A Beginner's Guide to SEO (July 2023)

Looking to boost your online presence and drive business growth? In today's world, everything is online which makes search engine optimization (SEO) essential if you want to increase your visibility and attract traffic to your business. If you're new to the world of SEO, fear not! We've compiled a list of things you need to know to get started today.

Put your hands up if you're ready for a complete SEO beginner's guide...

What is SEO?

Essentially, SEO is the practice of optimizing your website to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs) for relevant keywords. Your GOAL is to optimize various aspects of your website to increase your chances of appearing at the top of the search results which means getting in front of more potential customers when they search for products or services related to your business.

How Do I Rank Higher in SERPS?

Now we're getting to the good stuff...Ranking higher in SERPS involves a few key steps. Each will be explained further below:

1. Conduct a keyword search

2. Tweak your website to improve it's visibility

3. Maximize your content

4. Add backlinks

5. Optimize Your Google My Business Profile (if you're audience is local)

How to Conduct a Keyword Search

You're not going to get very far with SEO if you skip this step. Researching relevant keywords is essential to effective SEO strategy. Start by identifying keywords and phrases that you think your audience is using when they search for your products or services. This is where KNOWING your target audience comes in handy. There are also keyword research tools that you can use to help like Google Keyword Planner or SEMrush.

Once you have a list of targeted keywords, strategically integrate them into your website.

How to Improve Website Visibility

The next step is tweaking your website's on-page elements; a process called 0n-page optimization. Start by adding the keywords we discussed above to headlines, meta descriptions, URLs and page copy. Make sure that your website has a clear and descriptive title tag and meta descriptions for each page. Optimize your website's URLs to be concise, descriptive, and full of those important keywords. You should also make your website as user-friendly as possible. Make sure the navigation is intuitive, has a quick loading speed and has a mobile friendly layout. .

The Secret to Great SEO Content

Creating content that will preform well from an SEO standpoint is all dependent on your specific audience. Your goal is to put out informative, engaging, and relevant content that addresses your target audience's needs and interests. Your content is another place where you want to input your targeted keywords in a way that reads naturally. The best place to put web content is in a blog or resource section where visitors can go to explore what you have to say about your industry.

How to Build a Backlink Profile

Backlinks are incoming links from other websites. More backlinks indicates to search engines that 1) you are a credible source of information and 2) you're relevant. How can you do this? Create connections with others in your industry: participate in forums, engage with others in your space to get guest blogging opportunities. You also want to make sure that the content you're posting on your website is sharable and engaging so that others will want to link to it.

How to Make Your Google My Business Profile Stand Out

If your business has a physical location or serves a specific geographic area, local SEO is one of your most powerful tools. Boost your visibility among potential customers in your area by optimizing your Google My Business profile:

• Include accurate contact information, business hours, and customer reviews.

• Make sure your website includes location-specific keywords and local content.

• Get listed in online directories and review platforms relevant to your industry and location.

• Search yourself. Are you appearing in the "near me" queries? If not, make changes until you do!

Now you're ready to implement these strategies to get your business on the path to better search engine rankings. Does SEO still feel daunting? Contact us for all your SEO needs. Our team can help you develop a customized SEO strategy to improve your online visibility, drive organic traffic, and achieve long-term business growth. You can't afford to wait, get started today!