How to Learn SEO (Complete Roadmap)

Learning SEO tin look overwhelming. It’s a analyzable topic, and the manufacture is rife with misinformation. But with a spot of time, effort, and the close roadmap, it’s thing that anyone can learn.

Here’s the roadmap we’ll screen successful this guide:

Let’s get to it.

1. Learn SEO fundamentals
2. Put your cognition into practice
3. Deepen your SEO knowledge
4. Keep your digit connected the pulse 
5. Teach others what you know

If you’re not already acquainted with the basics of SEO, this is wherever you should start. Specifically, you request to recognize however hunt engines enactment and the 4 main facets of SEO. Let’s spell done these real quick.

How hunt engines work

Search engines enactment by uncovering contented and storing it successful a large index. They past usage analyzable processes, besides known arsenic hunt algorithms, to fertile contented from the scale erstwhile a idiosyncratic performs a search. In different words, erstwhile you hunt for thing connected Google, you’re not searching the full web—you’re searching Google’s index.

This means that if Google can’t find and scale your content, you can’t fertile due to the fact that you won’t beryllium indexed.

Google builds its scale from 2 main sources:

1. Sitemaps – A sitemap is simply a record listing each the important pages connected your website that you privation hunt engines to index. You tin submit your sitemap to Google to archer it that your pages exist.
2. Links from known webpages – Google already has billions of pages successful its index. If you get a nexus from 1 of those pages, Google tin “follow” the nexus to observe your page.

Note that Google tin observe caller pages connected your website by “following” links from known pages connected your website too.

For example, if Google already has your blog homepage successful its index, you tin nexus internally to recently published blog posts from there. Google would beryllium capable to “follow” these links to observe recently published posts connected your blog.

Learn more: How Do Search Engines Work and Why Should You Care?

Keyword research

Keyword probe is the process of uncovering what your customers are searching for. It’s important due to the fact that you won’t get discovered if radical aren’t searching for the keywords you target.

Because Google doesn’t precisely marque this accusation accessible, the champion mode to find keywords is with a keyword probe instrumentality similar Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer. To usage it, participate 1 oregon a fewer wide topics related to your industry, deed search, past spell to 1 of the keyword ideas reports. You’ll spot the keywords’ monthly hunt volumes and a fewer different SEO metrics.

In Keywords Explorer, we besides amusement the “Traffic Potential” metric for each keyword. This estimates however overmuch postulation the existent top-ranking leafage for the keyword gets, which is usually a bully indicator of however overmuch postulation you tin get by ranking #1.

As pages thin to fertile for much than 1 keyword, “Traffic Potential” usually gives a much close estimation of a keyword’s imaginable than its hunt volume.

Learn more: How to Do Keyword Research for SEO

On-page SEO

On-page SEO is wherever you optimize the contented connected your leafage to fertile higher connected hunt engines. It revolves heavy astir knowing what searchers privation and giving it to them—a process known arsenic optimizing for search intent.

For example, if we look astatine the apical results for the keyword “best macromolecule powder,” we spot that they’re each blog posts comparing top picks:

This tells america that though searchers are successful the marketplace for a macromolecule powder, they’re inactive weighing up their options and aren’t rather acceptable to buy. As a result, it would beryllium pugnacious to fertile an e‑commerce merchandise leafage for this query. That’s not what searchers want.

Learn more: On-Page SEO: Complete Beginner’s Guide

Link building

Link gathering is the process of acquiring backlinks from different websites to your site. It’s important due to the fact that backlinks are 1 of Google’s apical 3 ranking factors.

This is astir apt wherefore there’s a wide correlation betwixt linking websites and integrated traffic:

Not each links are created equal, however. Links from applicable and high-quality websites usually determination the needle much than links from irrelevant and low-quality websites. In different words, if your tract is astir Bitcoin, a nexus from a website astir cryptocurrencies volition apt positively interaction rankings much than 1 from a website astir travel.

Building high-quality links to your website is arguably 1 of the astir challenging aspects of SEO and 1 of the astir in-demand SEO skills.

Learn more: The Beginner’s Guide to Link Building

Technical SEO

Technical SEO ensures that hunt engines similar Google tin find, crawl, and scale your content. Unless they tin bash each 3 of these things, it’s improbable that your pages volition amusement up successful the hunt results.

Let’s instrumentality a look astatine these 3 things successful much detail.

1. Find – Google archetypal needs to cognize that your leafage exists and wherever to find it.
2. Crawl – Google present needs support to crawl the page. That’s wherever a machine programme downloads the page’s content.
3. Index – Google present needs support to adhd your leafage to its index.

You tin lick the archetypal portion of the process by ensuring that your leafage has links from different known pages connected your website and is successful a sitemap that you’ve submitted to Google.

As for crawling and indexing, you request to guarantee that you’re not blocking Google from doing either of these things. This is done utilizing a record called robots.txt (crawling) and a meta tag called meta robots (indexing).

Learn more: The Beginner’s Guide to Technical SEO

Here’s an apt quote:

For example, erstwhile I was getting started successful SEO, I created a bodybuilding website, arsenic I was funny successful the taxable astatine the time. First, I made definite my method SEO was connected constituent and that Google could find, crawl, and scale immoderate contented I published. I past did immoderate keyword probe to find topics to cover. After that, I began publishing optimized content.

Here’s the archetypal station I published successful August 2012:

Finally, I built some links.

Here’s 1 of the links I built with a guest post (it’s inactive unrecorded today… 10 years later!):

This website ended up doing rather well, which validated that the SEO mentation I’d learned made sense. However, I made immoderate mistakes too. For example, I distinctly callback the rankings for a leafage tanking aft randomly deciding to rewrite the copy. This taught maine a invaluable acquisition that I didn’t larn elsewhere: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! 

It’s intolerable to larn perfectly everything astir each facet of SEO. The taxable is conscionable excessively broad. So present that you’ve spent immoderate clip successful the trenches and learned which aspects of SEO you enjoy, it’s clip to niche down and deepen your cognition successful one area.

This is known arsenic becoming a t‑shaped SEO.

Being a t‑shaped SEO means that you person a wide cognition of each things SEO but excel successful 1 peculiar area. The country you take to specialize successful should beryllium 1 that you’re champion astatine and most enjoy.

For me, this is nexus building—which is wherefore I’ve written much of our contented astir this topic.

Here are a fewer much examples of t‑shaped SEOs:

• Patrick Stox: Technical SEO
• Nick Eubanks: Keyword research
• Jon Cooper: Link building
• Marie Haynes: Google punishment recovery

Notice however Marie Haynes’ specialty is hyperspecific? Instead of choosing 1 wide facet of SEO (e.g., keyword probe oregon nexus building), she decided to specialize successful the niche country of Google punishment recovery. As a result, there’s astir apt nary SEO connected the satellite that knows much astir this taxable than Marie.

Going hyperspecific similar this is simply a bully thought if you’re learning SEO to go an in-demand SEO expert. But if you’re looking to fertile websites, it’s astir apt amended to support things somewhat broader and instrumentality with 1 of the 4 main facets of SEO.

Either way, you should ever trial what you larn connected your website. This is wherever existent learning happens.

Despite what galore radical say, the fundamentals of SEO hardly change. But tiny things are perpetually changing. There are Google updates aggregate times a year, changes to however hunt engines grip aspects of method SEO, astute folks coming up with caller tactics, etc.

With this successful mind, portion you shouldn’t walk each time each time speechmaking SEO news, it’s important to support your digit connected the pulse.

Here are a fewer ways to do that:

Attend SEO conferences and meetups

SEO is simply a large manufacture with large conferences. For example, BrightonSEO attracts much than 4,000 attendees. There are galore smaller meetups too, which you tin find connected meetup.com, specified arsenic this 1 successful my hometown. These are each places wherever like-minded radical doing SEO stock insights and tactics, truthful there’s a batch to larn from getting involved.

Learn more: 7 SEO Conferences (Online and Offline) to Attend

Listen to SEO podcasts

Podcasters often interrogation astute SEOs astir their successes, failures, and experiences, making podcasts a large mode to support your digit connected the pulse portion connected the go. For example, successful this occurrence of the Authority Hacker podcast, nexus gathering extraordinaire Bibi shares her originative attack to nexus outreach emails.

Learn more: 15 Podcasts to Boost Your SEO Game

Join SEO Facebook groups

Facebook has an progressive assemblage of SEOs who are ever consenting to reply questions and connection proposal should you request it. In fact, our Facebook group, Ahrefs Insider, has astir 17K members and is precise active.

Learn more: 4 Best Facebook Groups for SEOs (Most Voted For)

Join SEO Slack communities

If you’d similar not to beryllium distracted by Facebook, see joining an SEO Slack community. Some are free, whereas others complaint a monthly subscription. Traffic Think Tank (TTT) is simply a bully prime if you’re unfastened to paid communities.

Learn more: 11 Slack Communities for SEOs and Digital Marketers

Read SEO blogs

… Like the 1 you’re reading, wherever we often people unsocial ideas, processes, and studies. For example, erstwhile Google switched to relying little connected rubric tags to make SERP titles, we studied astir a cardinal pages and published the results for the community.

Learn more: 29 Awesome SEO Blogs to Follow (Graded and Ranked)

Watch SEO YouTube videos

… Like our YouTube channel, wherever we people akin contented to our blog.

Official sources

Google publishes authoritative algorithm updates and announcements connected the Search Console Blog and hosts play “office hours” hangouts connected its YouTube channel. You tin besides travel Google hunt representatives similar John Mueller and Gary Illyes connected Twitter.

Read SEO news

Search Engine Roundtable describes itself arsenic the pulse of hunt selling and publishes regular updates connected everything search. Search Engine Land and Search Engine Journal besides often people news.

Look backmost astatine the roadmap, and you’ll spot a proposal to stock what you larn with others.

This whitethorn look counterintuitive, fixed that you privation to larn more astir SEO, but I find that teaching others helps maine clasp and assimilate knowledge. I deliberation it’s due to the fact that it forces maine to articulate things, which often leads maine to reason that I don’t cognize arsenic overmuch arsenic I thought I knew.

While you tin bash this publically connected a blog oregon YouTube channel, you tin besides bash it semi-privately (in groups and communities) oregon privately (direct messages, face-to-face).

If you’re thick-skinned enough, doing it publically often provides an other enactment of defence against misinformation due to the fact that radical are usually benignant capable to telephone you retired erstwhile you get things wrong.

For example, here’s Bill Slawski pointing retired an inaccurate assertion successful 1 of my articles connected Twitter:

This leads maine to an important point…

Don’t effort to thatch others SEO unless 1 of these things is true:

• You’ve thoroughly researched and understood what you’re teaching.
• You’re teaching thing based connected idiosyncratic acquisition and investigating (and you’ve made that fact clear).

The past happening you privation to bash is lend much misinformation to an manufacture already rife with it.

Final thoughts

The celebrated psychologist, K. Anders Ericsson, theorized that learning a caller accomplishment takes 10,000 hours of practice. You’ll surely summation a bully knowing of SEO successful that time, but the information is that you ne'er halt learning. I’ve been progressive successful SEO for 11+ years, and I larn caller things each the time.

But remember, learning isn’t lone astir speechmaking and retaining information. It’s besides astir putting what you work into practice, investigating things for yourself, and uncovering ways to amended connected accepted contented over time.

Got questions? Ping maine on Twitter.