The Ultimate SEO Start Up Guide
Do you own a website and are looking to improve your search engine rankings? If so, you have come to the right place! In this article, we will provide you with a 10-minute guide to SEO that will help get your website ranked higher in search engines. We will discuss some of the most important aspects of SEO that you need to be aware of and provide you with some tips on how to improve your website’s ranking.
From here, you may consider our Search Engine Optimisation Service or, if you want to do things yourself, look at out blog post on SEO Quick Wins.
Let’s get started!
What is SEO?
SEO is short for “Search Engine Optimisation”. This strategy aims to improve a website’s visibility and organic search results on Google and other global search engines over the long run.
SEO is the practice of optimising a website to increase its rank in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) for certain targeted keywords. The main aim of SEO is to drive more traffic to a site from the “free,” “organic,” or “natural” search results on search engines.
SEO strategies and tactics can be divided into two broad categories: on-page SEO and off-page SEO.
ON-Page SEO
An ON-Page SEO strategy optimizes an individual page for Google search to generate more traffic and improve its visibility. The focus of on-page SEO is on optimising the website’s title, meta tags, header tags, images, and other elements that are visible to Google when it crawls the site.
1. Heading Tags
The title of your blog post or page should be a Heading 1 to signal to Google that it is the most important text on the page. Heading 2-4 tags also break up your content into manageable sections for both readers and Google.
2. Image Optimization
Make sure to include keywords in your image file names and fill out the alternate text field with a brief, keyword rich description of the photo.
Googlebots can’t see images the way we do, so you have to tell them what they’re looking at.
Not only that, but the images need to be compressed so they load quickly.
By doing image optimization, you improve the chances of your images appearing in Google image search.
3. Meta Tags
The meta tag is a brief description of the blog post that appears in Google search results. The meta tag should be no more than 160 characters and should include your target keyword.
Your meta tags give Google vital information about your website, so it’s important to spend some time optimizing them.
4. Keywords
Keywords are the foundation of ON-Page SEO. Targeting the right keywords will help you attract the right kind of traffic to your website.
When choosing keywords, it’s important to strike a balance between high search volume and low competition.
You can use Google’s Keyword Planner tool to find keywords that are a good fit for your website.
5. Internal Links
Internal links are links from one page on your website to another page on your website.
Internal linking is important for two reasons:
a. It helps Google crawl your website more effectively.
b. It helps spread link equity (ranking power) around your website.
A good rule of thumb is to include internal links whenever it makes sense to do so.
For example, if you’re writing a blog post about ON-Page SEO, you could link to another post on your website about keyword research. Including internal links will help Google understand your website better and can also help improve your website’s SEO.
6. External Links
External links are links from your website to another website.
Linking to high-quality, relevant websites can help improve your website’s SEO.
When linking to external websites, it’s important to:
– Only link to websites that are relevant to your niche.
– Use keyword-rich anchor text (the text that appears when you hover over a link).
– Link to websites that are well-established and have a good reputation.
Linking to low-quality or spammy websites can hurt your website’s SEO, so it’s important to be selective about the websites you link to.
Off-Page SEO
This is the process of optimizing a website for Google search with the goal of earning higher web traffic levels and improving the visibility of the site. The focus of off-page SEO is on building backlinks, which are links from other websites to your website.
1. Backlinks
Backlinks are links from other websites to your website.
Backlinks are important for two reasons:
a. They help Google crawl your website more effectively.
b. They help spread link equity (ranking power) around your website.
To build backlinks, you can:
– Submit your website to directories
– Participate in forums and discussion boards
– Write guest posts on other blogs
– Submit articles to article directories
Submitting your website to directories, participating in forums, and writing guest posts are all great ways to build backlinks. However, it’s important to only link to high-quality websites that are relevant to your niche. Linking to low-quality or spammy websites can hurt your website’s SEO.
2. Social Media
Social media is a great way to promote your website and attract visitors. You can use social media to share your website with friends and followers, and you can also use it to create informative content that helps people learn more about your business.
When it comes to SEO, social media is a great way to build links back to your website. When you share your website on social media, you are creating opportunities for other people to link to your site. This can help improve your website’s search engine ranking and visibility.
3. Directory Submissions
Directory submissions are a great way to build links to your website. By submitting your website to directories, you are creating opportunities for other websites to link to your site. This can help improve your website’s search engine ranking and visibility.
Technical SEO
Using technical SEO, you can increase web traffic levels and improve visibility by optimizing your site for Google search results. Technical SEO focuses on optimizing a website’s code and structure to make it easier for Google to crawl and index your site.
There are many different aspects of technical SEO, but some of the most important are:
1. Site structure – The way your website is organized can impact the way Google crawls and indexes your site. Creating a well-organized website will help Google understand your site better and can improve your SEO.
2. Page speed – The speed of your website’s pages can impact your SEO. Google wants to provide its users with the best possible experience, and part of that is providing them with fast-loading pages.
3. Mobile optimization – Optimizing your website for mobile devices is essential in today’s world. More and more people are using their smartphones and tablets to access the internet, so it’s important to make sure your website is optimized for these devices.
What are the “3 C’s of SEO?”
The three Cs of SEO are:
Content – The content on your website must be well-written, informative, and keyword-rich.
Code – The code on your website must be clean and well-organized.
Credibility – The credibility of your website must be high. This means having a good reputation, links from high-quality websites, and positive reviews.
What are the 4 stages of SEO?
The four stages of SEO are:
1. Keyword research
2. On-page optimization
3. Off-page optimization
4. Monitoring and adjusting the strategy
By following a structured approach to SEO, you’re more likely to see results and gain the maximum benefits. At Open Door Marketing, we don’t just focus on one area of SEO like some agencies.
Think of it like the difference between an engine tune up and an engine rebuild. A tune up fixes the obvious things wrong with an engine but a rebuild gets into every nook an cranny to make the engine run at its peak.
It’s the same with our SEO programs. We basically pull the website apart and then put it back together so it ranks as well as it can.
Can I do SEO on my own?
Yes, you can do SEO on your own, we even have a guide for some SEO Quick Wins. However, it takes a lot of time and effort to do it correctly. If you’re not familiar with SEO, you may want to hire an experienced professional to help you.
What you have to remember is that SEO is not a “set and forget” process. You need to be able to commit to regularly reviewing your website and making changes that, eventually, get your page moving up the SERPs.
Conclusion
SEO is a complex and ever-changing field, but it’s important to understand the basics. By following the tips in this guide, you can improve your website’s SEO and visibility in Google search. If you don’t have the time to do it yourself, consider hiring an experienced SEO professional to help you.