need to know that search engines are only interested in the content that you have created for your website or blog post.
That means that if there is no text on your site, search engines will not even bother crawling the content and indexing it. This is important when you want customers to find you.
Another thing to keep in mind is that you have two options when creating content for your website:
– write it yourself
– hire someone else to do it for you
The big difference between the two is that writing content will take more time and energy than hiring someone to do it, but it will pay off in the long run if done correctly.
One more thing that’s important to your website is how your website is built. If you want to go the easy route, you can create a website with WordPress or Blogger.
If you want to go the harder route and don’t have the technical knowledge, you will need to hire a web developer or learn how to make one yourself.
How to Start with SEO: Step by Step Guide
Now that you have an idea of what SEO means let’s get to the good stuff: how you can do it yourself.
Your basic SEO tools
Before you can do anything, there are a few free SEO tools out there that will help you monitor your website’s rankings. There are two main ones I recommend: Google Search Console and Ahrefs.
The first one, Google Search Console, is a free web application by Google for website owners and webmasters. You can use it to monitor the performance of your websites in Google search results.
The second one is Ahrefs, which will help you optimize your site by analyzing what keywords you are using and how many backlinks you have pointed to your site.
Do Keyword Research
To get started with this, you need to know what keywords are.
A keyword is a word or set of words that people type into the search engine when they want information about something.
You can use these words in your content so that you can help boost its ranking on the SERPs.
If you have difficulty coming up with ideas for your keywords, try using the Google Adwords Keyword Tool.
Create valuable content, optimized to rank high in the search engines.
The next and most important step is creating valuable content for your website, which people will want to read and share with their friends and followers on social media networks.
You can write valuable blog posts or create videos that will be uploaded directly on YouTube.
One good tip I have for you is to create useful content for people who want to learn about something in particular but keep it short.
The more valuable content you have on your site, the higher it will rank in search engines and the easier it will be to attract customers.
Sharing your content on Social Media Networks.
Now that you have all this valuable high-ranking content, it’s time to share it with the world and gain traffic and authority in social media networks like Twitter and Facebook.
Sharing your content on social media will make it easy for other people to find you, which is the goal of SEO.
Link Building
Link building is an SEO technique that helps you build backlinks to your website. These are links from one website pointing to another, which positively increases the visibility of both websites.
Once your site starts ranking higher in search engines, you will see more traffic directed towards it.
On-Page SEO
Once your website is set up with the basics of SEO, you can then start optimizing specific pages.
This includes keywords placement, meta descriptions, and headings relevant to what’s being displayed on the screen.
These steps will make it easier for search engines to crawl through your page and understand what it’s about, which helps it rank higher.
Social Sharing buttons
On your site, you can have social sharing buttons that will help people share your content on their own social media pages.
This is another way to attract more visitors to your site and gain authority in the eyes of search engines as a result of increased shares and links.
Internal Links
If you have other pages on your website related to the page being viewed, you can include links to those pages within the content.
This is another way of attracting more visitors and making your site easier for search engines to crawl.
The anchor text, which is the text that people click on when they want to go to another page, should be relevant to what’s being viewed in the content.
Tips to Improve Your SEO Strategy
Once you know the basics of SEO, then you can start working on improving your strategy.
Analyze your Competitors
One way to do this is by looking at what competitors are doing and seeing how they are ranking.
Check your Competition’s Backlinks
This step is important because it shows you how much authority a site has and gives you ideas for keywords to target.
You can then see which sites are linking to your competitors and why they’re important.
Watch Your Rankings
You want to watch which keywords you rank for and which ones you don’t and try to make changes to improve your rankings.
Use Social Media Effectively
It’s a good idea to attract followers on social media networks because people will be able to see your share buttons, which will cause more of them to share your pages and reach a wider audience.
Make Your Content Go Viral
Social media can be used as a means for users to share your content, which is what you want, so it goes viral and gains lots of traffic and high rankings.
Be Patient!
Although SEO takes time, remember that Rome wasn’t built in a day.
You should see progress along the way, but it will take time for SERPs to view your website as important and valuable.
Optimize Images
If you have images on your site, it’s important to have alt tags or descriptions, so search engines index them.
Use Analytics Tools
Google Analytics is a tool that helps you track important metrics like site usage, where your traffic is coming from, and how to improve conversions.
TARGET YOUR MARKET!
This tip cannot be stressed enough! You may have the best SEO strategies in place, but it will be difficult to get traffic and rankings if your target market isn’t there.
Off-Page SEO
Instead of improving your website, you can also promote it off-site through links building and social media.
Improve Site Page Speed
This is important because Google’s page speed tool will rate your site and give it a score.
The higher the score, the better the ranking. So, if you want to improve your site, use Google PageSpeed Insights and find out how to make your pages load faster.
After doing all these steps, it’s recommended that you do an SEO Audit to see how well your website is ranking and if there are any changes that need to be made.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do beginners do SEO?
It’s easy to get started, but it can be hard first if you’re starting. The best thing you can do is watch what other people are doing in your niche and see which search keywords they’re targeting.
How can I learn SEO?
If you want to learn more about SEO, there are many sources for this information, such as websites, blogs, forums, and social media.
How do I attract links?
There are several ways that you can go about getting good links on other sites. One way is by commenting on other sites in your niche with relevant information. Another way is by writing guest posts on other websites.
How do I tell if my SEO effort is working?
You can see if your SEO efforts are working by checking your rankings and making sure you’re moving up the ranks. It would also help to see how much traffic you’re getting from different keywords and which ones have a high click-through rate.
How long does it take to see results?
It depends on what you’re doing, but it usually takes a few months. Some things may show results sooner, while others will take longer depending on your effort into the project.
What should I do once I’ve gotten good rankings?
Once you’ve reached some good rankings, it’s important to keep your site up to date and provide good content that will attract links.
What should I do if my rankings are slipping?
If you’re noticing that your rankings are dropping instead of increasing, then here are some troubleshooting steps you can take:
– Check to see if there has been a recent Google update
– Check your keywords and see if they’re still relevant and competitively ranked
– Check your backlinks and make sure that there aren’t any spammy links pointing to your website
Is it possible to be #1 for every keyword?
No, you can’t because Google has so many other factors in play, such as the site’s overall usability, speed, and content.
What can I do if my page is penalized?
It would help if you learned more about the penalty you got because there are several penalties that Google has in place. Most of the time, it’s due to spammy links or duplicate content.
How long does a backlink take to work?
A backlink doesn’t work instantly, so it’s important to keep that in mind. It can take several days for a backlink to start working, but it also depends on building the link.
Can I do SEO for my competitors?
Yes, you can do competitor research and see what they’re doing if you’re trying to see what works.
Can I do SEO without technical skills?
Yes, you can because some tools are available like Moz and SEMrush that will help you out. You don’t need any specific technical skills to use these tools. Also, if your website is not on Google’s first page for the search results, it’s not optimized.
Can I manage my website for SEO?
It depends on your technical skills, but you can SEO for your site if you know how to do it.
Last Thoughts
This post is intended to be a comprehensive guide for those new to SEO, but it also contains tips that even more seasoned marketers may find useful. You’ll notice some repetition throughout the article as this will help you remember these step-by-step instructions better—and we want your SEO strategy to be successful!
If you have any questions about anything in this guide or would like assistance setting up an effective digital marketing campaign, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us, and one of our team members will get back to you promptly.
We look forward to helping make your business thrive online through our expertise in search engine optimization!