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SEO for beginners in 5 Easy Steps

What is SEO
Image by chetan kotadiya from Pixabay

I am going to talk to you about SEO.

SEO full form Search Engine Optimization 

It is one of the Important Components in Digital Marketing

If you want to learn and understand the basics of SEO Without spending hours, then this article is for you. 

Reading time: 5-6 minutes.

I have decoded SEO for Beginners. All your basic questions about SEO are answered in this article to get started.

After reading this

You will be able to answer
  1. Why SEO?
  2. What is SEO? How it Works
  3. How Search Engine Works (Google)
  4. Google Ranking Factors 
  5. Importance of Keyword Research 

This article is not a complete guide on SEO. I have explained in a simple way for beginners like you.

I have highlighted the benefits of SEO wherever possible. It will help you digest the concepts faster.

SEO is a big subject. I’m Planing to write a detailed article in the future. 

Subscribe to my Blog. You will get a mail notification when I publish the same.

Let us jump in. 

I will be using the term Blog and Website throughout this post. Both the terms mean the same.


Why SEO 

The simple answer is

 To rank a website on top of the Search Engine Results Page [SERP]

It is also called Organic Search Results. In other words, it is a non Paid traffic to your website.

It is the natural way of ranking your website in SERP. Remember SERP full form?

Yes? No? Okay, One more time it is ‘Search Engine Results Page’

 SEO is something that you can control. Yes, you have absolute control over the elements and content of your website. Right?

Because you own and mange your website.

Hence SEO is an easy and cost-effective way to drive users to your website. 

With high-quality and relevant content, your site will get high visibility in Google and other Search Engines.  

SEO Benefits:

  • The majority of Traffic is via Search Engine (Google) 
  • Drives free Traffic to your Blog
  • Builds Trust and Credibility with your visitors
  • High Visibility for your Brand
  • Cost-Effective Method

SEO plays a vital role in your Content Marketing Strategy.


What is SEO? How it works

If you want to understand What SEO is. 

You may check SEO Definition Here. Ctrl+F ‘NeilPatel’ to find it quickly!

Okay.

First, you need to know and understand How Search Engine Work.

When I say Search Engine, I am talking about Google. You may think why only Google. Why not Yahoo or Bing.

Let me share a few facts about Search Engine Market Share.

Google is the market leader in this segment. Google dominates the Search Engine Space with around 90 percent of the market share. Other players like Bing, Yahoo, Baidu, and Yandex have 6%, 2.5%, and less than 1% share.

Source: Statista. As of October 2020. 

In this article, I am going to focus only on Google.


How Search Engine Works
Image by Tumisu from Pixabay

How Google Search Engine Works

There are three parties involved in a Search Ecosystem. 

  1. The User (The Searcher)
  2. The Search Engine (Google)
  3. The Website

Google returns the best and relevant results on SERP for its users based on 

  • Search Query (Keywords) (User Intent)
  • Crawling 
  • Indexing

Crawling is a process where Google bots scan your entire website content and store it in Search Index. Google uses a computer program called Spider for crawling.

Indexing is like the library of all the webpages on the internet. Google has hundreds of billions of web pages in its Search Index. 

Based on a search query, Google algorithms sort through billions of pages in its Search Index to find relevant webpages for its users. 

If you want to learn more, Check this link to know more about: How Google Search Algorithms Work.

So now you know How Google Search Works. And it is the popular and has biggest market share.

You have a basic idea of how Google does it.

The next step is to optimize your website content and elements. 

Here comes the SEO!

SEO is nothing but making things easy for Google to Crawl and Index your Blog. That is SEO!

But there is more to it. 

How Google Ranking Works

Google considers around 200 ranking factors. Following are some of the known factors that Google uses for Ranking.

Major Factors are
  • Relevancy of the Content
  • User Experience
  • The freshness of the content.
  • Page Loading Speed 
  • Average time spent by users on a website
  • Bounce Rate – Users leaving your webpage without viewing any other pages or content on your website. 
  • Location
  • Language
  • Mobile Frist Indexing (March 2021)

The Weightage for these factors varies depending upon the search query.

 Google Mobile-First Indexing of all the sites in Search time frame extended to March 2021. It means Google bots will only get information from Mobile Content from March 2021 on wards. 

Learn more about Mobile First


Types of SEO 

There are two types On-Page and Off-Page.

On-Page SEO is a process of Optimizing content and elements in your Blog itself.

  • Title Tag – 50-60 characters that summaries the nature of the content
  • Meta Description – A Tag in HTML. 160 characters snippet used to summarize a page’s content.
  • Header Tag (H1, H2, H3)
  • Keyword Usage
  • Internal Links – Click here for internal link example. It is my ‘About Page’
  • Site Maps

Off-Page SEO is a process of linking from one website page to another website. Also, Known as inbound links or Backlinks, or incoming links.

Off-Page initiatives improve your domain authority, credibility, and page ranking. More relevant backlinks better it is for Organic Ranking.

These backlinks signal Google that your content is of High quality and relevancy.

Google considers backlinks as ‘votes’ for the page that it links. Know more about Backlinks Strategy here.


keyword research
Image by KERBSTONE from Pixabay

Keyword Research

Keyword research is the first step of SEO. It is the foundation of SEO.

Always do keyword research before creating any content for your Blog. 

Why it's important? 

Simple. People use keywords to search for information on Google. 

A well-researched keyword website will always get more Traffic. 

Ignore this step. You will get fewer visitors to your Blog. 

And it will lead to poor SEO optimization.

There are two types of keyword research. 

Short-Tail & Long-Tail Keywords

For example, let say you want to know, What is SEO?

You will type ‘SEO’ in the Google Search Bar. 

That is a Short Tail keyword. ‘SEO’ is your Search Query here.

Short Tail examples: SEO, SEO Definition & SEO Full Form. 

Usually, less than three words. Short tails are Very Generic.

If you go ahead and type ‘How to Optimize your Website for SEO’

That is a Long Tail Keywords. Generally more than three words and very specific.

Long-Tail Examples
  • What is SEO and how it works
  • How SEO works in digital marketing

If you have observed, I have used Keywords throughout this article. 

Just scroll this article and check the URL, the title, Headers (sub-headings) Go and Google ‘SEO’

You will find these keywords in

‘People also ask’ & ‘Searches related to SEO’ at the end of Search Engine Results Page of the Google

I have done my keyword research before writing this article. 

I know people are using these keywords as a ‘search query’ in Google. 

So keyword research is a crucial step in SEO. 

Keyword tools

As a beginner use Google itself. See how it works.

I mean just go and type a keyword. See what Google suggests as you type a keyword.

search predictions

Try different keyword combinations.

Once you hit the Search button scroll down to see “Searches related to” section at the bottom of the SERP.

These related terms are automatically generated by Google algorithm based on your search.

Check the screenshot below.

SEO full form

Now you understand why you see those Keywords through out this article.

Good.

If you like to explore keyword tools. Try.

Google Keyword Planner – It is free but you need to Sing up for Google Ads account first to access it. All the Google products can be accessed through your existing Gmail.

Ubersuggest – Free version will give you three daily searches.


Conclusion

That is Search Engine Optimization for you. And that’s how SEO works.

I would like to tell you SEO is a long term strategy in Digital Marketing. 

So having understood Why, What, How SEO and Google Rank webpages.

And finally how to do basic keyword research.

Go put this into practice. 

No matter whether it is your free WordPress blog or a business website. Just optimize your website for Google.

Yes, Google loves it.

Because Google’s goal is to provide best user experience and relevant information.

That is why we use Google everyday. Can you image a world without Google!

Even a Non-profit website need SEO and must understand the basic concepts of Marketing to have visibility in this Internet era.

Don’t forget to do ‘Keyword Research’

Go and do both On-page and Off-Page optimization.

It is free and this is something you can control. Why not capitalize SEO to drive free traffic.

However, it will take time for your website to get desired results. 

Even if you do all SEO optimization. It will take six months at least or even one year.

So don’t lose your enthusiasm.

Everything takes time!

But the good news is. If you SEO optimize your website.

Its impact will last for a long time

You will continue to enjoy Organic Traffic. In other words, Free high Quality and Quantity visitors to your website. 

Tell me what you liked about this article. Leave your feedback in the comment section.

I hope it was useful to you.

Now you can help others answer those five questions by Sharing it.

Thank You.