Learn Search Engine Optimization in 6 Steps for Free - Learn SEO at Home

Would you like a versatile thanks to learning SEO for free?

Although search engine optimization (SEO) is not an easy topic, it is not difficult or expensive to get started. In fact, you can enter your URL here so you know which areas to focus on first based on your site's SEO.

Everyone starts somewhere before being considered a professional. You need easy-to-follow steps to get through Google, Yahoo, and Bing standards.

 

learn search engine optimization

1. Understand the Purpose of SEO

Businesses have different marketing goals, but they all share the desire to increase revenue, and that's the overall goal of SEO.

Optimizing your site with SEO allows you to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs), which leads to revenue-generating traffic.

Before it fully sinks in, you need to understand the inner workings of search engines.

Google and different leading search engines have "spiders" or "bots" that crawl the net to search out, index, and rank sites. When someone enters a search, search engines return a list of websites with relevant content.

Search engines need to find your site, so that should be their first order of business. You can ask Google to index your URL through their URL Inspection Tool and Bing through their Bing Webmaster Tools.

Now that we've defined SEO, let's continue!

 

2. Master Keyword Research

Research is required to select the words you want to rank for, also known as keywords. By choosing keywords that people search for frequently and that are relevant to your business, you can get your site in front of a larger audience.

There are two types of keywords: long-tail keywords that contain three or more words, and short-tail keywords that contain only one or two words. Long-tail keywords bring focus to your pages and generate more interest.

For example, if someone searches for "where to buy magazines," it's more accurate than "magazines," so you can better meet their expectations.

So how do you know the top searches for your industry?

Use keyword tools like Keywords Everywhere, Solve, and KeywordsFX when learning SEO. You can also take a look at the keywords your competitors are using for a little healthy SEO competition.

Keywords are central elements of SEO because you'll include them in your content, titles, meta descriptions, and URLs. Becoming familiar with keyword research is an important step in your SEO journey.

 

3. Apprehend the Distinction Between On-Page and Off-Page SEO

SEO happens in two places: on-page and off-page. What happens on the page is what you can directly change when learning SEO, while what happens off the page depends on other sites.

Not surprisingly, on-page SEO is an easy topic to cover and understand. It manages the different sections of your pages to please visitors and search engine bots.

On-page SEO includes formatting (such as H1 and H2 tags), keyword usage, navigation, URLs, meta descriptions, and image or alt text descriptions.

But it goes beyond this handful of factors, requiring a lot of careful work.

For off-page SEO, you need to rely on the opinions of others about your online content. Authoritative links to your site, mentions of your brand, and social media marketing all contribute to your off-page presence.

Checking the boxes on both fronts is crucial for successful SEO.

 

4. Learn to Identify UX Cues

Search engines aim to satisfy folks with the correct results, thus user expertise (UX) plays a vital role in SEO. Changes to your site should prioritize users, ensuring that the design, functionality, and content meet their expectations.

Algorithms like Google's RankBrain analyze user behavior to measure their satisfaction and preferences. Through machine learning, there is now a closer look at user pattern practices.

The percentage of searchers who click on a search engine result, or organic click-through rate (CTR), is one area of user experience that Google checks.

It helps to show the relevance and attractiveness of a result compared to others.

Another UX signal, dwell time, which is how long a page stays on before returning to the SERP, is also recognized by search engines and can affect your SEO performance.

Depending on the type of search query, lingering may indicate that they are interested in your results or may indicate that they are having trouble finding a clear answer. Keywords and content may indicate which answer is more correct.

These metrics reflect the state of your SEO as you make adjustments and try to improve. Focus on UX cues during your SEO education to boost your rankings.

 

5. Embrace SEO-Friendly Content Creation

The content you create for your site, including blogs, informative articles, press releases, and videos, is your primary way to attract search engine and search engines. Skillful content creation can increase traffic from Google if you follow SEO best practices.

Written content is easy for search engine crawlers because they are experts at filtering text. They're looking for a balance of keywords, rich information, and digestible design.

It is important to know that SEO-friendly content is consistent in length.

Longer posts, for example, are more likely to help searchers find their knowledge or products.

The content should address your chosen topic well, and Google looks for polished articles rather than sloppy, dirty posts.

Search engines also require fresh and original content and penalize results that are simply copied or duplicated from other sites. During the process of learning SEO, beware of these penalties.

 

6. Start Link Building

In Google's collection of over 200 ranking factors, links are one of the top three. Links to your pages from other websites tell search engines how trustworthy and useful your site is to users across the web.

However, search engines can be very strict when it comes to questionable link-building strategies.

White hat link building means you're getting praise from other industry authorities, trusted reviewers, and the public.

You can build a beneficial reputation by strengthening your network and increasing brand awareness.

Natural links can also come from guest blogs and request links from existing mentions.

Participating in social networks is an effective way to encourage people to read, share and talk about your site. This proactive approach often leads to link building when customers talk to others about your business.

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