Google processes about 8.5 billion searches per day — roughly 99,000 requests every second. There are also 1.13 billion websites live on the Internet. What are the odds of yours showing up first in the rankings? Without implementing a few basic search engine optimization (SEO) concepts, the chances are very slim, and that’s being generous.
How can you change that if you're just starting your SEO journey? We asked our optimization experts about the best SEO tips for beginners to help you on your way.
Table of Contents
What Is SEO and Why Is It Important?
SEO is a comprehensive process of making your website more visible on search engines like Google. The process involves several steps and tactics that help you show up higher in the search results pages (SERPs) while also improving the number of visitors your website gets as a result of the better rankings (organic traffic).
SEO matters for almost every business, as it can help you attract potential customers by ranking for the searches they conduct. Apart from this, a highly optimized site with expert content can also help you establish a reputable brand expert within your industry or niche, building digital momentum that can translate into real-life sales.
Exploring the Benefits of SEO
What are the key benefits of search engine optimization? Let’s cover what you can achieve with a stronger online presence.
Better Visibility
People don’t waste their time in the SERPs. Most only consider clicking on the first few search results. To be more precise, out of 4 million search results, only 0.63% of people looked at the second page of Google. This means that a higher ranking means instant visibility. Conversely, without ranking on the first page, you’re unlikely to reach anyone.
Cost-Effective
On another note, organic search traffic is also considered “free.” While all expert SEO agencies charge for their services, the fruits of their efforts can create an excellent return on investment (ROI). This is especially true if you compare SEO to paid advertising. For example, Ahrefs gets an estimated 1.4 million monthly visits via organic search. Generating the same traffic would cost that brand around $1.7 million from paid advertising.
Increased Credibility and Trust
Websites that rank higher in SERPs are often perceived as more credible and trustworthy by users. When your site consistently appears at the top of search results for relevant queries, it signals to potential customers that your business is reputable and authoritative in its industry.
Long-Term Sustainability
Unlike paid advertising, which requires ongoing investment to maintain visibility, the effects of SEO can be long-lasting. Once you've established a strong presence in search results through effective optimization strategies, you can continue to benefit from organic traffic without the need for constant advertising spend. This long-term sustainability makes SEO a valuable investment for businesses looking to establish a lasting online presence.
SEO Tips for Beginners
SEO is an intricate process that will usually involve five steps:
- Keyword research: Finding what your target audience is searching for.
- Content creation: Crafting useful, optimized content for your target audience.
- On-page SEO: Organizing your content and making it as clear as possible.
- Link building: Building authority and trust with the help of other sites.
- Technical SEO: Helping search engines find, read, and index your site, and at the same time, providing your visitors with excellent online experiences.
Keyword Research
Keyword research is a crucial aspect of SEO that involves identifying the specific words and phrases that people use when searching for information online. By understanding the language and terms your target audience uses, you can optimize your website's content to match their search intent and improve your chances of ranking higher in search engine results.
Understanding Your Audience
To conduct effective keyword research, you need to understand your target audience’s needs, pain points, and interests to identify the right keywords and topics that are relevant to them.
Using the Right Tools
There are several keyword research tools available that can help you discover relevant keywords and see how they measure up in terms of search volume. Of course, this is to determine the kind of impact they may have on your SEO efforts.
Focus on Long-Tail Keywords and Consider Search Intent
These are more specific phrases that have a lower search volume but are more likely to convert. Look for phrases that closely align with your industry, audience, and content. That said, consider the intent behind each keyword search. Are users looking for information, products, or solutions to a specific problem? Tailor your content to match their intent and provide value.
Content Creation
Creating relevant, high-quality content that’s optimized with relevant keywords to boost rankings and attract organic traffic to your site is the bread and butter of SEO. Focus on creating content that addresses the needs, interests, and pain points of your target audience. Provide informative, insightful, and engaging content that offers real value to your readers. Whether it's blog posts, articles, videos, or infographics, always prioritize quality over quantity.
Use Internal Linking
Incorporate internal links within your content to connect related pages and improve the overall structure of your website. Internal linking helps search engines crawl and index your site more effectively, while also guiding users to relevant content and keeping them engaged on your site for longer.
Optimize for User Experience
Ensure that your content is easy to read, navigate, and consume across all devices. Use clear headings, subheadings, and bullet points to break up large blocks of text and improve readability.
Promotion
Once you’ve created your content, promote it across different channels to boost its reach and visibility. Consider sharing it on social media, including it in your email newsletter campaign, and other relevant online platforms that can attract more traffic.
On-Page SEO
On-page SEO is the process of optimizing your individual web pages to attract more traffic and improve rankings. The approach involves improving several page elements, such as the content, site architecture, and HTML source code, to make each page more valuable and relevant for users and search engines.
Optimize Page Titles and Meta Descriptions
Write compelling and descriptive page titles and meta descriptions that accurately summarize the content of your webpage and entice users to select your site on search engine results pages. Include your target keywords in your page titles and meta descriptions to improve their relevance and visibility in search results.
Use Header Tags
Use header tags (H1, H2, H3, etc.) to structure your content and make it more readable and scannable for both users and search engines. Use descriptive and relevant headers to break up your content into sections and highlight key points and topics.
Optimize images
Optimize your images for search engines by using descriptive filenames, alt text, and captions that include your target keywords. This helps improve the accessibility of your content for visually impaired users and signals the relevance of your page to search engines.
Link Building
This is another SEO fundamental that involves getting backlinks from other sites to improve your relevance, authority, and visibility in the SERPs. By earning high-quality backlinks from reputable and relevant sources, you can enhance your website's credibility, increase organic traffic, and improve your search engine rankings.
Guest Blogging
Write and publish articles on other sites that are in your niche or industry. By submitting high-quality articles to reputable sites, you can establish yourself as an expert in your field and earn valuable backlinks to your site. Make sure to include a relevant and contextual link back to your website in your guest post.
Take Advantage of Resource Pages
A myriad of websites have resource pages with a helpful list of tools, resources, and other websites within a specific industry. Look for such pages in your niche and reach out to the site owner suggesting that they consider adding your site to said resource page if they find that your content is relevant to their audience.
Social Engagement
Actively engaging with your audience on social media and participating in relevant online communities can help increase your visibility and attract natural backlinks to your website. Share your content on social media platforms and contribute helpful insights and resources to online communities and forums.
Technical SEO
Technical SEO means optimizing your site’s technical elements to ensure online visibility and make it easier for search engines to crawl and index your site. Technical SEO deals with aspects such as website loading speed, mobile-friendliness, site architecture, structured data markup, HTTPS implementation, and more.
By addressing technical issues and ensuring a website meets search engine guidelines, technical SEO helps improve its overall performance in search engine results pages and enhances the user experience.
Choose an Appealing Design
Opt for a contemporary design that also has an intuitive structure. Let’s say, if you run an eCommerce site, you will want a layout and navigation that enables your customers to find your products easily and quickly. Make sure that the design aligns with your chosen niche.
Mobile Friendliness
As mobile accounts for over 60% of all internet traffic, your site should work perfectly on every possible device. Incorporating responsive design principles ensures that your website adapts seamlessly to various screen sizes and device types, providing an optimal user experience across desktops, tablets, and smartphones alike.
Accessibility
You should run a site that is inclusive and accessible for everyone using the internet. Ensuring your website is inclusive and accessible means considering factors like color contrast for readability, keyboard navigation for those with mobility impairments, and providing alternative text for images to assist visually impaired users.
Avoid Being Intrusive
Steer clear of overusing ads. If you need them, try to incorporate them seamlessly, without disrupting the user. Remember, the goal is to provide a smooth browsing experience for your visitors, so if you do use pop-ups or ads, ensure they enhance rather than detract from the user's interaction with your site.
Fast-Loading Pages
Page speed is a part of Google’s Core Veb Vitals, so you should ensure that your site measures up to Google’s standards. Optimizing your website's page speed not only improves user experience but also contributes to higher search engine rankings and better overall SEO performance.
Wrapping Up: SEO for Beginners
While the steps and processes mentioned above help you get more acquainted with search engine optimization, they are only the tip of the iceberg. SEO is a complex and continuous process that involves constant learning and tweaking to ensure that your site and content are always measuring up against Google’s ever-changing standards.
That’s why our experts recommend outsourcing your SEO needs to seasoned optimization agencies who can implement the right strategies on your site and transform your online presence for the better. On the other hand, if you are a junior SEO specialist who is at the earliest stages of their professional journey, make sure to listen to your senior colleagues who are probably more than happy to share valuable insight with you about the latest optimization trends.
SEO Tips for Beginners FAQs
Is SEO difficult?
Search engine optimization isn’t necessarily easy, as it involves several steps and several segments of your website and overall online presence. As technology evolves, user behaviors change, and search engines get smarter, SEO will constantly change, meaning that you will continuously have to keep your existing digital assets up to date and engaging.
How long until your SEO efforts start to show?
In most cases, the work you put into optimization will start to bring results within the first three to six months. After that, your optimized pages and content will start generating passive returns, in the form of traffic and possible conversions as well.
Can you use paid advertising and SEO together?
Absolutely. As a matter of fact, using them together is the best way of maximizing the amount of traffic you can get to your website. Paid advertising works quickly and generates relevant traffic as long as you are paying. SEO, on the other hand, generates traffic much slower, but the effects typically last longer in every case.
