What Is SEO: How to Get Started with Search Engine Optimisation

If you're new to SEO and you're not sure how it works, this article is for you.

If done right, SEO can be the key to business success. An effective SEO strategy can lead to fantastic organic search results.

With the right SEO tools, your business can stand out from other websites in the same industry. High Google rankings will keep potential customers coming to your site.

But what is SEO? How to get started if you don't know the first thing about online marketing?

This article offers simple yet effective steps that can increase your search rankings. You'll learn to increase your online visibility and incoming search traffic.

Without further ado, let's see how to get started with SEO.

📌 Getting Started with SEO

SEO stands for search engine optimisation. It's a set of tactics and techniques that aim to improve your search results.

Think of SEO as a map of the internet. It's the link between your site and users searching for keywords related to your business.

People use Google Search or other search engines to find what they need. SEO helps make your website more visible to those users. Search engines understand the signals you send with your SEO efforts. As a result, search engines send more traffic to your site.

That's why understanding the importance of SEO is so crucial.

Now that you understand why you should care about SEO, let's talk about getting started.

You might think that SEO is too complicated for beginners. But it revolves around the following five steps:

1. Keyword research
2. Content creation
3. Link building
4. Technical SEO
5. Analytics and measuring results

Each of these aspects of SEO is equally important for your website. One can't work without the other.

The good news is that you don't have to be an expert to start with SEO. You don't have to set aside a huge budget either. SEO represents a cost-effective strategy that can pay off in the long run.

💡 Understanding How SEO Works

We can't talk about SEO without explaining how search engine algorithms work.

SEO is a process of increasing your website's organic traffic. To do so, you need to improve your search engine results.

Search engines work by crawling, indexing, and ranking web pages. When we say that Google "crawls" the web, this is what Google actually does:

1. Explores new and old websites
2. Follows links from one web page to another
3. Collects information from a site's pages
4. Organises that information into Google's index
5. Ranks web pages in search results

So, Google's crawlers gather information from websites. They help Google understand what's on each page. When you search for something, Google can quickly answer your search queries.

With the right SEO tools, you can make your site search engine-friendly.

Now that you understand how search engines work, let's move on to getting started with SEO.

🔎 Doing Keyword Research

Keywords are like the secret sauce of SEO. They hold the power to attract your target audience. Not only that, but they can boost your visibility in search engine results.

Keywords are specific words or phrases people enter into search engines.

For example, if you're looking for a hairdresser, you might type "hairdressers near me" on Google. Google will then give you a list of results that match the target keyword.

To get started with SEO, it's important to conduct keyword research. This step will show you the most relevant and valuable keywords for your business.

Here are some helpful keyword research tips:

• Understand your audience and what they need.
• Look for keywords that a have high search volume but low competition.
• Use a keyword research tool.
• Use long-tail keywords for higher conversion rates.
• Analyse your competitors to see which keywords they're targeting.
• Regularly track keyword rankings.

A good keyword tool can help you with many of these steps. Various keyword tools can give you insights into keyword volume and keyword rankings.

The trick is to focus on relevance rather than volume. Avoid black hat SEO techniques, such as keyword stuffing. It can lead to lower rankings and Google penalties.

📝 Implementing Keywords into Website Content

Keyword research helps identify the most relevant keywords related to your industry.

It will reveal a list of target keywords that you can then incorporate into your site's content. This increases your chances of appearing higher in search engine rankings.

You can add keywords to the following parts of your site:

• Blog posts
• Meta descriptions
• Title tags
• Anchor text
• Landing pages
• Headings
• Image ALT text
• Page URL
• Inbound links

The ideal place for long-tail keywords can be a blog post. As long as you add your keywords naturally, it won't compromise the flow of the blog post.

Even though long-tail keywords have a lower search volume, they are easier to rank.

Remember to place the focus keyword into the introduction, conclusion, and body.

Aim for a keyword density that feels natural. It should be around 1% to 2% of the total word count.

Placing keywords in the meta description and title tag is another good practice. These two are some of the most important on-page SEO ranking factors.

Don't forget to add keywords to the image ALT text. This helps search engines understand the content of images.

✏️ Creating SEO-Friendly Content

Keywords don't matter if your content isn't worth reading.

Content is a vital ranking factor for Google and other search engines. It's also an important on-page SEO element.

Content is important for SEO for the following reasons:

1. Increased organic search results
2. More room for keywords
3. Improved engagement metrics
4. Opportunities for high-quality links
5. More search traffic
6. Better user experience

Your content needs to be engaging and relevant. Even more so, it needs to answer the readers' search intent. You can achieve this by addressing their needs and questions.

Avoid using duplicate content on multiple pages. Doing this can harm your SEO efforts. Instead, write fresh and relevant content for all your web pages.

Content doesn't only apply to blog posts. It also includes headings, subheadings, meta descriptions, and title tags. All these elements should be compelling and informative.

Your content should also be readable. Add lots of on-page elements, like bullet points, lists, images, and infographics. Also, make sure to use short paragraphs instead of large chunks of text.

You should also add internal and external links, but we'll get to that later.

🔧 Improving Website Structure

Let's talk about technical SEO for a second.

Unlike on-page and off-page SEO, technical SEO is everything that happens "behind the scenes."

One of the most important aspects of technical SEO is site structure. It's tied to user experience, which is an important search engine ranking factor.

Here are a few different ways you can improve site structure:

• Organise your content into logical categories or topics.
• Make sure your navigation menu is clear and intuitive.
• Use breadcrumb navigation.
• Include a search bar for easier navigation.
• Make your site mobile-friendly.
• Review and update your website's structure.

Start by organising your content. This will help users understand the hierarchy of information on your site. They will be able to locate what they're looking for in no time.

Another way to improve website structure is by implementing breadcrumb navigation.

Breadcrumbs provide a trail of links at the top of each page. They show users their current location within your website's hierarchy.

This feature doesn't only help visitors orient themselves. It also improves search engine optimisation by providing more internal linking opportunities.

A search bar will help visitors find what they're looking for. This reduces frustration and increases the time spent on site.

🔗 Internal, External, and Inbound Links

There are three types of links every website should have:

1. Internal links
2. External links
3. Backlinks

Internal links are hyperlinks that connect one page to another page on the same site.

As mentioned before, you should include relevant internal links within your content. Doing this can improve the structure and navigation of your website. Not to mention that internal linking increases search results and organic traffic.

External links lead from your own site to other websites. These links can provide extra context, resources, and references for your content. They can also help search engines understand your content better.

Backlinks or inbound links are a part of off-page SEO. They're links from other websites that point to your website.

Link building is crucial for SEO. Search engines often see backlinks as indicators of authority and credibility. High-quality, relevant backlinks can boost your search rankings.

A good SEO strategy requires a combination of all three types of links.

 📲 Making Your Website Mobile-Friendly

More and more people are browsing the net on their mobile devices.

Your website must be mobile-friendly for a seamless user experience. It's important to optimise your site so that it functions well on all devices.

Mobile users have different needs compared to desktop users. You can lose potential customers if you skip this step.

Here's how you can optimise your site for mobile phones:

• Use a responsive web design.
• Make all your fonts legible.
• The buttons should be easy to tap.
• Optimise page loading speed.

Your web design should automatically adjust the layout based on the screen size. Being able to adapt to different screen sizes provides an optimal browsing experience.

Mobile users expect fast loading times, so optimise your images. You can also minimise HTTP requests to improve performance.

Also, consider implementing lazy loading techniques. They allow images to only load when a user scrolls down the page.

Optimising your site for mobile phones doesn't only improve user experience. This SEO strategy can also increase search traffic and SEO rankings.

⏳ Monitoring Website Speed

Website speed is crucial for Google and other search engines.

It has a direct impact on user experience and search engine rankings. Slow-loading websites frustrate users and lead to higher bounce rates.

Monitoring site speed allows you to find issues that may be slowing down your site. You can then take appropriate measures to optimise its performance.

There are many tools you can use to track site speed.

Google PageSpeed Insights is a popular choice. It provides detailed reports on various aspects of your site’s performance. It also gives you suggestions for improvement.

You can also use tools like GTmetrix and Pingdom. They allow you to test your loading time from different locations. These insights show how your site performs for users across different regions.

This can be especially important for local SEO.

A fast-loading site leads to more organic traffic and higher rankings.

📊 Analytics and Tracking Results

Creating an SEO strategy is only the first step. You also have to keep track of your SEO efforts for long-term results.

You can use the following tools for analysing your SEO performance:

1. Google Analytics
2. Google Search Console
3. Keyword tracking tools
4. Backlink analysis tools
5. Website auditing tools
6. Competitor analysis

Google Analytics tracks important site metrics. These include website traffic, user behaviour, traffic sources, and conversion rates. This free tool shows you how users interact with your site.

Google Search Console is another free tool. It shows how Google's search engine interacts with your site. It measures:

• Search performance
• Click-through rates
• Impressions
• Index status
• Crawl errors

You can also use Google Search Console to check for mobile usability issues.

When it comes to keyword tracking, you can use many useful tools. For example, SEMrush, Ahrefs, Moz, and Serpstat. These tools tell you how your keywords are performing on search engines.

🎓 Keeping up with SEO Trends

Staying up-to-date with SEO best practices is also important. It allows you to always stay ahead of the competition. It also gives you the power to boost your search engine results.

Search algorithms are always evolving. That's why it's crucial to stay informed about the latest trends and strategies.

Keeping up with SEO trends allows you to understand what search engines look for. As a result, you will be able to optimise your site accordingly.

One way to stay updated is by following reliable SEO blogs. You can also follow industry experts who share insights and updates.

These sources will provide you with valuable information on algorithm changes. You'll also learn about new ranking factors and effective optimisation techniques.

These events can give you a deeper understanding of current trends in the industry. Attending webinars or conferences focused on SEO is also recommended.

Adapting your strategies based on the latest best practices will definitely pay off. You can improve your website's performance in search results and attract more search traffic.

🎉 Start Your SEO Journey Now

Getting started with SEO might sound daunting at first. But, as you can see, the process consists of simple steps. Just remember that SEO needs time and effort to work. 

SEO is necessary for improving your site's rankings on Google search results.

If you need help with search engine optimisation, RankRise is here for you.

We're a digital marketing agency specialising in SEO. If you don't know the first thing about SEO, let us help you. All you need to do is get in touch, and we'll do the rest.