SEO Basics

If you’re new to SEO, this guide will provide a solid introduction to some of the most important concepts. We’ll cover everything from on-page optimization to link building to keyword research. By the end of this guide, you should have a solid understanding of what SEO is and how it can help your business or website.

Set up GSC and Bing Webmaster tools

In order to track your website’s SEO, you need to set up Google Search Console (GSC) and Bing Webmaster Tools. These are free programs that allow you to see how often your website appears in Google and Bing search results, as well as which keywords are associated with your site.

To set up GSC, go to www.google.com/webmasters/tools and sign in with your Google account. Once you’re signed in, click “Add a property” and enter the URL of your website. After you add your website, you need to verify that you own it. This can be done by linking your GSC account to your Google Analytics account or by adding a HTML tag to your website’s code. Once you’ve verified ownership, you can start using GSC!

To set up Bing Webmaster Tools, go to www.bing.com/toolbox/webmaster and sign in with your Microsoft account. Once you’re signed in, click “Add a Site” and enter the URL of your website. After you add your website, Bing will send a verification code to the email associated with your Microsoft account. Enter this code on the next page, and then you can start using Bing Webmaster Tools!

Set up Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a free website analytics tool that provides insights about your website traffic. With Google Analytics, you can track where your website visitors are coming from, what they’re doing on your website, and what kind of devices they’re using. This information can help you improve your website and better understand your audience.

To set up Google Analytics, you’ll need a Google account. If you don’t have one, you can create a new account at https://accounts.google.com/. Once you have a Google account, go to https://analytics.google.com/ and click “Sign in to Analytics.” You’ll be asked to sign in with your Google account.

Once you’re signed in, you’ll be taken to the Analytics home page. Click “Start measuring” to set up a new property.

A property is a collection of data associated with a single website or app. You can think of it as a representation of your online presence (for example, www.example.com or the Example App). To create a new property, you’ll need to provide some basic information about your website or app, such as the name and URL.

Once you’ve created a property, you’ll be given a Tracking ID. This Tracking ID is used to collect data about your website or app and send it to Google Analytics so that it can be processed and analyzed. You’ll need to add this Tracking ID to your website or app so that Google Analytics can start collecting data about it.

Install and configure an SEO plugin (wordpress)

Whether you’re launching a new website or trying to improve an existing one, search engine optimization (SEO) is essential. Done correctly, it can help your site rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs), which in turn will drive more traffic to your site.

One way to improve your SEO is to install and configure an SEO plugin. If you’re using WordPress, there are a number of great plugins available, including Yoast SEO and All in One SEO Pack. In this article, we’ll show you how to install and configure Yoast SEO.

To get started, log into your WordPress dashboard and navigate to Plugins → Add New.

In the Search Plugins field, type Yoast SEO and press Enter. The first result should be the plugin you’re looking for. Click Install Now.

Once the plugin has been installed, click Activate Plugin. You will be redirected to the Yoast SEO dashboard.

Keyword Research

The process of finding the right keywords to target in your content can be integral to the success of your SEO efforts. In this article, we’ll show you how to research keywords so you can choose the right ones to use in your titles, headings, and throughout your content.

Identify your competitors

In order to identify your competitors, you’ll need to first think about who your target audience is. Once you have a good understanding of your target audience, you can then begin to research your competitors.

There are a few different ways to research your competitors. One way is to use Google AdWords’ Keyword Planner tool. This tool allows you to enter in keywords that are relevant to your business and then shows you how many other businesses are bidding on those same keywords.

Another way to research your competitors is to simply do a Google search for keywords that are relevant to your business. For example, if you sell women’s clothing, you would do a Google search for “women’s clothing.” The businesses that show up on the first page of the search results are likely your main competitors.

You can also use social media platforms, such as Twitter and Facebook, to research your competitors. Simply type in relevant keywords into the search bar on these platforms and see which businesses come up.

Conduct a keyword gap analysis

When you’re conducting keyword research, one tool that can be extremely helpful is a keyword gap analysis. This will help you to identify which keywords your competitors are targeting that you are not, and vice versa.

To do a keyword gap analysis, simply make a list of all of the keywords that you are targeting. Then, using a tool like Google AdWords Keyword Planner or SEMrush, research which of those keywords your competitors are also targeting. The keywords that appear on both lists are your “gap” keywords — these are the ones that you should be focusing on.

Similarly, you can use this method to find new keyword opportunities. If there are keywords that your competitors are targeting that you are not, consider adding them to your list. Just be sure to research each new keyword thoroughly before adding it to your campaigns — you don’t want to waste time and money on unqualified keywords.

Find your main ‘money’ keywords

You’ll want to start your keyword research by finding your main ‘money’ keywords – these are the terms that you think are most likely to convert into sales or leads.

To do this, you can use a tool like Google’s Keyword Planner, which is free to use (though you’ll need to set up a Gmail account to access it).

Once you’re in the Keyword Planner, click on “Find new keywords” and then “Search for new keywords using a phrase, website or category.”

From there, you can enter in some seed keywords (these can be related to your business, product or service) and Google will return a list of related keywords.

You can then start sorting through this list to find your main ‘money’ keywords – the ones that you think are most likely to convert into sales or leads.

Technical SEO

Google’s Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide states that “technical SEO is all about making sure your site is well-structured and easy to crawl, has fast loading times, and is free of duplicate content or other technical issues that could trip up the search engines.” Sounds simple enough, but there’s a lot that goes into technical SEO. In this guide, we’ll break down everything you need to know about technical SEO, from what it is to how to improve your site’s technical SEO.

Leverage “Inspect URL” feature in GSC

The “Inspect URL” feature in Google Search Console allows you to check whether your pages are being indexed by Google, and can help you identify and debug any issues that might be preventing your pages from being indexed. Here’s how to use it:

1. Go to Google Search Console and sign in with your account.
2. Select the property you want to inspect from the list of properties in your account.
3. In the sidebar on the left, under “Index,” click on “Inspect URL.”
4. Enter the URL of the page you want to check, then click “Submit.”
5. Google will show you whether the page is indexed, and if not, will provide some reasons why it might not be indexed. You can then troubleshoot accordingly.
   Ensure your website is mobile-friendly
   
   The first step in ensuring your website is mobile-friendly is to check its design. Is your website responsive? A responsive website automatically reformats to fit the screen it’s being viewed on, whether that’s a desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphone. You can check how your website looks on different devices by using Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test tool.

If your website isn’t responsive, you’ll need to make some changes. You can either create a new responsive website or modify your existing website to be responsive. If you decide to create a new responsive website, keep in mind that it can take some time for Google to recognize and index your new site.

Once you’ve checked the design of your website, it’s time to move on to the content. When writing content for your mobile-friendly website, keep the following in mind:

• Keep it short and sweet: Mobile users are looking for quick answers to their questions. Get straight to the point and don’t include unnecessary fluff or filler text.
• Use bullet points and lists: Break up your text with bullet points or lists so it’s easy to scan and digest.
• Use large font sizes: Make sure your font size is large enough to be legible on smaller screens.
• Optimize images: Images should be small in file size so they load quickly on mobile devices. You can reduce the file size of an image without compromising its quality by using an image compression tool like Tinypng.
  Check your site’s loading speed
  One of the most important aspects of technical SEO is site speed. Users are impatient, and if your site takes more than a few seconds to load, they’re likely to click away before it even finishes loading. Not only is this bad for the user experience, it’s also bad for your SEO. Google has stated that site speed is a factor in their ranking algorithm, so it’s important to make sure your site is as fast as possible.

There are a few different ways to test your site’s speed. Google has a tool called PageSpeed Insights that will give you a general idea of how fast your site is. Another popular tool is Pingdom, which will give you a detailed breakdown of what’s causing your site to load slowly. Once you know where the bottlenecks are, you can start working on fixing them.

There are a number of things that can cause slow loading times, but some of the most common culprits are large images, unoptimized code, and too many plugins or scripts. Once you identify the problem areas, there are a number of ways to fix them. You can optimize your images by reducing their file size without sacrificing quality. You can minify your CSS and JavaScript files to reduce the amount of code that needs to be loaded. And you can disable or remove any plugins or scripts that aren’t absolutely essential.

Making these changes can be time-consuming, but it’s important to make sure your site is as fast as possible. A fast site will improve the user experience, help you rank higher in search results, and ultimately lead to more sales or conversions.

On-page and Content

Fix duplicate, missing, and truncated title tags

The title tag of a web page is one of the most important elements for on-page optimization. It is used to specify the title of a web page, and appears in the SERP (Search Engine Results Page) as the clickable headline for a given result. The title tag should be concise, accurate, and descriptive, and should contain relevant keywords for the page.

Duplicate title tags can occur when a page has more than one H1 tag, or when the title tag is used more than once on the same page. This can be problematic because it can cause confusion for search engines as to which version of the title should be used. It can also cause confusion for users, who may see multiple versions of the same title when they perform a search. In order to avoid this issue, it is important to make sure that there is only one H1 tag on each page, and that the title tag is used only once.

Missing or truncated title tags can also be an issue. A missing title tag means that a web page does not have a specified title, and may be missing other important information as well. A truncated title tag means that the Title is cut off in the SERP, usually due to length restrictions. This can be frustrating for users, who may not be able to get an accurate idea of what the page is about from the limited information available. In order to avoid this issue, it is important to make sure that all pages have a complete and accurate title tag.

Find and fix duplicate or missing meta descriptions

When it comes to written content on your website, one of the most important elements to consider is the meta description. This short paragraph appears beneath your title in the search engine results pages (SERPs), and it’s essentially your chance to sell potential visitors on clicking through to your site. That’s why it’s critical that every meta description be both unique and interesting.

If you’re using a common CMS like WordPress or Drupal, then you likely already have a plugin or module that will take care of this for you. Otherwise, you’ll need to edit your code directly. In either case, if you find that some of your pages are missing meta descriptions entirely, or if you have multiple pages with the same description, then you’ll need to fix those problems as soon as possible.

Here are a few tips for writing effective meta descriptions:

• Keep it under 155 characters: This is the maximum number of characters that will appear in the SERPs, so make sure you stay within that limit.
• Use keyword-rich phrases: Include relevant keywords and phrases that accurately describe the page’s content. These will not only help potential visitors understand what the page is about, but they may also help improve your search engine rankings.
• Write compelling copy: Since the meta description is essentially a sales pitch, make sure it’s interesting and convincing enough to get people to click through. By following these tips, you can help ensure that your website’s meta descriptions are effective and driving traffic to your site.
  Find and fix multiple H1 tags

It’s important to have only one H1 tag per page, as too many H1 tags can result in your content being penalized by search engines. To fix this, simply find all the H1 tags on your page and remove all but one of them.

Off-Page SEO

Off page SEO (also called “off-site SEO”) refers to actions taken outside of your own website to impact your rankings within search engine result pages (SERPs).

Analyze your competitor’s link profile

In order to improve your own link profile, it is important to first understand the link profile of your competitors. By understanding what links they have and how they got them, you can get a better sense of what strategies are working for them and how you can improve upon them.

There are a few different ways to go about this:

• Use a tool like BuzzSumo to see what content is popular for a given topic or keyword. This will give you an idea of what kinds of content is being linked to by other websites.
• Use a tool like Open Site Explorer to analyze your competitor’s link profile. This will give you an idea of where their links are coming from and what kind of link authority they have.
• Use Google Search Console to see which of your competitor’s pages are getting the most organic traffic. This will give you an idea of which pages are most popular and hence, most likely to be linked to.
  Conduct a link intersect analysis
  
  Link intersect is a link analysis technique that allows you to find new link opportunities by identifying the linking patterns of your competitors.

Here’s how it works:

1. First, you need to identify your competitors. You can do this by looking at who ranks for the same keywords as you, or by using a tool like Moz’s Open Site Explorer.
2. Once you have your list of competitors, use a tool like Majestic SEO or ahrefs to export their backlink data.
3. Import the data into a spreadsheet and delete any duplicates.
4. Use a VLOOKUP function to find the common links between all of the websites. This will give you a list of websites that link to 2 or more of your competitors.
5. Now that you have a list of websites that could potentially link to you, it’s time to start outreach!
   Target your competitors’ broken backlinks
   
   Backlinks are one of the most important ranking factors in SEO, but they’re also one of the easiest to manipulate. If you’re looking for a quick and easy way to improve your site’s search engine ranking, targeting your competitors’ broken backlinks is a great place to start.

There are a few different ways to find out which backlinks are broken on your competitor’s site. One way is to use a tool like Screaming Frog, which will crawl through your competitor’s site and generate a list of broken links.

Once you have a list of broken links, you can reach out to the webmasters of those sites and let them know that their link is pointing to a 404 page on your competitor’s site. Most webmasters will be happy to update their link to point to your site instead.

This process can be time-consuming, but it’s definitely worth it if you’re serious about improving your SEO. Not only will you be able to grab some easy backlinks, but you’ll also be able to improve your search engine ranking in the process.