SEO Tutorial for Beginners: What to Prioritize (and What Not to)

What Is SEO?


Search motor optimization (SEO) is the signifier of optimizing your website to look higher successful hunt engines' integrated (unpaid) hunt results. To summation visibility among imaginable customers who mightiness sojourn your tract and adjacent marque a purchase.

Organic hunt results are earned listings that often look alongside paid listings—meaning advertisers paid for those spots.

SEO is beneficial due to the fact that it provides an ongoing watercourse of postulation astatine a overmuch little outgo than paid advertising. And erstwhile you commencement ranking highly successful integrated hunt results, you proceed to person postulation with minimal further costs.

Plus, SEO helps physique marque credibility and spot among consumers. Which tin yet pb to much income for your business.

But earlier you commencement your SEO tutorial, you request to recognize the basics of however hunt engines work.

How Do Search Engines Work?

Search engines similar Google usage web crawlers (also called spiders oregon bots) to observe and sojourn websites crossed the net by pursuing links from known websites.


Crawlers past analyse each page's contented to recognize what the leafage is about. And past (assuming determination are nary issues getting successful the way) catalog this accusation successful a monolithic database called an index.

When users bash a Google search, Google refers to the scale and runs the hunt query done its algorithm that includes ranking factors similar contented prime and mobile-friendliness. To find the astir applicable pages to display.

This full process tin beryllium visualized similar this:

Now that you cognize these fundamentals, you tin optimize your website to amended its visibility.

A 9-Step SEO Tutorial for Beginners

SEO tin look daunting for beginners, but we’re astir to spell implicit however to bash SEO for your website measurement by step. 

1. Find Relevant Keywords

Keywords (also called hunt terms) are words oregon phrases that radical benignant into hunt engines to find what they’re looking for.

They could beryllium looking for contented related to your industry. Or products oregon services that could lick their circumstantial problem(s).

Your occupation is to place these applicable keywords and optimize your website's contented astir them. So your website appears successful those hunt results—increasing your visibility and imaginable traffic.

To place applicable keywords, usage Semrush's Keyword Magic Tool. 

Let’s accidental you tally a wedding readying business.

You mightiness participate “wedding planning” into the tool. 

And it volition make a database of related keywords that radical are searching for. 

You apt spot galore keywords you privation your website to fertile for.

But instrumentality immoderate clip to measure the metrics for each. Like hunt measurement (“Volume”)—how galore times each keyword gets searched connected a monthly basis. To gauge the postulation potential. 

But support successful caput that keywords with precocious hunt volumes whitethorn besides person precocious competition. Which you tin measure utilizing the keyword trouble (“KD %) column. 

The higher the number, the harder it is to rank. So arsenic a beginner, you’re amended disconnected prioritizing low-competition keywords first. 

Before you make contented centered astir immoderate of these keywords, you request to recognize wherefore radical searched for them. We’ll spell implicit that next.

2. Understand Search Intent


When radical benignant keywords into hunt engines, there’s an underlying search intent (goal) down those searches. Understanding that intent is captious due to the fact that hunt engines are improbable to amusement results that don’t conscionable what searchers privation to achieve. 

There are mostly 4 types of hunt intent:

• Informational: The idiosyncratic wants to find accusation astir a topic. Examples: "what is simply a destination wedding" and "wedding readying tips."
• Navigational: The idiosyncratic wants to spell to a circumstantial website oregon page. Example: "pinterest wedding ideas."
• Commercial: The idiosyncratic is researching earlier making a purchase. Example: "best wedding planners successful nyc."
• Transactional: The idiosyncratic is acceptable to marque a purchase. Examples: "hire wedding planner" and "book wedding venue."

You archetypal request to recognize the hunt intent of your keywords. And past representation those keywords to the close types of pages, truthful you tin make contented accordingly.

The aforesaid Keyword Magic Tool study we saw earlier tin archer you the hunt intent of each keyword.

For example, if a peculiar keyword has informational intent (denoted by “I”), it’s astir apt champion to people that word successful a blog station oregon different benignant of contented meant to supply education. Rather than successful sales-oriented pages—those enactment champion for commercialized and transactional keywords. 

Once your keywords are mapped to the close types of pages, the adjacent measurement is to make contented that satisfies the user’s needs.

3. Create Quality Content

Search engines privation to aboveground relevant, quality content for immoderate fixed query. So creating contented with prime successful caput is 1 of the astir important steps successful this SEO tutorial. 

Here are immoderate tips for creating prime content:

• Satisfy the hunt intent: Provide the worth to the user. This could beryllium successful the signifier of utile information, answers to their questions, oregon solutions to their problems.
• Work with experts: Collaborate with taxable substance experts to guarantee your contented is accurate, reliable, and valuable. This not lone enhances the prime of your contented but besides builds spot with your audience.
• Be unique: Try to connection a caller position oregon accusation that isn’t readily disposable elsewhere. This volition assistance your contented basal out
• Structure thoughtfully: Use due formatting similar headings, slug points, and images to marque the contented casual to scan and understand
• Add visuals: Include videos, graphics, and different ocular elements to heighten the content

The extremity is to make specified a affluent and invaluable contented acquisition that users person nary crushed to look elsewhere.

The adjacent conception covers further optimization factors to heighten your content. So don’t commencement penning until you’ve gone implicit those basics. 

4. Use On-Page Techniques

On-page SEO techniques are things you bash to your webpages to assistance them fertile higher and beryllium much adjuvant for users.

Your contented has a batch of opportunities for this benignant of optimization:

• Page titles: A webpage’s rubric is 1 of the main things hunt engines look astatine to recognize what the leafage is about. Include each page’s people keyword successful its rubric and usage descriptive connection for maximum impact.
• Title tags: A rubric tag is HTML codification that specifies a page’s rubric and tin look successful browser tabs and hunt results. It’s champion to see your people keyword successful your rubric tag, to person it lucifer (or astir match) your leafage title, and support it betwixt 50 and 60 characters long.
• Meta descriptions: A meta statement is HTML that provides a little leafage summary and tin look nether the rubric successful hunt results. While not nonstop ranking factors, meta descriptions tin power click-through rates. So, constitute an enticing meta statement that’s astir 105 characters for each page.
• Headers: Headers (H1, H2, etc.) assistance interruption up substance and supply operation to your content. Incorporate keywords erstwhile imaginable and marque definite to usage a logical hierarchy to assistance readers navigate the page.
• Body text: The nutrient of a page’s contented presents tons of opportunities to incorporated keywords. But usage your presumption sparingly and successful ways that adhd worth for the readers to debar keyword stuffing (overusing keywords successful an effort to manipulate hunt engines).
• URL slugs: These are the past segments of URLs that archer you what topics your pages cover. Each page’s URL slug should diagnostic its main keyword and beryllium casual to read.

Semrush's On Page SEO Checker tin assistance you recognize however good your on-page optimization efforts are working. And supply suggestions for improvement.

Set up a project for your website, and past spell to the “Optimization Ideas” section.

You’ll spot each the pages connected your website and the fig of suggested ideas for each page. 

Click connected the “# ideas” fastener adjacent to a leafage you privation to improve.

You’ll spot a elaborate breakdown of however good that leafage is optimized for antithetic categories. 

For example, the “Content” conception shows a batch of accusation astir however efficaciously you’ve utilized your people keyword.

Look beyond the greenish checkmarks to find betterment opportunities. And use the recommendations to assistance amended your contented for search. 

5. Provide a Great User Experience


Offering a large idiosyncratic acquisition means your website is casual to use, visually appealing, and fast. Which benefits some users and SEO.

To guarantee a bully experience, commencement with a cleanable and elemental plan that has ocular appeal, straightforward navigation, and legible fonts that are casual to read.

Then, optimize your leafage speed. Because fast-loading pages support users blessed and tin amended your SEO.

Here are immoderate tips to boost your leafage speed:

• Enable compression: Use record compression tools similar Unminify to trim the size of your CSS, HTML, and JavaScript files. This volition region unnecessary characters from a file, decreasing its size and improving load times for your pages.
• Optimize images: Ensure that images aren’t larger than they request to be, are successful the close record format (JPEG for photos and PNG for graphics), and are compressed for the web utilizing tools similar ShortPixel.
• Use a contented transportation web (CDN): Try a CDN, which distributes your website crossed aggregate servers astir the world. This lets users entree it from the closest server to velocity up entree to your website.

6. Create a Well-Organized Website Structure


Website structure is however pages wrong your website are organized. And a well-organized website operation is important for some visitors and hunt engines. 

Why?

Because it allows users to easy find the contented they’re funny in. And helps hunt engines amended find and recognize your pages.

Here's what a bully website operation looks like:

First, you person your homepage that links to your main class pages. These class pages past nexus to applicable subcategories oregon idiosyncratic pages (depending connected however ample and analyzable your tract is).

The extremity is to person a shallow architecture, truthful important pages aren’t excessively acold distant from the homepage.

This allows some users and hunt engines to entree the astir important contented rapidly and efficiently.

7. Address Technical Issues

Technical SEO is each astir addressing the method aspects of your tract that tin impact your show successful hunt results. And it’s captious due to the fact that adjacent high-quality, optimized contented is improbable to fertile if your tract has galore method issues. 

Some communal method problems include:

• Duplicate content: Pages with identical oregon astir identical contented confuses hunt engines astir which mentation to service successful hunt results. Which tin pb to little oregon adjacent nary rankings. 
• Redirect loops: Two oregon much pages that each redirect to 1 different signifier an infinite loop that tin frustrate users and forestall hunt engines from decently crawling your site
• Non-secure pages: Hypertext transportation protocol (HTTP) pages are little unafraid than hypertext transportation protocol unafraid (HTTPS) pages. Which is wherefore HTTPS is simply a lightweight ranking factor. 
• Broken links: Links directing to pages that nary longer beryllium oregon person been moved provides a atrocious idiosyncratic experience. And tin get successful the mode of crawling. 
• Robots.txt record mistakes: Problems with the directives successful your robots.txt record (which tells hunt engines which parts of your tract they should and shouldn’t crawl) tin forestall each your important pages from being discovered

To find method issues, usage the Site Audit tool.

Follow the Site Audit configuration guide to acceptable up a project.

Then, caput to the “Issues” report.

You’ll spot a database of items you should code to amended your site’s method health.

Click “Why and however to hole it” adjacent to immoderate contented to larn much astir it and however you tin code it.

Start with the errors (the astir terrible issues) first. Then, determination connected to warnings (issues of mean severity) and notices (non-critical things that are worthy resolving).

You whitethorn privation to enactment with a developer to assistance you instrumentality immoderate of these changes. 

8. Build Backlinks to Your Site

Backlinks are links from different websites that constituent to your site. They’re 1 of the astir important factors that hunt engines see erstwhile ranking websites.

Generally, the much links you have, the better. But quantity isn’t everything—quality and relevance matter, too.

This means you request links from reputable websites. Like media outlets, different fashionable websites successful your industry, and acquisition and authorities websites.

If you’re creating prime content, you should people pull links. But to get more, put successful immoderate link gathering tactics similar breached nexus building.

This is erstwhile you find a breached nexus connected different website, find contented connected your website that’s a bully substitute, and past inquire the tract proprietor to regenerate the breached nexus with a nexus to your contented instead.

This works due to the fact that some parties benefit. The website proprietor gets to hole a breached link. And you get a invaluable backlink. 

To find applicable breached nexus opportunities, usage Semrush’s Backlink Analytics tool. 

Open the tool, participate your competitor’s website, and click “Analyze.”

Then, spell to the “Indexed Pages” study and cheque the container adjacent to “Broken Pages.”

These pages don’t exist. But determination are tons of websites linking to them.

Click the fig successful the “Backlinks” file adjacent to a breached leafage to spot each the pages that nexus to it.

Study these pages to get a consciousness of what resources they were linking to. So you tin find comparable pages connected your website. 

Then, scope retired to the domains linking to the aged pages and inquire them to nexus to you instead. 

If you’re caller to outreach and request help, cheque retired our dedicated email outreach guide.

9. Track Your SEO Results

Tracking your SEO results is important to knowing however effectual your efforts are. So you tin marque indispensable adjustments.


Specifically, present are the 2 main metrics you should track:

Organic Traffic


Organic traffic refers to visitors who scope your website done unpaid hunt motor results. And it shows however good your efforts person paid off.

To rapidly get a consciousness of your integrated traffic, usage the Organic Research tool. 

Open the tool, participate your domain name, prime the country, and click “Search.”

You’ll spot a batch of accusation astir your website. Including however overmuch postulation it gets and however it’s progressed implicit time.

If you spot an increase, that means your SEO enactment has been successful. And you should proceed with your strategy.


Keyword Rankings


Another important metric to way is keyword rankings—which amusement wherever your website appears successful hunt results for your people keywords. 

This metric is intimately tied to integrated traffic. Because the higher your website ranks for your people keywords, the much postulation you’ll apt get.

To spot your keyword rankings, usage Semrush’s Position Tracking tool.

First, set up a project successful the tool.

Then, spell to the “Overview” tab and
scroll down to the “Rankings Overview” section. 

You’ll spot each your keywords and however precocious your website ranks for each.

If you spot rankings that are presumption 11 oregon higher, that means those keywords request much attention. So, analyse the corresponding pages to spot however you tin improve.

SEO Factors You Shouldn’t Worry About

While determination are galore aspects of SEO to consider, immoderate factors are often overemphasized oregon misunderstood.

Here’s a speedy overview of those elements:

Word Count

Word number refers to the fig of words successful a contented piece. And successful SEO, galore judge that higher connection counts pb to amended rankings.

But it isn’t a nonstop ranking factor. Plus, it volition alteration importantly based connected the taxable and absorption of your page.

What matters much is whether your contented satisfies the user's intent.

Meta Keywords


Meta keywords are HTML tags that let website owners to specify keywords for a peculiar page. But large hunt engines similar Google nary longer usage them for ranking purposes.

So, don’t interest astir meta keywords—they person nary interaction connected your SEO efforts.

Google Penalties


Google issues penalties (called manual actions) against websites that it believes person violated their guidelines.

You mostly don't request to interest astir these unless you're engaging successful manipulative tactics. 

If you travel ethical SEO practices similar creating prime content, utilizing keywords naturally, and gathering backlinks, you’re improbable to person penalties.

Keyword Density

Keyword density refers to however often a keyword appears connected a leafage successful narration to the full connection count.

While it’s important to see keywords successful your content, there’s nary magic keyword density percent that volition warrant higher rankings.

Instead of obsessing implicit hitting a peculiar number, absorption connected penning people and ensuring your contented is applicable and invaluable to your audience. 

Get Started with SEO

Use the tips shared successful this SEO selling tutorial to optimize your website for hunt engines.

You’ll apt get higher rankings and much traffic.

And bully news: Semrush offers a suite of SEO tools that tin assistance you get connected the way to success.

Sign up today.