Published on July 6th, 2019 | by Bibhuranjan

5 SEO Tips for Beginners

Search engine optimization is a process of improving your position in the organic search results in search engines. Simply put, it is all about running the right website for the right people. But practicing SEO can be intimidating sometimes. The information overload and too many tactics can be overwhelming when you’re just starting with SEO and it can discourage you from practicing.

SEO is a fast-paced dynamic field. And it can be frustrating to cope-up with the latest trends and learn continuously. So, here are the key SEO trends for you in 2019 and what they mean to someone who’s just getting started with search engine optimization –

1. Keywords are the basic foundation of successful SEO

When your potential customers use a search engine what do they search for? For most businesses, it will be a combination of what you do and how you do it. Fortunately, there are some tools and strategies that can be used to get a good selection of keywords together.

Brainstorm potential keywords! Simply write down everything that is relevant. What you do, what services you offer, etc. And you can form a basic list of keywords.
Use keyword research tools like ubersuggest and keywordtool.io that can help you identify new keywords.
Search for your keywords and look for the suggestions in the search bar and at the bottom of the page. Add any relevant variations to your list and search them again.

What you really want to achieve with these practices is a group of keywords that have the same basic meaning and intent behind them. For instance, if we consider this article on SEO tips for beginners, we could group the following keywords:

SEO tips for beginners

Beginners SEO tips

SEO basics 2019

Beginners search engine optimization tips

Search engine optimization tips for beginners

How to do SEO

SEO basics

Now, any given piece of content can be optimized for these terms and the article would rank for the widest range of possible terms.

Tip – Identify and prioritize the keywords that your potential customers use when they are looking for the products and services you offer.

2. Spy On Your Competitors

As an SEO expert, it is mandatory to understand the value of keeping up with your competitors. And this “spying” requires more than just reading their blogs and following them on social media.

The first step you can take here is investing in the right competitive analysis tool. For instance, the feature Domain vs. Domain in SEMrush makes it easier to compare your domain against your competitor’s. All you need to do is select the keyword type you want to research, like organic keywords, and you can see a side by side comparison of these sites by keyword, position on SERPs, and more.

By gathering all this information and knowing how you stack up against the competition, you can drive your inbound marketing and content strategy to get ahead of your competition.

3. Write for humans, optimize for search engines

A successful SEO practice does not ignore the “human” element while optimizing their site. It is not just about picking the good keywords and improve website rankings, the goal is to pick the right keywords that your audience finds relevant and engaging. The content you put up on your website should be interesting and relevant so that they want to read more about it. Once you understanding what kins of content is working for your audience, it is time to focus on optimization to reach higher in the SERPs.

There is no use adding keywords in your content simply to appeal search engines because Google has become way too sophisticated to fall for these techniques.

On the contrary, the quality and relevance of your content can help you increase your search traffic. Find the right balance between quality content and search optimization for the best results.

4. Build Relevant Links

Link building can help and hurt your search engine visibility. Yet, SEO practices include building the right kind of links that point to your website.

Links help Google crawlers find your website and give your site greater visibility in the search results. When returning the search results, Google uses text-matching techniques and displays pages that are both important and relevant to the search. Google interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote by page A for page B. Votes cast by pages that are themselves ‘important’ are heavier and these votes make other pages ‘important’.

So, votes help show that you are important and relevant and help drive greater visibility in Google search results as backed up by case study by this SEO agency.

There are, a few strategies you can use to obtain safe backlinks and improve your visibility in search results –

Highly Credible Directory Sites
Competitor Link Analysis
Offer to write testimonials for companies you work with

5. Analyze your existing search traffic

If you’re not sure how to get started with SEO and what to test then just start by having a closer look at your current search traffic. See what are the best-performing pages? Which keywords are most used by your audience to access the content? Analyze your top 10 posts and what they have in common – Is it the quality? The length? The keywords? Find the posts that are evergreen for you and think of new ways to update them.

A close look at your search traffic and current SEO performance can even help you update your content calendar with topics that your audience would appreciate and engage in.

So there you have it. SEO isn’t intimidating if you know how to work with it. Implement these basic SEO tips and you will see an improvement in your rankings and traffic.

Tags: Beginners SEO tips, link building, SEO

About the Author

Bibhuranjan Editorial Officer, technofaq.org I'm an avid tech enthusiast at heart. I like to mug up on new and exciting developments on science and tech and have a deep love for PC gaming. Other hobbies include writing blog posts, music and DIY projects.