.png){kind=small}
Beginner's Guide to SEO Success
If you want people to find your website through Google, you need to know the basics of SEO. These are simpler than you might think.
Keep reading to learn what SEO is, how to set things up for success, and how to get indexed.
1. SEO fundamentals
2. Setting up for SEO success
3. Getting on Google
4. How to track SEO success
Here are some essential SEO tools every website owner should use: Google Search Console a traffic analysis tool (e.g. Google Analytics) a keyword research tool (e.g. KW Finder) a backlink analysis tool (e.g. Link Miner) a rank tracker (e.g. SERP Watcher) When people use the phrase “SEO is dead”, they usually mean that “the spams attempts to cheat the Google algorithm that were used 10 years ago are dead”.
Tip: If you want to find out whether your page was crawled and indexed, you can simply go to your Google Search Console (more on the tool in the last chapter) and use the URL Inspection Tool: You'll see when the page was last crawled as well as warnings about any potential crawling and indexing issues Google may have with your page.
Going through a list of the most important core algorithm updates (e.g. Panda, Penguin, Hummingbird,…) can be a great way to get a quick overview of how Google Search and SEO evolved over the years.
With the autocomplete feature, you just need to write your seed keyword into the Google search and the suggestions will appear automatically.
It will look something like this: To let Google know about your sitemap, you can submit it to Google Search Console.
Then go to Google Search Console > Sitemaps and paste it under Add a new sitemap: This one goes without saying.
This brings us to the next point… Here are some elements you can use to make your title tag unique: question number year and all-caps word brackets your brand name Featured snippet (sometimes called “position zero”) is a selected search result that appears above the standard 10 results in Google search.
For example: “best influencer marketing tools.”A blog post targeting the keyword ‘best video editors' should primarily focus on top video editing software.
What is SEO?
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of growing a website's organic search traffic. It's where you do things that help you show up and rank higher in a search engine's organic results.
First it's important to note that Google is responsible for most of the search engine traffic in the world (though there is always some flux in the actual numbers).
Here's what a page optimized for on-page SEO looks like: Learn more in our Complete, Visual Guide to On-Page SEO (With Templates!) Let's look at a few critical, basic on-page elements you'll want to understand as you think about how to drive search engine traffic to your website: While Google is working to better understand the actual meaning of a page and de-emphasizing (and even punishing) aggressive and manipulative use of keywords, including the term (and related terms) that you want to rank for in your pages is still valuable.
Why is SEO important?
People are likely searching for what you do, and you can attract customers by ranking for those terms. But you're unlikely to rank without effort, as others are trying to do the same. This is why SEO matters . It helps show Google that you most deserve to rank.
What are the benefits of SEO?
Most people click one of the first few search results, so higher rankings usually lead to more traffic. Unlike other channels, search traffic tends to be consistent and passive. That's because the number of searches is usually quite consistent month to month.
Search traffic is also “free.” That's a big deal because ads can be expensive.
For example, we get an estimated 1.4M monthly visits from organic search. It would cost us an estimated $1.7M per month to get that same traffic from search ads.
No source of traffic is truly free. SEO costs time and effort.
How do you do SEO?
SEO involves five main steps:
Keyword research. Find what people search for.
Content creation. Craft content for searchers.
On-page SEO. Make your content as clear as possible.
Link building. Build trust and authority from other websites.
Technical SEO. Help search engines find, crawl, and index your content efficiently.
Setting up for SEO success
Doing SEO is much easier when your website is properly set up for SEO success. Let's look at a few ways to do that.
Get a good domain
Most domains are fine for SEO, so don't panic if you already have one. But if you're still shopping around, keep these two elements of a good domain in mind.
Domain name
Something short and memorable is best here. Don't try to shoehorn keywords. Your business name without hyphens or special characters is usually a good bet.
Top-level domain (TLD)
This is the part after the name, like .com. Your choice of TLD makes no difference for SEO.
But we think .com is best for most people, as it's the most recognizable and trusted. For charities, .org or your local equivalent also works. If you only do business in one country outside the U.S., your country code top-level domain (ccTLD), like .co.uk, is fine too.
It's best to stay clear of TLDs like .info and .biz that people tend to associate with spam. But it's not the end of the world if you have one. You can still build a legit website that ranks.
Use a website platform
Website platforms let you create and manage a website with ease. There are two types:
Hosted platforms. Everything's done for you. They host the site, give you ready-made designs, and let you add and edit content without touching code.
Self-hosted platforms. These also let you add and edit content without code. The difference is that you have to host and install them yourself.
Most SEOs recommend a self-hosted, open-source platform like WordPress because:
It's customizable. You can edit the open-source code how you like. There's also a vast community of developers who know the platform inside out.
It's extensible. There are millions of plugins for extending its functionality, including many SEO plugins.
That said, if you value ease of use and support, a hosted solution might be a better fit. All the big ones provide enough SEO capabilities for most people.
Create a positive user experience
Google wants to rank pages that give visitors a positive experience.
Let's look at a few ways to do this.
Use HTTPS
Choose an appealing design
Make sure it's mobile-friendly
Use a readable font size
Use a readable font size
Avoid intrusive pop-ups and ads
Make sure it loads fast
Create a logical site structure.
It should be easy for visitors and search engines to find content on your site. That's why it's important to create a logical hierarchy for your content. You can do this by sketching a mind map.
Each branch on the map becomes an internal link, which is a link from one page on a website to another.
Internal links are crucial for UX and SEO for a few reasons:
They help search engines find new pages. Google can't index pages it can't find.
They help pass PageRank around your site.
PageRank is the foundation of Google search. It judges the quality of a page by analyzing the quantity and quality of links that point to it. It's still used by Google today.
They help search engines understand what your page is about. Google looks at the clickable words in the link for this, otherwise known as anchor text.
Use a logical URL structure
URLs are important, as they help searchers understand the content and context of a page. Many website platforms let you choose how to structure your URLs. These are the five main options for URLs in WordPress:
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/
If you're setting up a new site, go with the clearest and most descriptive structure. That's post name. If you're working with an existing website, it's rarely a good idea to change the URL structure; it may break things.
Install an SEO plugin
Most website platforms handle basic SEO functionality out of the box. But if you're using WordPress, install an SEO plugin. It's hard to put even basic SEO best practices in place without one. Both Yoast and Rank Math are good options.
Getting on Google
Having a website set up for SEO success will help Google crawl and index your pages. But submitting your site to Google can speed up this process further. That's because this helps Google find your website even if it has no backlinks.
Finding or creating a sitemap
Sitemaps list the important pages on your website that you want search engines to index. If you already have a sitemap, it'll likely be at one of these URLs:
site.com/sitemap.xml
site.com/sitemap_index.xml
That way, your target audience can easily find you. Photos and Videos: Add high-quality photos and videos of your business, products, or services. Services: Highlight specific products/services you offer.
Submitting your sitemap
You do this via Google Search Console (GSC). It takes about two seconds.
When you improve load times, you may see lower bounce rates, increased dwell times, and better conversion rates.
If you can't find it there, check site.com/robots.txt where it's usually listed.
If you still can't find it, you likely don't have one and need to create one.
How to track SEO success
Before we dive into how to do SEO, it's worth taking a minute to understand how to track and measure SEO performance . This is never easy, and what we'll cover here is a very high-level overview.
Organic traffic
Let's start with the obvious one. If organic traffic is going up, you're doing something right. You can track this in GSC for free. If you don't have access to GSC, sign up for a free Ahrefs Webmaster Tools (AWT) account. Then plug your domain into Site Explorer for an estimate.
Keyword rankings
If rankings are on the rise for your target keywords, that's another sign that you're doing something right. You can track average keyword rankings for free in GSC. If you want more accurate tracking, you'll need a rank tracking tool like Ahrefs' Rank Tracker.
Keyword Research
Keyword research is the process of finding what queries people search in Google. And identifying the ones you want to rank for.
Just enter a term to base your search around. Then, choose your country and click “Search.”
The tool provides a list of “Broad Match” terms by default, which contain your starting term(s) or close variations.
There are lots of other filters that can help you focus on the most relevant results.
When choosing keywords for your site (or a specific page), relevancy is the most important thing.
For example, there's no point in targeting “Royal Canin dog food” if you don't sell these products.
After relevancy, you can focus on these two keyword metrics:
Volume: The keyword search volume, or average number of monthly searches
KD %:The keyword difficulty score, which measures how hard it'll be to earn a high ranking
Obviously, the higher the search volume, the more potential traffic you can get. But higher-volume keywords tend to be more competitive.
For example, “Royal Canin dog food” has a volume of 49,500 and a difficulty score of 81% in the U.S.
Whereas “Royal Canin hydrolyzed protein dog food” has a volume of 1,900 and a difficulty score of 39%.
Generally, you're better off getting a high ranking for a low-volume keyword. Rather than a low ranking for a high-volume keyword. Because most people click on a top result.
You can always scale up to more competitive keywords as your site's SEO improves.
In the next section, we'll explain how to create content centered around your target keywords.
Get Keyword Suggestions
with the Keyword Magic Tool, the Biggest Keyword Database on the Market
Chapter 4: On-Site Optimization
Use your research to craft your message.
This is a hefty chapter, covering optimized design, user experience, information architecture, and all the ways you can adjust how you publish content to maximize its visibility and resonance with your audience.
Chapter 5: Technical SEO
Basic technical knowledge will help you optimize your site for search engines and establish credibility with developers.
By implementing responsive design, robot directives, and other technical elements like structured data and meta tags, you can tell Google (a robot itself) what your site is all about. This helps it rank for the right things.
Chapter 6: Link Building & Establishing Authority
Turn up the volume.
Once you've got everything in place, it's time to expand your influence by earning attention and links from other sites and influencers.
Improve Your Website's Crawlability & Indexability
For your website to appear in search results, search engines must be able to crawl and index your pages. So, it's important to identify any crawlability and indexability issues. And resolve them as soon as possible.
To further improve indexation, create and submit an XML sitemap. Use a tool like XML Sitemaps Generator to create an XML sitemap for your website.
Simply enter your website URL and click “Start” to generate a sitemap.
Download and upload the sitemap to your website's root directory. For example, nike.com/sitemap.xml.
Then, submit it through Google Search Console (GSC).
In GSC, select “Sitemaps” from the sidebar, enter your sitemap URL, and click “Submit.”
Off-Page SEO Basics
Off-page SEO is about improving a website's search engine visibility without performing any changes on that website.
This involves doing activities that earn links and mentions from other reputable websites.
Off-Page SEO Terminology
Links from an external website back to yours. Search engines consider these an important ranking signal. Because they demonstrate to the search engine that other websites find your content valuable. Backlinks:
: Writing articles for other websites to earn more exposure, backlinks, and authority in your industry. Guest blogging
Off-Page SEO Tactics
Get Backlinks from High-Authority Sites
The more backlinks a web page gets from high-authority sites, the better its chances of ranking higher in the SERPs.
The more backlinks a web page gets from high-authority sites, the better its chances of ranking higher in the SERPs.
Because search engines like Google consider backlinks as votes of confidence. Meaning, when a high-authority site links to your page, it's like that site is vouching for the quality and relevance of your content.
So, focus on winning backlinks from websites with high authority scores.
Here's why they might do it:
يسرنا الاستماع الى آرائكم حول المقال الذي شاهدته وتعلمت منه