What is SEO?
The process of increasing organic search traffic to a website is called Search Engine Optimization (SEO). You do things to help you rank higher and appear in the organic search results of a search engine.
Why is SEO so important?
Ranking for these terms will help you attract new customers. You’re not likely to rank on your own because others are also trying to do so. This is the reason SEO is important. It shows Google that you deserve to be ranked.
What are the advantages of SEO?
The majority of people will click on the first few results in a search, so higher rankings are usually associated with more traffic. Search traffic is more passive and consistent than other channels. This is because the monthly number of searches tends to be pretty consistent.
The search traffic is “free” as well. This is important because ads are expensive.
We get, for example, an estimated 1.4M visits per month from organic searches. We would have to spend an estimated $1.7M a month on search ads in order to receive the same amount of traffic.
Sidenote.
There is no free traffic. SEO takes time and effort. How do you do SEO?
SEO is composed of five steps.
- Keyword search. Find out what people are searching for.
- Create content for users.
- On-page SEO: Make sure your content is as straightforward as you can.
- Link Building. Build trust and authority by leveraging other websites.
- Technical SEO. Search engines can find, crawl, and index your content more efficiently if you help them.
This is the beginner’s guide for SEO.
Part 2
Set yourself up for SEO Success.
When your website is set up correctly for SEO success, SEO becomes much easier. Here are a few methods to help you.
Domain names are essential.
Don’t worry if you have a domain. If you’re still looking, remember these two aspects of a great domain.
Domain name
It’s best to keep it short and straightforward. Avoid trying to cram in keywords. It’s best to keep your business name free of hyphens and special characters.
Top-level domain (TLD)
Your choice of TLD does not affect SEO. Your choice of TLD does not affect SEO. .org, or the equivalent in your country, is also suitable for charities. If you do business only in one country, such as the UK, your country code TLD (ccTLD) is also fine.
Avoid TLDs such as.info or.biz, which are often associated with spam. It’s not the worst thing in the world to have one. You can still create a legitimate website that ranks.
Use a website platform.
You can create and manage websites with ease using website platforms. There are two main types:
- Hosted platforms. Hosted platforms. You can edit and add content to the site without having to touch code.
- Self-hosted platforms also allow you to add and edit content with no code. You have to install and host them yourself.
The majority of SEOs will recommend using a platform that is self-hosted and open-source, like WordPress.
- The open-source code can be edited however you want. A large community of developers are also familiar with the platform.
- It is extensible. There are millions of plugins to extend its functionality, such as many SEO plugins.
If you are looking for ease of use, support, and customization, then a hosted solution may be the best option. Most people can get by with the SEO features of all the major ones.
Choose a reliable web host.
You’ll also need a web host if you use a hosted solution. They store your website on a server that anyone with an Internet connection can access. When choosing a hosting service, consider the three Ss:
- Security. Get a free SSL/TLS cert. Let’s Encrypt, a nonprofit that provides free certificates, is a good option.
- Location of the server. Data travels between the server and the visitor. It’s better to select a host that has servers located in the same country where you get most of your traffic.
- Support. A 24/7 support service is ideal. Asking the questions above will help you determine how well they support their customers.
Did you know?
A content distribution network can help you optimize the server location. It creates copies on servers all over the world so that your site is always delivered close to the end user. Don’t worry about it too much. You can always invest in a CDN if you feel that speed is a problem.
Create a positive experience for the user.
Google will give higher rankings to pages that provide visitors with a positive user experience. We’ll look at some ways to achieve this.
Use HTTPS
There is nothing worse than visitors’ personal information being vulnerable to hackers. Encrypt your website with SSL/TLS.
Choose an appealing design.
Nobody wants to see a website from the 1990s. While it’s not necessary to redesign your site every few months, you should make sure that it looks good and reflects your brand.
It should be mobile-friendly
your site must be as easy to use on mobile devices as it is on desktop.
Use a readable font size.
All types of devices access the web. Make sure that your content can be read on all devices.
Ads and pop-ups can be annoying.
Ads are not for everyone, but they can be necessary. Avoid interstitials if you need to. These pages may not be ranked as high.
It should load quickly.
Page Speed has a significant impact on ranking factors for desktops and mobiles. This doesn’t necessarily mean that your site has to load instantly.
Create a site structure that is logical.
Your site should make it easy for both visitors and search engines to find the content. It’s crucial to establish a logical order for your website’s content. This can be done by creating a mind map.
Each branch of the map is an internal link. This means that it links from one website page to another.
For a number of reasons, internal links are essential for UX and SEO.
- They can help search engines index new pages. Google cannot index pages that it doesn’t find.
- They pass PageRank around. PageRank is at the core of Google’s search. PageRank is a ranking system that analyzes the number and quality of links pointing to a particular page. Google still uses it today.
- Search engines can better understand your site by using anchor text. Google will look at the anchor text or clickable words within the link.
Use a logical structure for your URL
Search engines use URLs to understand the context and content of a web page. You can choose the structure of your URLs on many website platforms. There are five options available for WordPress URLs:
- Plain: website.com/?p=123
- Day and name: website.com/2021/03/04/seo-basics/
- Month and name: website.com/03/04/seo-basics/
- Numeric: website.com/865/
- Post name: website.com/seo-basics/
When you are setting up a site, choose the structure that is most clear and descriptive. This is the post title. It’s not a good idea, if you’re working on an existing website, to change the URL structure. You may end up breaking things.
Install an SEO plugin.
The majority of website platforms include basic SEO functionality. Install an SEO plugin if you use WordPress. Without one, it’s challenging to implement even the most basic SEO practices. Both Yoast and Rank Math can be good choices.
Part 3
Google – How to get on it
Google will crawl and index pages that are set up to be SEO-friendly. This process can be accelerated by submitting your website to Google. This is because it helps Google find your site even if you don’t have any backlinks.
Find or create a sitemap.
Sitemaps are a list of important pages that you would like search engines to index on your site. You may already have a website map at the following URL:
- site.com/sitemap.xml
- site.com/sitemap_index.xml
Check site.com/robots.txt if you cannot find it.
If you can’t locate it, then you don’t already have one.
Submitting your sitemap
Google Search Console (GSC) is the best way to do this. This takes two seconds.
Part 4
How to measure SEO success
It’s essential to take a moment to learn how to measure and track SEO performance. It’s never easy. We will give you a high-level overview.
Organic traffic
Let’s begin with the obvious. You’re on the right track if organic traffic increases. This can be tracked in GSC free of charge. Sign up for Webmaster Tools if you do not have access to GSC. Plug your domain into Site Explorer to get an estimate.
Keyword Rankings
You’re on the right track if you see your keywords ranking higher. GSC allows you to track the average ranking of keywords for free. You’ll need to use a more accurate ranking tracking tool, such as Ranking Tracker, if you want a more precise track.
Did you know?
It’s not a bad idea to keep an eye on organic traffic and keyword rankings, but they have little or no relation to marketing or business objectives. Track metrics that have a business impact. Below, we’ll cover two of them.
Visibility
This metric shows the percentage of clicks that land on your site for tracked keywords.
Let’s say, for example, that you track a keyword, and pages take all of the top Google positions from your website. Your Visibility is 100% because your website receives all traffic possible from this keyword.
Let’s imagine that your website occupies only one position in Google. Competitors occupy the rest. Your Visibility is less than 100% because some clicks lead to other websites.
Your SEO will be on track if your Visibility increases.
Takeaways
- SEO is the process that increases a website’s organic search traffic.
- This is done by ranking high in organic search results.
- SEO is essential because it’s unlikely that you will rank well without this.
- You can get passive and free traffic every month by ranking high.
- SEO includes keyword research, content development, on-page optimization, link building, and technical SEO.
- When your website is set up correctly for SEO success, SEO will be much easier.
- Google will find and index your site on its own. However, you can speed up the process by submitting a sitemap.
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