7 Crucial Things to Know About SEO

Search engine optimization is a critical part of marketing.

It’s the process of using specific strategies to improve your rankings in search engines. Getting it right can make a huge difference for your business.

However, it can seem confusing when you’re just starting.

In this article, we’ll explore six tips about SEO for beginners. Use them to start getting great results at Google and other search engines.

The process of SEO involves researching popular keywords, optimizing your website to make sure Google can easily crawl it, and engaging in link building.

What Is SEO, and Why Does Everyone Care About It?

Search engine optimization is the process of getting traffic from the free search results on the search engines.

It can take a lot of hard work and time to rank well in natural search results. However, it’s important because most people don’t go past page one of Google and other search engines. If you create valuable information, you need to appear where people look for it.

The process of SEO involves researching popular keywords, optimizing your website to make sure Google can easily crawl it, and engaging in link building. You’ll also need to track the results carefully over time. If you do it correctly, you can see a steady rise in traffic from Google and other search engines.

Additionally, search engine optimization is important because it affects your website’s income. If you don’t have traffic, you can’t make money online.

You could pay for traffic by using paid ads. However, many people new to online marketing find they spend a lot of money on ads without getting quality results. It’s typically better to start getting free traffic, optimize your website for sales, and then pay for traffic when you know your site converts well.

1. Make a Technical Seo Checklist

Don’t worry, the intimidating name doesn’t imply only a genius can figure it out. Anyone can learn technical SEO. All you have to do is concentrate on the function and web vitals of your website.

It may sound like something that only concerns designers. As a matter of fact, not only does it affect the user experience, but it also boosts your domain ranking according to the Webmaster’s Guidelines.

Make sure your website loads quickly. If people have to wait too long for your site to load, they may give up and go somewhere else.

To see your page speed, run it through Google’s PageSpeed Insights. Don’t worry—the tool is free. You can also use an online speed testing tool like GTMetrix.

Check for shifting images or CLS issues. When the images and layout of your webpage shift when loading it hurts your google domain rating.

The 3 click rule is an important web design rule that will help Google crawl your website. To do design your site so you can navigate to any page with only 3 clicks from the homepage.

Lastly, you want to Delete Zombie Pages. Zombie pages are old or unused pages live on your domain. All they are doing is waisting google’s crawl credits making you less of a priority for them.

2. Optimize UI Design for SEO and a Great First Impression

Your site’s design has an impact on how search engines rank you. Interestingly, it’s not one of the first things that come to mind when the topic of SEO for beginners comes up.

Use only the best images on your site. Poor quality or generic stock photos won’t impress visitors or the search engines.

Keep your website design simple. A simple white background with black text usually converts better than fancy colors or weird flashing icons.

Google is a mobile-first index meaning they judge your website off on the mobile design. When optimizing your UI start with the mobile version and work your way to the desktop view and tablet view.

3. Choosing Keywords for SEO That Get Results

Keywords are words or phrases that describe what your website is about. When people search for these words on Google (or other search engines like Bing), they expect to find relevant content on your site.

There are two ways to use keywords. First, you can choose a keyword and try to rank for it. For instance, if you wanted to create an online store that sells phone cases, you might want your site to show up for the search term “phone case.”

Unfortunately, this isn’t as easy as it sounds. There’s a lot of competition for the term “phone case.” Your site must be pretty well optimized to show up on Google for competitive terms.

On the other hand, you can use long-tail keywords to your advantage. For instance, instead of trying to rank for a high-competition keyword like “phone cases,” you could try ranking for more specific terms like “silicone phone cases” or “blue phone cases.”

4. Don't Ever, Ever, Ever, Forget On Page SEO

Every single word on the UI of a webpage affects how you appear on google search results.

To take advantage of this you want to do keyword research before writing your webpage. Compare phrases and words against each other to see which has the best traffic potential and most accurate search intent.

A strong call to action goes a long way. Personalized CTAs convert 42% more visitors into leads than untargeted CTAs. So make sure that you’re creating your CTA copies with intent.

5. Why Backlinks Are Essential for Ranking Well in Search Engines

Backlinks are one of the factors that search engines use to determine how authoritative your website is. However, it’s not easy to get them. You can’t just ask people to link to you.

Instead, find other websites relevant to yours. Reach out to the owner and ask if you can write a solid blog post for their site. If you can get a guest post on their website, you can link back to your website in the process.

Another way to generate quality backlinks is to share and distribute your content on sites like Medium and Reddit. For example, if you blog about phone cases, you could share one of your articles on a subreddit. Don’t forget to reach out to those subreddits first and ask if they’re okay with sharing the article.

6. Content is King Even Where you Least Expect it

Search engine optimization is largely about creating the kind of content that people want to read. If your site doesn’t have high-quality content, it won’t rank well on Google, no matter how much SEO you do. Here are some tips for making great content.

You don’t have to stuff keywords into your content too many times. Use keyword research to find the best terms. However, then simply sprinkle them in here and there as you write your content. Google will penalize your website if it sees your writing geared more toward stuffing keywords than pleasing human visitors.

Create blog posts around specific topics. People are more likely to link back to a blog that remains focused on one niche.

For example, keep all posts related to fixing cars if that’s what your website is about. Don’t suddenly start writing about knitting. Google won’t know what you want rankings for, and then you’ll never find any success.

Make sure your content is readable. Long paragraphs are intimidating to the eyes. Use subheadings and bullet points whenever possible.

You can also improve readability by making sure you don’t have any grammatical errors or misspellings. If people struggle to understand your point or mistake words for the wrong meaning, they’ll stop reading.

Add Text to Infographics, Podcasts, and Videos. Using visuals is a great way to get more time spent on the page and a lower bounce rate. In short, people love visuals. They’re easier to browse than reading written text. And people love when it’s easy.

Final Thoughts About SEO

At the end of the day, search engine optimization is about making your site easy to find through Google and other search engines. It’s a constantly evolving practice because Google makes changes from time to time.

Don’t get discouraged if it’s still new. You might want to take an SEO course that discusses SEO for beginners. From there, focus on improving the quality of your content. You’ll start ranking in no time.