seo basics

According to a 2022 finding by Internet Live Stats, Google processes around 99,000 searches every second. This number only shows how much information people crave online.

For those doing business, this means opportunity. And SEO helps to seize that opportunity.

SEO, or search engine optimization, is one of the most important tools when doing business online. It helps your website rank higher on search engine results pages (SERPs), getting you more website visitors and, eventually, buyers.

But what is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)? How do you do it? And how does search marketing help with implementing SEO best practices? In this SEO 101 beginner’s guide, we will answer these questions!

What is SEO?

What is SEO? - SEO Basics: An Introduction to SEO for Beginners - Grow Predictably

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of optimizing web page and website elements so that your content appear higher in organic search results, allowing them to be more easily discovered by internet users searching the web for different topics.

SEO involves analyzing and understanding how search engines work when ranking online content and implementing strategies to improve the visibility of a web page or website on sites like Google.

Why is SEO so important?

Search engine optimization is an invaluable tool for businesses of all sizes. SEO helps small brands, entrepreneurs, companies, etc., attract more customers to their websites, increase brand awareness, and boost visibility in search engine rankings.

SEO optimizes web pages to appear higher in the search engine results pages (SERPs), making them more visible to internet users.

And because SEO uses targeted techniques, it ensures you target the right people, not just people.

SEO also helps to improve user experience on the website, making it easier for customers to find what they’re looking for.

Understanding SEO basics is essential for businesses that want organic site traffic, even more in today’s digital generation, where you have endless competition online.

The 3 Components of SEO

SEO Basics A Quick SEO 101 for Beginners 5 1

In addition to learning the most common and essential terminologies in SEO, it’s also important to identify the different areas of regular SEO.

Later on, we will also address why we called it ‘regular SEO’ above.

Optimum SEO is not just all about keywords. Performing successful SEO is divided into three areas.

1. On-Page SEO

On-page SEO is optimizing website and webpage content to make them more easily discoverable by users and search engine bots.

This process is key for any SEO strategy, as it helps websites rank higher on SERPs (search engine result pages).

On-page SEO includes optimizing elements such as titles, headings, content, and meta description. In short, on-page SEO focuses on the different elements found on your webpage.

2. Off-Page SEO

Off-page SEO refers to techniques and strategies to improve a website’s search rankings by increasing the number and quality of incoming links from other websites.

This is done by building relationships with influencers, writing guest articles for other websites, getting your product or service reviewed by customers and other websites, and generating brand mentions.

3. Technical SEO

Technical SEO is optimizing a website for search engines from a technical standpoint.

This includes optimizing your website’s structure and code, improving page speed and load times, ensuring search engine crawlers find content easily discoverable, addressing broken links and redirects, and ensuring URLs are SEO friendly.

6 Different Types of SEO

At this point, you already know what SEO means and why it’s so relevant today, especially to businesses. But there are two other types of SEO besides the one we already deconstructed earlier in this article.

1. Standard SEO

The standard type of SEO, or what we call ‘SEO,’ is the process of optimizing websites to make them more visible and increase their visibility on SERPs. Local and international SEO differ in some technicalities when compared to standard SEO.

2. Local SEO

Local SEO is a specialized form of SEO that focuses on optimizing a website to be more visible in geographically-related searches.

This includes any searches related to an organization’s location or service area, such as “restaurants near me” or “dentists in [city].”

Local SEO is important for businesses of all sizes, as it can help them reach more potential local customers that aren’t only already in need of their products and services but customers who are also near them.

3. International SEO

International SEO is a process of optimizing websites to enable them to perform well in different countries and regions worldwide.

This involves ensuring that content, such as text, images, videos, and other assets, are adjusted to the local culture and language to resonate with the target audience.

SEO for international sites also requires additional steps such as analyzing regional SEO trends, optimizing URL structures, and using hreflang tags.

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4. SEO for eCommerce

E-commerce SEO is a specialized form of SEO that specifically helps e-commerce websites. It involves optimizing a website for search engines, such as Google, Bing, and Yahoo!, to maximize visibility and traffic from organic search results.

SEO for e-commerce sites typically involves optimizing SEO basics such as page titles, meta descriptions, and SEO-friendly URLs.

Additionally, SEO efforts should focus on optimizing product and category pages to ensure Google indexes them so customers can find them.

It is also important that e-commerce SEO strategies include keyword research to create targeted content that appeals to your customer base.

5. YouTube SEO

YouTube SEO is the process of optimizing your YouTube videos and channels to increase your chances of appearing in YouTube search results.

This can be done by including keywords in the title, description, and tags for your video related to what people are searching for. Additionally, you should use relevant images and captions around your video to help it stand out from other videos on the platform.

6. Mobile SEO

Mobile SEO focuses on different strategies designed to optimize websites for mobile users. It involves making a website more user-friendly, accessible, and indexable by crawlers, including smartphones and tablets.

Mobile SEO aims to improve the visibility and usability of a website’s content in organic search results and mobile use.

Understanding How Search Marketing or SEM Can Help You With SEO

Did you know that 63% of all shopping starts online, even though some of it ends up being paid for in a store? Clearly, online search is a critical tool for making sales. This is where SEM comes in.

Search marketing or search engine marketing is gaining visibility and increasing traffic on platforms like Google through paid and unpaid efforts. This can include SEO, PPC, and other online marketing strategies.

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Source: OBERLO

Search marketing aims to increase your site’s traffic by targeting people already interested in what you offer.

Using keyword research and other SEO techniques, you can improve your chances of reaching and driving these people to your site. So if search marketing is a process, what does it comprise?

1. Search Intent

When someone searches on Google, they are looking for something specific. This is called the searcher’s intent. And search intent is a great ranking factor that’ll impact your SEO success.

SEO is all about understanding what people are searching for and then providing that information through content or a web page.

Using search intent as a ranking factor can be done by using the right keywords and phrases in your content and your SEO strategy.

example

Suppose someone asks you to search for the best place for hiking near the area because they want to go on a hike without traveling far. The best place for hiking near me is your search intent.

2. Context

Google search is a great example of how search context can impact SEO. When you type a keyword into the Google search bar, the results that appear are based on the context of your search.

In other words, Google considers all the factors that could affect how relevant a result is to your query. This includes things like your location, device, and even your previous search history.

All of these factors help Google determine which results are most relevant to you and your query. So if you’re searching for a local business, Google will return local results.

And if you’ve been searching for a particular topic lately, Google will try to surface related results in its SERPs.

Understanding how search context can affect SEO is integral to optimizing your content for success. By understanding how Google interprets your searches, you can better tweak your content to rank better in the SERPs.

example

Let’s use the same example earlier. Suppose someone asks you to search for the best place for hiking near the area because they want to go on a hike without traveling far. In this case, “near the area” or “near me” is your context.

3. Asset

An SEO asset is any element of a website or marketing campaign that can be used to improve its position on SERPs.

Assets can include anything from the website’s title and meta descriptions to the text on individual pages, images, videos, and other multimedia content.

While SEO can be performed without using assets, incorporating them into a campaign can often help improve its results.

example

Using the same example, after someone searches “best place for hiking near me” on Google, Google could then deliver the top-ranking pages or blog posts of reviews made by locals or hikers on the best hiking spots in the local area. In this case, the blog posts are the assets.

4. Channel

A channel in search marketing refers to the various ways a user can search for information. This can be through platforms like Google or Bing, or it can be through a specific niche site like Amazon or Facebook.

Channels generally refer to how users find information and can be used as a tool for SEO purposes.

example

When someone searches for “best place for hiking near me” on Google, Google is considered the channel in the situation.

5. Optimization

Optimization is making a website’s marketing materials (including its website, content, and associated keywords) as search-engine-friendly as possible. This is done to increase the site’s visibility and ranking on SERPs.

Keyword optimization is a key part of SEO. It refers to using keywords in website content and metadata (e.g., titles, metatags) to improve the site’s chances of appearing in relevant search results for those terms.

example

Let’s say you’re creating a blog post. If you want your post to rank for queries like “best place for hiking near me,” you can include the keywords “best place for hiking near me” in the essential areas of the post. In the case of a blog post, these areas refer to the title, URL, metadata, headers, images, featured images, and alt texts.

10 Easy SEO Tips to Observe for SEO Beginners

If you’re just starting with SEO, knowing the basics is important. Many factors break down the fundamentals of SEO, but these ten easy tips will help beginners get started on the right foot.

SEO Tips
  1. SEO needs to be regularly monitored and tweaked.
  2. SEO should be a part of your website’s design from the start.
  3. Always use keyword-rich titles, descriptions, and tags when adding content to your website.
  4. Make sure your site is crawlable and indexable by search engines.
  5. Optimize your images by including keywords in the file names and alt text.
  6. Use social media to promote your content.
  7. Link building is still an important SEO tactic.
  8. Monitor your site’s analytics regularly.
  9. Avoid using black hat SEO tactics.
  10. Always be prepared to adjust your strategy as needed.

1. SEO is not a one-time task.

It’s an ongoing process that needs to be regularly monitored and tweaked.

If you want to climb up on rankings, it’s important to have consistency with your SEO. SEO is not a one-time task for as long platforms like Google, Bing, and Yahoo are always changing and evolving.

And since engines like Google improve over time, SEO techniques that worked a few years ago may no longer work today, so it’s important to continually monitor and tweak your strategy to ensure that your own site is getting the best possible ranking.

2. SEO should be a part of your website’s design from the start

SEO is optimizing a website for Google and other search engines. Besides making mobile-friendly content, SEO should be considered when designing a website, as it can improve the ranking of a website on SERPs, leading to more visitors.

There are many components of SEO, but some of the most important include using the correct keywords, titles, and descriptions, developing good content, and optimizing the website’s infrastructure.

SEO can be complex, but following best practices can help a website rank better in SERPs.

3. Make sure your site is crawlable and indexable by search engines

Before you worry about your traffic, worry about whether your site can undergo a Google crawl. To rank correctly for a particular keyword, ensure a search console can crawl and index your web pages.

One of the best ways to ensure that as many people see your website as possible is to submit it to the Google search console. What is Google search console?

The Google search console will help you track your website’s organic traffic or traffic from unpaid sources like.

This is a valuable metric to track. The search console can tell you how well your website is performing on Google and whether or not you’re doing something wrong that’s causing your traffic to drop.

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Source: OnCrawl

4. Optimize your images by including keywords in the file names and alt text

SEO is not just about optimizing your website and its content. You must also optimize your images. Including keywords in the file names and alt text can help attract more search traffic through your content.

This is because Google uses image search to return results, and by including keywords in your images, you can make them more likely to appear in those results.

So, if you want to improve your SEO ranking, optimize your images using keywords.

5. Always use keyword-rich titles, descriptions, and tags when adding content to your website

One of the most important parts of SEO is using keyword-rich titles, descriptions, and tags. This will help to ensure that your website appears higher on SERPs and thus receives more traffic.

The titles, descriptions, and tags for each piece of content on your website should be carefully crafted to include important keywords.

This will tell the search algorithms that your content is relevant to those keywords, and you will be more likely to rank better.

However, don’t rely too much on these areas. Because at the end of the day, your overall content will still pilot your whole goal of optimizing for a search query.

Just like what Dylan Books said

The best way to get on the same page with this search engine mantra is to write in the language of consumers by finding these questions and answering them through your content and website features.”

Dylan Brooks, Insurance Technologies Corporation

6. Use social media to promote your content and help it reach a wider audience

SEO is all about improving the visibility of your website. And one of the best ways to do that is by promoting your content on social media.

By sharing your blog post and other content on social media, you can reach a larger audience and drive traffic to your page. In addition, social media can help you build relationships with potential customers and clients. So if you want to improve your SEO, promote your content on social media.

Speaking of social media, going the extra mile to ensure your content ranks well includes practices that equip your content or website for mobile use.

If you’re going to promote on social media, consider that much traffic can come from mobile users. Therefore, optimize your mobile site in terms of site speed. If other sites load faster than yours, more people will move to those sites. As for yours, that means more traffic leaving.

For content creators, enhancing content to appeal more engaging is normal. But sometimes, that means including elements that could affect your content’s page speed.

If your content’s page speed is poor, this is going to affect user experience. Page speed is also a factor when it comes to engagement.

7. Link building is still an important SEO tactic, so make sure you include links in your content whenever possible

Links contribute to important SEO tactics. This refers to the process of acquiring links from other websites to your own. Links help Google determine a website’s importance and authority, and they also help boost a website’s SEO ranking.

In order to improve your SEO ranking, you need to focus on building high-quality links from reputable websites.

8. Avoid using black hat tactics in SEO, as they can get you penalized by Google

Businesses should avoid SEO black hat tactics because they can get penalized by Google. Black hat tactics are methods that violate Google’s Webmaster Guidelines and can include things like keyword stuffing, cloaking, and spamming.

These tactics can result in lower search rankings or even ban your website from Google altogether.

So if you want to improve your SEO results, it’s best to stick to the basics and avoid risky tactics.

Black and White Hat SEO Practices - SEO Basics: An Introduction to SEO for Beginners - Grow Predictably

9. Monitor your site’s analytics regularly to track progress and identify areas that need improvement

SEO is constantly changing and evolving, so it’s important to keep track of your site’s analytics to see how you’re doing and where you need to improve.

By tracking your site’s progress, you can determine whether your SEO techniques are effective and make necessary changes.

Additionally, analyzing your analytics can help you identify any technical SEO issues that need to be addressed.

10. There are no guarantees in SEO, so always be prepared to adjust your strategy as needed

SEO is a fluid and ever-changing field. What may work one day may not work the next, so it’s important to be prepared to adjust your strategy as needed.

This is especially true regarding search results, as they can change rapidly in response to changes in the algorithm or new trends in search behavior.

Knowing when to adjust your strategy will ensure that your website remains competitive and continues to rank well in search results.

How to Track Your SEO Progress and Measure Results

If you don’t measure your SEO performance, how can you tell if it’s working or not? Measuring your SEO performance can be done by monitoring many metrics.

Let’s review some of the metrics used to help assess your SEO’s effectiveness.

To effectively measure your SEO results, use SEO tools like Google Analytics.

1. Organic Traffic

Organic traffic is the number of site visits from internet users who have organically found their way to your website. This is the opposite of paid traffic.

So how does organic traffic help measure SEO performance? The amount of organic traffic that your site gets is a clear signal of your visibility on sites like Google.

Organic traffic tells you how many people saw you on SERPs and decided to click on your website.

If your organic traffic is low, that could mean you have a low ranking on SERPs or your title tags aren’t well-optimized.

But if your organic traffic is seeing an increase, it can mean that your SEO efforts are bringing you in front of more internet users searching online, among other reasons.

If you’re using a digital tool to track your organic traffic, Google Analytics is one of the top free options in the market. There are also paid tools like the ones from SEMrush, Ahrefs, MOZ Pro, and others.

2. Ranking

Your ranking on search sites like Google is also a crucial metric to monitor when optimizing your web pages. Why? Because the top results on Google’s first page get the most benefits.

For one, when you rank first on Google’s first page, you get 39.6% of CTRs on average compared to those that rank second and below.

And when you hold the most CTR for a particular search query, that could also significantly impact your conversions.

Conversely, a low rank on results pages can bar you from enjoying the abovementioned benefits. This is why it’s important to periodically monitor where you place in terms of ranking for your target keywords.

If you’re trying to rank on Google, using Google Analytics to monitor your keyword ranking is very handy. But of course, other tools can help you track this metric just as well.

3. Natural Backlinks

Your natural backlinks are one entry for the ‘not-so-commonly monitored SEO metrics.’ But what are natural backlinks?

Natural backlinks, basically, are just backlinks that you’ve managed to earn from other websites naturally. These are backlinks from websites you didn’t reach out to for link building.

Natural backlinks are the inbound links you get from sources that naturally found you and your content and deemed it valuable enough to link to.

Ultimately, this can also mean that other websites are finding your content more and more, which could signal that your SEO performance is bringing your pages in front of more people.

Other SEO Basics to Consider

Aside from the different SEO components and types, there are other considerations that one must keep in mind when optimizing for Google.

E-E-A-T

E-E-A-T stands for experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. This used to be just E-A-T without the ‘E’ for experience, but the addition was made after getting updated by Google.

It is crucial to SEO because Google’s search algorithm considers this factor when evaluating websites and ranking them in SERPs.

The more Experts, Authority figures, and Trusted sources a website has associated with it, the more likely it is to rank higher on SERPs.

This can be accomplished by building relationships with industry influencers willing to link back to your site as an authoritative source of information.

Additionally, posting quality content that users find valuable will establish credibility and trust that Google looks out for when determining rankings.

YMYL

YMYL, or Your Money or Your Life, is a type of topic that anyone in SEO must be aware of when optimizing webpages.

It refers to topics on the internet that affect a person’s money or life, which can impact a user’s future happiness, health, financial stability, or safety.

SEO professionals must be aware of the responsibility associated with optimizing YMYL content and ensure that they create web pages that are accurate, reliable, and trustworthy for users.

When ranking these types of topics, Google’s quality evaluators pay more attention to YMYL topics to ensure that inaccurate, unreliable, and unsafe YMYL content rank low.

How to Get Help with SEO

When you’re new to SEO, it’s a given that you won’t be able to catch up on everything. SEO is a challenging industry and can be too overwhelming for first-timers.

Whether you’re a small business owner or simply new to an SEO project, there are ways for you to seek help and jumpstart your entry to SEO.

Hire an organic SEO consultant

SEO consultants are invaluable in helping businesses reach their SEO goals.

A knowledgeable SEO consultant can help identify the most effective SEO techniques for a business’s website and implement a comprehensive SEO strategy tailored to the business’s particular needs.

In addition to providing expertise in SEO best practices, SEO consultants can also provide SEO training to help businesses understand the basics of SEO and how it works.

SEO basics such as keyword research, content optimization, link building, and on-page SEO are essential for any website that wants to be found in search rankings.

Get SEO copywriting services

SEO copywriting services can provide great value to your SEO strategy by creating content tailored to your target audience, strategically using keywords to boost SEO rankings, and crafting persuasive copy that resonates with readers.

This can help draw attention to your website, making it easier for potential customers to find you online. SEO copywriting also ensures that the content on your pages is engaging, up-to-date, and SEO optimized.

SEO 101 Dictionary

SEO 101 Dictionary - SEO Basics: An Introduction to SEO for Beginners - Grow Predictably

Without learning your SEO baby words, learning SEO will be tough. SEO has many technical terms that confuse beginners just hearing about the subject. But that can be avoided.

The following are the most important subject terminologies that you must learn in order to find your way around SEO more easily.

Keyword

A keyword is a word or phrase that internet users use when searching for information on search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo, and others.

In order to match their content with what users are searching for on search engines, people in charge of SEO use keywords all over their web pages.

When it comes to SEO, choosing the right keywords is the most essential step because keywords help search engines understand the purpose behind your content.

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The image above shows an example of the keyword “monte cristo recipe” used in a Google search query.

Keyword Volume

Keyword volume is an important SEO metric that measures the frequency at which keywords are searched on search engines.

It refers to the total number of searches for a particular keyword or phrase within a given time period, usually a month or a year.

A higher keyword volume typically indicates more interest in a topic, making it more attractive and relevant to SEO strategies.

Longtail Keyword

A longtail keyword is a more specific keyword phrase with a lower search volume than a more general keyword. It consists of three or more words with higher semantic richness, making the query more precise.

For example, someone searching for SEO might enter the query “SEO basics.” A longtail keyword could be something more specific, like “how to do SEO for small businesses.”

Longtail keywords are an important part of SEO and can be used to drive more targeted traffic and leads. They also help search engines better understand the content on a website which can lead to improved rankings.

In SEO best practice, it is always better to choose long-tail keywords than keywords with fewer than three (3) words.

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“Best place for hiking in Mexico” is an example of a long-tail keyword because it uses more than three keywords for the query, as seen in the Google search above.

Search Query

A search query is the text typed into a search box by a user to find relevant content and web pages. Search queries consist of keywords, topics, and phrases that are used to retrieve information from a search engine.

SERPs

A search engine results page (SERP) is a webpage generated by a search engine in response to a query by a user. It contains a list of results that are relevant to the query, usually ranked in order of relevance.

The SERP typically contains links to webpages, images, videos, and other related resources that match the user’s query.

H1, H2, H3, H4

H1, H2, H3, and so on are the different sizes for setting your headings in articles or blogs. Headings have different sizes to help you organize the sections in your writing piece.

There are different sizes to choose from when adjusting your headings, from H1 (the biggest) to H6 (the smallest).

Incorporating keywords into your headings is a standard SEO best practice. For example, in an article, at least one of your H1 headings should contain a focus keyword.

Metadata

Metadata refers to the information about a particular content that search engines use to understand web pages better and use in ranking pages in SERPs.

This set of data is also one of the first things that search engines show in response to search queries.

When mobile users perform a search query, metadata can also help your content read in a more mobile-friendly manner when viewed using mobile devices.

The meta description is the most important piece of metadata, as it is used to summarize a website’s content.

When people search for keywords, Google will display the meta description in the results if it is relevant to the search.

A well-optimized meta description significantly contributes to getting more organic search traffic.

Meta descriptions also include the article’s author, article categories, and the time of publication.

Another significant element of metadata is the title tag. Title tags, as the name suggests, contain the content’s title. The title tag is the first thing that a searcher will look at.

As an SEO best practice, it also helps with Google rankings to always include keywords in the title tag.

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The arrows in the image above point to the title, permalink, and article description. These details will appear as the article’s metadata when it comes up on Google.

By looking at the metadata preview at the uppermost part of the image, you’ll see how the three details are displayed.

Anchor Text

Anchor text is the visible, clickable text in a hyperlink. Clicking on an anchor text will bring users to a different page.

Image Alt Text

Image alt text is an HTML attribute that helps search engine spiders index and understands images on a website.

It also provides more information to people who may be visually impaired and rely on screen readers or other assistive technologies.

Alt texts can also include keywords to improve a web page’s SEO performance.

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The image used in the example shows a photo of two women. Its image alt text further explains the photo in better detail.

Internal Links

An internal link is a hyperlink pointing to a page within the same website instead of pointing to an external website.

They are commonly used for website navigation, providing an easy way for users to access the information they need quickly and SEO benefits.

Internal links can help search engine crawlers index and rank pages and indicate the importance of those pages.

External Links

An external link is a link from one website to another website. External links are an important SEO factor, as they allow search engine crawlers to discover pages on other websites that may be relevant to the user’s query.

SEO experts have long used external link building as a crucial SEO strategy to improve organic search engine rankings and drive website traffic.

Keyword Research Tool

A keyword research tool is a type of software or SEO application used to help identify which keywords are most relevant and popular to the content on a website.

These tools can be used to analyze search engine data, identify trends in keyword searches, and gain insights into consumer behavior.

The primary purpose of a keyword research tool is to help SEO marketers optimize their SEO campaigns by selecting the right keywords.

Additionally, these SEO tools can provide insight into what competitors are doing with their SEO strategies and help identify potential areas of opportunity to improve SEO performance.

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Ahref’s Keyword Difficulty Checker is an example of a keyword tool that many people use.

Traffic

Website traffic is the number of visitors who access a website or webpage. It’s a metric that measures how much attention a website or page receives from users and can be calculated in various ways.

Website traffic can come from organic sources, such as search engines, social media, email marketing campaigns, or direct referrals, or it can come from paid sources, such as pay-per-click advertising.

Keyword Stuffing

Keyword stuffing is an SEO technique in which website owners try to manipulate search engine rankings by adding too many instances of a certain keyword or phrase on the webpage.

This SEO tactic is typically done to achieve higher rankings. However, it can often have the opposite effect, as search engines penalize sites for using this tactic.

Keyword stuffing can also be damaging to the user experience as it can make web pages and content difficult to read.

FAQs

There is so much that goes into SEO, especially for beginners. If you’re new to SEO, there’s a good chance you’re asking the same questions that other SEO beginners ask.

To answer some of those questions, we tackled the most frequently asked questions below.

Yes, it is possible to learn SEO on your own. However, it’s important to note that SEO is a complex field, and there are no guarantees that you will achieve the results you desire right away.

Eventually, you’re also going to want to work with SEO consultants for more expert guidance.

That being said, many resources are available online that can help you learn SEO basics and improve your SEO ranking.

This branch of SEO is the practice of optimizing a website for Google search results that are specific to a geographic location.

For example, if you’re a dentist in Sydney, you’d want your website to show up in local search results for “dentist Sydney.”

There are some free SEO courses online that can help beginners get started. One such course is the SEO for Bloggers course offered by Udemy.

This course covers the basics of SEO, including how to research keywords, optimize content, and improve website speed.

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Image from Udemy

Another great option is the SEO 101: The Beginner’s Guide to Search Engine Optimization course offered by Moz. This course covers everything from the history of SEO to current best practices.

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Image from MOZ

Both of these courses are free, and they provide a great introduction to SEO. With a little bit of practice and patience, you can start to see improvements in your website’s ranking.

Most major industries invest in SEO. So whatever nature of business you belong to, investing in SEO is always a wise decision to consider.

Big brands and companies spend thousands in marketing their products and services, and SEO is just another part of their strategy.

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Source: Search Engine Journal

To put their name out there, these brands spend thousands to millions in SEO—as seen in the data above from Search Engine Journal—to present themselves as authorities in their fields.

In addition, SEO is something that any business, big or small, can gain significant ROI from when done effectively.

So the next time you ponder if SEO really is necessary, think about what you’ll miss.

One of the biggest barriers to entry when learning SEO is the fact that SEO is constantly evolving.

What may work one day may not work the next, so it’s important to stay up-to-date on the latest SEO trends and changes in the algorithm.

Additionally, SEO requires a lot of research and trial and error in order to find what works best for your website.

Another barrier to entry can be the cost of implementing SEO techniques. Many SEO tactics require paid tools or services, which can be expensive for small businesses or entrepreneurs.

However, there are many free SEO resources available online that can help you get started.

Some other SEO barriers to entry:
  • Google’s ever-changing guidelines and algorithm
  • The implementation of SEO on different social platforms
  • Cost of advanced SEO courses
  • A book load of information to read
  • Unreliable sources of SEO tips and information

This has become an important part of SEO basics.

EAT SEO stands for Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. It’s a Google ranking factor that refers to the quality of your content.

Google wants to surface high-quality content in its search results, so it looks for signals that show whether a piece of content is high quality.

EAT is one of those signals. If you want your content to rank well in Google, you need to make sure it has to to EAT. Here’s how to do that:

1. Make sure your content is written by experts.
2. Make sure your content is authoritative.
3. Make sure your content is trustworthy.

If you can tick those three boxes, you’re on your way to writing EAT-friendly content that will rank well in Google. So how do you make sure your content is EAT-worthy?

YMYL is a Search Engine Optimization term that stands for “Your Money or Your Life.”

YMYL pages are those that could potentially have a negative impact on a person’s life if they were to rank highly in search engine results.

For example, a page about a financial product like a credit card or loan could be considered a YMYL page.

If someone were to search for “credit cards” and find a page that ranked highly but contained inaccurate information, it could have disastrous consequences.

As such, YMYL pages must be held to a higher standard than other types of pages when it comes to SEO.

This means that they must be well-researched, well-written, and trustworthy in order to rank highly in search engine results.

Any relevant SEO basics training may include an explanation of YMYL.

In Summary

SEO is an ever-changing and complex field, so staying updated on the latest changes and trends is important. Following these SEO basics can help improve your website’s visibility and ranking on search results.

However, SEO has no guarantees, so be prepared to adjust your strategy as needed. In addition, monitoring your site’s analytics is a good way to track your progress and identify areas that need improvement.

And finally, avoid using black hat SEO tactics, as they can get you penalized by Google.