SEO Basics: Beginner’s Guide to SEO: a 2024 version

SEO Basics? yes it's true this is the most detailed yet simple SEO guide based on Ahrefs, Semrush Backlinko and Search Engine Journal

To the amazing world of Search Engine Optimization (SEO), a warm welcome! Your choice to enter this field is similar to setting out on a digital trip, and I'm excited to be the first one to help you understand the complexities of search engine optimization.

It's not a small task to take those first steps in SEO; it's like starting on an internet adventure with the keys to achieving your online ability. Every click, every word (keyword), and link counts in this area, and my goal is to make sure you can easily learn and understand it.

How do you feel? It doesn't matter about resources. You can save time and data by letting me give you whatever you need for free. I'll include all the tools, videos, and PDFs I used for my very first SEO research.

I remember being a little confused at first, but also excited and curious about SEO. Entering a realm of technical terms and formulas was like solving a puzzle. But do not worry! As we go deeper into the basics, keep in mind that every SEO expert was once a beginner and that the process is just as worthwhile as the final product and feel free to consider your self an expert after consuming all these seo basics

Understanding the Basics of SEO

What is SEO?

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. In simpler terms, it's like giving your website a superpower—the power to be found easily on the vast landscape of the internet.

Why is SEO so important?

Think of SEO as the compass that points visitors or people searching on the internet to your website—the online treasure trove—as well as search engines like Google. Being seen and heard online is more important than simply having a website. People are probably looking for what you do; therefore, by showing up for those terms, you can draw in clients.

Connecting SEO with User Experience (UX)

Now let us talk about SEO and user experience.

The UX Factor: UX, or User Experience, is the vibe your website gives off. Think of it as you have hosted a party at home, making sure everyone at the party is having a good time. In SEO terms, Google loves a good party!

Google's Favorite Parties: Google pays attention when users have a positive experience viewing your website. Telling Google, "Hey, my site is not just here; it's the place to be!" is the equivalent of doing this. That's the secret to getting your website ranked higher on Google, my friend. Use our expert design services to improve the user experience on your website, as user experience is greatly influenced by the design of your website and this goes a way beyond seo basics.

Remember that search engine optimization (SEO) is about building a website that both humans and search engines want to visit, not simply about robots and algorithms.

And've got the full playlist from Ahref for an SEO beginner’s guide with everything from the basics

Elements of User Experience in seo basics

The importance of Enticing CTAs ( call to action)

Alright, let's talk about the magic buttons:

CTA Magic: Ever been on a website and felt lost, not sure where to click next? That's where Call-to-Action (CTA) buttons come in. They're like friendly guides, showing your visitors the way.

Show Don't Tell: Effective CTAs are like a gentle touch, encouraging users to take that next step. Imagine a button saying, "Discover More" or "Get Started Now." That's the kind of invitation everyone loves!

Avoiding Walls of Text

Now, let's talk about the way you write your copy or content on your website

White Space Wisdom: Picture a book with no paragraphs—a bit overwhelming, right? White space is your reader's breather. Break down your content into friendly chunks, making it a breeze to read and skim.

Skimmable Success: Short paragraphs are like bite-sized snacks. They're easy to digest, and readers love them. Think of your content as a conversation, not a monologue.

Using Listicles, Bullets, and Numbered Lists

Let's organize the content party:

List Power: Lists aren’t just for groceries; they're SEO basics but turn to superheroes. Google loves them! They make your content organized and boost your chances of grabbing a featured snippet—a prime spot on Google.

Snackable Information: Bulleted and numbered lists break down complex information into bite-sized bits. It's like giving your audience a roadmap and guiding them through your content effortlessly.

Remember, a great user experience is about making your visitors feel at home on your website. Keep it inviting, organized, and snack-friendly!  Check out out SEO services

On-Page SEO Techniques

Optimizing Title Tags

Let's make those titles shine:

Title Tag 101: Think of title tags as the headlines of your page. They should be short, sweet, and pack a punch. Don't forget the main keyword—it's like the VIP guest! Make sure you put it there.

Click-Worthy Titles: Aim for titles that grab attention. Use words like "How," "Why," and "Best." It's your chance to spark curiosity and get those clicks!

Optimizing Meta Descriptions

when talking to seo basics you can not skip talking about meta description

MetaMeta Descriptions Unveiled: These are like sneak peeks of your content. Craft a brief description that entices users to click. It’s a small space, so make every word count!

Action-Packed Descriptions: Add a dash of action. If it's relevant, throw in a call to action. Get users excited to explore what you've got!

Optimizing Heading Tags

Time to talk about headings:

Heading Hierarchy: Headings (H1–H6) organize your content. Treat them like a roadmap. The H1 is your main destination, and the others guide the way.

Keyword Compass: Sprinkle your target keywords in those headings. It helps search engines understand what each section is all about.

Optimizing Page URL

URL makeover time:

Descriptive URLs: Your URL is like a mini-story. Keep it short and descriptive, and include that main keyword. Clear URLs make for happy readers and search engines! Avoid special characters, dates in the URL, and characters like “?”, “=”, “+” etc make sure after publishing you don’t edit the URLs, as this will lead to broken links and errors like “404” meaning page not found, which will, later on, affect your rankings

Hyphens, Not Underscores: Use hyphens between words. It's like a red carpet for readability. Also, keep it all lowercase—no VIP treatment for capital letters!

Optimizing Images

Picture-perfect optimization:

Dual Purpose Optimization: Images should look good and load fast. Give them descriptive names, resize them to fit, and compress them for speedy delivery. make sure you save your images as “.webp” extension, as this has been shown to load faster than others of the same size.

Alt Tags Speak Volumes: Not only are alt tags for display. Describe your image, When captions and alt texts are used, your image becomes available for image search and helps Google and other search engines determine when and where to display it. This makes your image accessible to all users and a signal to search engines.

Adding Internal Links

Let's build bridges within your site:

Internal Linking Wisdom: Link between your pages. It helps search engines explore your site, shares authority and guides users on necessary additional resources or pages on your website.

Tools for Harmony: Tools like Ahrefs, Ubersuggest, and Semrush Site Audit can be your internal linking GPS. They help you create a structure that's smooth for both users and search engines.

On-page SEO is like giving your webpage a makeover. It's about making things clear, inviting, and easy to navigate. Your page is the star—let's make sure it shines on the SEO stage! 

Link Building Strategies

Building Links from Connections

Let's turn connections into links:

Real-Life Networking: Your network is a goldmine. Friends, colleagues, and partners—let them know you're in the online game. A simple request for a link can go a long way or offer something of value to them. Like talking about their services or products

Quick Wins 101: Look for easy wins. Did you collaborate on a project? Get a link. Attend an event. Get a link. Your connections are your VIP pass.

Submitting to Quality Directories

Local directories, your secret weapon:

Local Love First: Leverage local directories. They're like treasure chests waiting to boost your local presence. Get listed where your audience can find you. Directories like Clutch, yelp, Yellow Pages, and Google business profiles.

Automation Magic: Save time with citation software. Tools like Moz Local or Yext can spread your business information consistently across directories. Less hassle, more links!

Using HARO for Press Links

HARO, your link-building ally:

Meet HARO: Help A Reporter Out (HARO) is your backstage pass to authority links. Journalists need sources, and you can be the star. Answer queries, get featured, and earn those coveted links.

HARO Navigation: Dive into opportunities. Scan queries relevant to your expertise, respond promptly and watch your site climb the link popularity charts.

Link building is like planting seeds that grow into a strong SEO garden. Cultivate your connections, nurture local listings, and let HARO be your stage for link-worthy performances by the way this considered not basics but expert strategy

I've got you a full playlist of Matt Diggity showing everything you need to know about link-building 

Technical SEO Essentials

Setting Up Google Search Console

Welcome to your SEO control center:

Connect & Conquer: Link up with Google Search Console. It's like giving your site a voice. Spot issues, see how Google views you, and be the commander of your SEO ship.

Indexing and errors: identify and fix indexing issues. GSC is your detective hat—use it to ensure Google's got your pages on its reading list.

Checking Robot.txt Files

Unveiling the mysterious robots.txt:

Crawl Friend or Foe?: Robots.txt decides. Understand its power in guiding web crawlers or Google bots. Ensure it's not blocking vital sections. Let the crawlers dance through your site smoothly, as it will ensure all your pages are open to be found on search results pages (SERPs)

Resolve & evolve: If there are issues, address them quickly. Your site's accessibility depends on a friendly robots.txt. Don't let it be the gatekeeper who turns visitors away.

Optimizing Site Speed

Speed thrills, but slowness kills:

Speed Checkup: Benchmark your site speed. Is it a tortoise or a hare? Tools like Google PageSpeed Insights unveil the truth. Focusing on getting green scores or close to 90% as possible

Need for Speed: Improve that score! Compress images, leverage browser caching, and trim the excess. A speedy site isn't just user-friendly; Google loves it too, the use of CDN like Cloudflare if not Cloudflare, you can try Bunny CDN to increase the loading speed, mostly for e-commerce and streaming website since they use lots of media files and images, and videos

Ensuring HTTPS Security

Lock it up, rank it up:

SecuritySecurity Sells: HTTPS isn't just a padlock; it's a ranking factor. Make the web safer for your users and earn Google's trust. Nowadays, most website hosting providers offer a free SSL certificate using platforms like Hostinger and Namecheap. Hostinger offers lots of free security features for your website

Migration Made Easy: Planning HTTPS migration? Do it strategically. A secure site is a confident site. Boost rankings while keeping your users' data secure.

Technical SEO isn't rocket science; it's your site's health plan. Connect, tweak, and secure—watch your website thrive in the digital world!

Mobile SEO Best Practices

Importance of Mobile Page Speed

Race to the finish line—on mobile!

Google's Need for Speed: Google's a speed aficionado, especially on mobile. A fast site isn’t just a want; it’s a must. It's like a digital sprint, where faster load times mean happier users.

Mobile-Friendly Marathon: Guidelines, not hurdles! Make your website mobile-friendly. Responsive design, optimized images, and streamlined code—these are your golden tickets to the winner's circle. Make sure all of your elements on the website are dynamic, meaning they change the ratio and size depending on the device’s size.

Your audience is on the move, and a speedy, mobile-ready site ensures they never miss a beat.

Measuring SEO Success

Tracking Organic Traffic with Google Analytics

Navigate the analytics like a pro!

Google Analytics GPS: Now that everything is in place, you are eager to see if your efforts are having the desired effect. Your best resource is Google Analytics. Follow organic traffic like a pro and solve various problems within the popularity of your website.

Up, Down, or Steady?: Trends tell tales. Watch for trends in your organic traffic—upward is joy, downward needs a fix. It's like reading the signs on a digital highway.

Analyzing Average Session Duration and Bounce Rate

Time Well Spent: Session duration is your site's Netflix binge metric. More time, more love. Bounce rate? It's the digital door slam. Learn to keep visitors hooked and retained for a long time.

Diagnose and Cure: If the bounce rate is high, it's time for a digital health check. We're here to find and fix what’s sending your visitors packing. If the bounce rate is high this means that the visitors are not getting what they expected from you and it's a bad signal to Google. You can fix this by changing the offer or make it more interesting

Calculating Conversion Rate

From clicks to conversions—the gold standard!

Define the Win: What's a conversion for you? A sale, a sign-up, or a download? Define it. That's your victory dance if you are getting any of those that you think is a win for you and if a few downloads, sales, and sign-ups that means there is a need of more time or effort.

Crunch the Numbers: Conversion rate—your digital scoreboard. Learn to calculate and understand what it means. It's not just data; it's your success anthem.

Conclusion

Go ahead and give yourself a high-five! You've officially earned the title of an SEO (a wizard in the art of optimizing websites for scaleup search engine rankings).

Raise a glass to progress and enjoy the experience of your journey. From a beginner in seo (search engine optimization) with only basics to an ambitious digital expert, your commitment is evident. A virtual congratulations to your advancement!

Guess What? The SEO Adventure Continues. This is a turning point, not the end of the story. Continue exploring, perfecting, and accepting the always-changing SEO industry. What will become to your website? Indeed, it's safely in your competent hands. Cheers to many happy optimization and interesting chapters to come!

Additionally, I've added some more SEO-related resources below. If you think this is useful for you as you generate future content, please include a link to it as a resource.

Additional Resources

Top 13 SEO Checker Tools for free, this article highlights all the best free SEO tools you can start with before choosing any premium tool

The importance of link architecture Google. October 7th, 2008. Retrieved August 17, 2022 this will help you to know how you can do internal linking

On-page SEO: an In-Depth Guide Now that you know how SEO works you need to understand “on-page SEO” in-depth