Basic knowledge of SEO

Part 1: Basic SEO

What is SEO?

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of increasing a website's organic search traffic. That's where you do things that help you show up and rank higher in search engine organic results.

Why is SEO important?

People are probably searching for what you do, and you can attract customers by ranking for those terms. But you can hardly rank without effort because everyone else is trying to do the same thing. This is why SEO is important. It helps show Google that you deserve to rank first.

What are the benefits of SEO?

Most people click on one of the first few search results, so higher rankings usually get more traffic. Unlike other channels, search traffic tends to be consistent and passive. That's because search volume is usually fairly consistent month to month.

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Search traffic is also 'free'. That's a big problem because advertising can be expensive.

For example, we estimate about 1.4 million monthly visits from organic search. It would cost us about $1.7 million/month to get similar traffic from search ads.

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NOTE . No traffic source is truly free. Doing SEO takes a lot of time and effort.

How do you do SEO?

SEO includes 5 main steps:

1. Keyword research . Find what people search for.
2. Content creation . Create content for searchers.
3. On-page SEO . Make your content as clear as possible.
4. Link building . Build trust and authority from other websites.
5. Technical SEO . Helps search engines find, crawl, and index your content effectively.

These steps are the main focus of our SEO guide for beginners.

Part 2: Set up for SEO success

Doing SEO is much easier when your website is set up properly for SEO success. Let's look at some ways to do that.

Get a good domain

Most domains are SEO friendly, so don't worry if you already have one. But if you're still looking, keep in mind these two elements of a good domain.

Domain name

Something short and memorable is best here. Don't try to stuff keywords. A business name without hyphens or special characters is usually a good choice.

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Top-level domain (TLD)

This is the part after the name, like .com. Your choice of TLD makes no difference to SEO. But .com is the best domain for most people because it is the most recognizable and trustworthy domain. For charities, .org or your local equivalent also works.

It's best to stay away from TLDs like .info and .biz that people tend to associate with spam. But if your domain is among these, don't worry too much. You can still build a legitimate website that ranks well.

Use the website platform

The website platform allows you to create and manage websites with ease. There are two types:

1. The platform is hosted by . Everything has been done for you. They host the website, provide you with pre-made designs, allowing you to add and edit content without touching code.
2. Self-hosted platform . These also allow you to add and edit content without code. The difference is that you have to host and install them yourself.

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Most SEOs recommend using an open source, self-hosted platform like WordPress because:

1. It is customizable . You can edit open source code however you want. There is also a large community of developers who understand the platform well.
2. It is expandable . There are millions of plugins to extend its functionality, including many SEO plugins.

That said, if you value ease of use and support, a hosted solution may be a better fit. All the big ones offer enough SEO for most people.

Use a good web host

If you are using a hosted solution, you will need a web host. They store your website on a hard drive that anyone with an Internet connection can access. Consider these three things when choosing a web host:

1. Security . Make sure you get a free SSL/TLS certificate. Or at least support Let's Encrypt - a non-profit organization that provides free certificates.
2. Server location . It takes time for data to travel between the server and the visitor. So, it's best to choose a host with servers in the same country as most of your traffic.
3. Support . 24/7 support is ideal. Check how good their support is by asking the above before you sign up.

Create a positive user experience

Google wants to rank pages that give visitors a positive experience. Let's look at some ways to do this.

Use HTTPS

For visitors, there's nothing worse than having personal data vulnerable to hackers. Always encrypt your website with SSL/TLS.

Choose an attractive design

No one wants to visit a website that looks like it's from the 90s. So while there's no need to redesign your website every few months, it should still look good and reflect your brand.

Make sure it's mobile-friendly

Today, more searches are performed on mobile devices than on computers. So it's important that your website is as easy to use on mobile as it is on desktop.

Use a readable font size

People browse the web using all types of devices. Make sure your content is easily readable.

Avoid pop-ups and intrusive ads

Everyone hates ads, but sometimes you need them. If so, avoid intrusive interstitial ads. Pages with these may not rank as highly.

Make sure it loads quickly

Page speed is a ranking factor on desktop and mobile. But this doesn't mean your website needs to load lightning fast. It only affects pages that provide the slowest user experience.

Create a logical page structure

Visitors and search engines will easily find content on your website. That's why it's important to create a logical hierarchy for your content. You can do this by sketching a mind map.

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Each branch on the map will become an internal link, a link from one page on the website to another.

Internal linking is important for UX and SEO for a number of reasons:

1. They help search engines find new pages. Google cannot index pages it cannot find.
2. They help overcome PageRank on your website. PageRank is the foundation of Google search. It evaluates the quality of a page by analyzing the number and quality of links pointing to that page. It is still used by Google today.
3. They help search engines understand what your page is about. Google looks at the clickable words in the link to figure this out, also known as anchor text.

Use reasonable URL structure

URLs are important because they help searchers understand the content and context of the page. Many website platforms let you choose how your URLs are structured. These are the 5 main options for URLs in WordPress:

1. Simple: website.com/?p=123
2. Date and name: website.com/2021/03/04/seo-basics/
3. Month and name: website.com/03/04/seo-basics/
4. Number: website.com/865/
5. Post name: website.com/seo-basics/

If you're setting up a new website, use the clearest and most descriptive structure. That's the name of the article. If you're working with an existing site, changing the URL structure is rarely a good idea; it can break everything.

Install SEO plugins

Most website platforms handle basic SEO functionality out of the box. But if you are using WordPress, install an SEO plugin. It's difficult to apply basic SEO best practices without it. Both Yoast and Rank Math are good options.

Part 3: Submit website to Google

Setting up a website for SEO success will help Google crawl and index your pages. But submitting your site to Google can speed up the process even more. That's because this helps Google find your website even if it doesn't have backlinks.

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Find or create a sitemap

Sitemap lists important pages on your website that you want search engines to index. If you already have a sitemap, it may be located at one of the following URLs:

1. site.com/sitemap.xml
2. site.com/sitemap_index.xml

If you can't find it there, check site.com/robots.txt where the sitemap is usually listed.

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If you still can't find it then you probably don't have one and need to create an account.

Submit your sitemap

You do this through Google Search Console (GSC). It takes about two seconds.

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Part 4: How to track SEO success

Before diving into how to do SEO, you should take a minute to understand how to track and measure SEO performance. This is never easy and what the article will cover here is a very high level overview.

Organic traffic

Let's start with the obvious. If organic traffic is growing, you're doing something right. You can follow this for free on GSC. If you don't have access to GSC, sign up for a free Ahrefs Webmaster Tools (AWT) account. Then plug your domain name into Site Explorer for an estimate.

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Keyword rankings

If the rankings for your target keywords are increasing, 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 .

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Display

This metric in Ahrefs Rank Tracker shows the percentage of all clicks for tracked keywords on your site.

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For example, let's say you track a keyword and all the top positions in Google are occupied by pages on your site. Since your website gets all possible traffic from that keyword, your Visibility is 100%.

Now, let's say your website only occupies one position on Google, the rest is occupied by your competitors. Because some clicks go to other websites, your Visibility is less than 100%.

If your Visibility is increasing, this is another good sign that your SEO is on the right track.

summary

1. SEO is the process of increasing a website's organic search traffic.
2. You do this by ranking in organic search results.
3. SEO is important because it's hard to rank well without it.
4. High rankings get you free, passive, and consistent traffic every month.
5. SEO involves keyword research, content creation, on-page SEO, link building, and technical SEO.
6. Doing SEO is much easier when your website is set up properly for SEO success.
7. Google will usually find and index your site on its own, but sometimes you can speed up the process by submitting your sitemap.

Isabella Humphrey

Update 22 March 2024