In this fast-paced and dynamic field of digital marketing, knowing what the people are searching for consuming relevant content; the answers they are seeking and the words that they are using, has become quite important. It is here that a beginner’s guide to SEO comes to significance. However, before divulging into the whole dos and don'ts it is imperative to understand what it means.
Search Engine Optimisation, also commonly known as SEO, is the practice of increasing web traffic qualitatively and quantitatively. It intends to bring exposure to the site through organic (non-paid) search engine results. However, this task of always being up-to-date becomes exclusively frustrating if one is solely depending on out-dated tactics and not progressing. With algorithm changes, technological advancement and target audience persistently evolving, it is crucial to learn continuously and be well-informed to increase search ranking and bring out more search engine crawlers, and most imperative of all generate revenues and leads. Therefore, a beginner’s guide to SEO will get one started as even a small amount of knowledge can make a huge difference.

BEGINNERS GUIDE TO SEO

Because SEO has so many aspects, it is nothing short of a theory in itself. Its foundation lies on the belief that before fundamental requirements are fulfilled one cannot reach the advanced ones. Thus, its usage is like a pyramid which explains the steps one should go about with SEO.
Thus the beginner’s step by step guide to SEO is:

CRAWL ACCESSIBILITY-

Search Engines are like answering machines as they evaluate thousands of content daily to determine which content is most suitable to answer a query. They do this task via a process called “crawling and indexing." It is a method of discovering, segregating, classifying and most important of all ordering all the content available on the net on how well it matches the query searched. This ordering is known as "ranking."

LEARN WHAT THE CUSTOMERS ARE LOOKING-

It is impossible to create organic search results if one is not even aware of what the audience is searching for on the net. The question that then arises is how to figure this out? Well, the best way of starting is to figure out:
The most popular way that the people may be searching for your business: Doing a Google search for one of the words/ phrases helps one in realising the way people search as most of the time, websites tend to optimise their title tags for SEO. Also, using Google keywords explorer helps in determining the monthly usage of the keywords targeted. Thus, it ensures if the keyword has good traffic potential or not.
Find popular and engaging content related to your field: Content writing and marketing is amongst the most viable options to generate traffic and revenues. It is the art of creating a useful and valuable way of attracting the target audience and clients. So before publishing content, one must figure out the prevalent and engaging topics in the business field.
Delve deeper into other ways that people may be searching: Look into the phrases and words that may not be the keyword but similar and related to the business. Further, focus on Google autocomplete results as they suggest search terms that might be very common. Maintaining focus and analysis on these words and search terms that pop over repetitively helps in generating revenue and increasing traffic on the site.
Understand the metrics behind keyword usage: It is true that focusing on the monthly search average and estimating how difficult ranking it might face is quite essential. But it is also imperative to focus and figure out those keywords that have high traffic potential as keeping in mind all this helps one, in focusing on ranking for keywords and search terms that are likely to send the most targeted traffic.

CREATE CONTENT THAT FULFILLS USER INTENT

Focusing on fulfilling user intent without tricking search engines into ranking you higher is significant. There are mainly three types of user intent:
Navigational- Searching for a specific website. Example: Samsung
Transactional- Searching to purchase a product or service like sale in Zara
Informational- Looking to learn about a definite topic. Example: best places to visit in the USA
Overall speaking, when a person is searching for something, they are looking for the desired outcome. It is known as ‘user intent’. The job of SEO is to grasp this intent to provide users with the content that they desire for in the specific format. It is because the search intent is not always clear from the search query itself. Thus, to ensure user intent, you can infer to the commonalities between top-ranking competitors and through getting a glimpse by Googling and evaluating SERPs. The logic behind is that Google’s algorithm tends to keep a close eye on the behaviour and search pattern of its users. Through this, it offers results that meet the intent of their search. Thus, delivering high-quality content helps one in ranking higher; increase revenues and leads, and establishes trust and credibility.

CREATE OPTIMISED PAGES FOR SEARCH-

Though keyword planning is significant, it is not the only step involved in SEO. The next step in an SEO strategy is to ensure on-page optimisation. It is highly imperative to ensure structured page layout for the visitors, for them to enjoy user experience when on your site. The ways to implement this strategy is:

• Short yet descriptive URLs: Getting this right in the first go is recommended because web address sends a signal to search engines about the topic. Thus, organising the content so that the URL is assembled logically and intelligently makes it easier for the users to comprehend it. Further, descriptive URLs can be beneficial as inserting the target keyword becomes simpler without it looking unnatural.
• Creating compelling meta-descriptions: These help in telling search engines about what the page content revolves around; and also give the audience a better understanding of the content written and if it is relevant to their query. Thus, inserting relevant keywords to increase organic CTR become significant, because, they affect the click-through rate of a webpage which directly affects the traffic you get from search. However, to avoid truncation, it is recommended to keep the meta-description below 155 characters.
• Using headers and sub-headers (H1 to H6) to create a logical structure: It makes it easier for search engines to categorise the content by paying attention to all sections; and also makes it friendly for human readers.
• Optimising images: Inserting Alt tag or even the target keyword in the image name to describe the content can do the deal as though they are great for humans, search engines most of the time fail to sense them. So, optimising images for Google to understand them better allows them to better index those so that when users perform an image search, it ranks higher in search results.

ENSURE THAT THEY ARE ACCESSIBLE TO BOTH SEARCH ENGINES AND HUMANS-

• While performing SEO, it is imperative to keep in mind that you are working for separate customers -search engine bots and humans. Therefore, your goal is to bring out positive experience for both. It is possible if certain things are ensured, like:
• Make sure the site loads fast as both humans and engine bots prioritise speed of websites and if the speed is not optimum, people leave the site without scanning the content available.
• Make sure the site is mobile-friendly, i.e., it is mobile-optimised. It is because nowadays, all the Google searches and search engine crawlers on your site come through mobile phones.
• Create a sitemap as they allow the search engine to index new pages on your website faster and easier. Even though they do not affect ranking directly, they list all the pages of your site which engine bots use to understand the entire website and how the pages are connected.
• Create internal links between relevant pages and posts as it helps Google find, crawl and finally index more pages on your site which then helps in ranking higher.

BUILD BACKLINKS

It is a crucial step in the beginner’s guide to SEO. Backlinks, also known as inbound links is a method of increasing the digital presence of the website. It refers to a link from a page that is created to link to any other page. Hence, it helps the page getting discovered. Further, it offers a way of increasing ranking because Google sees these backlinks as a vote of confidence as it shows that other sites vouch for the content available there. Thus, promoting and generating links to your content via outreach and social media is imperative as without it, ranking higher in search results is difficult.

CONCLUSION

Thus, this beginner’s guide to SEO can help you become data-driven in your efforts. So if you like this guide and would like to know more about how to increase digital traffic and master the art of digital marketing, visit our website We Love Digital Marketing- the best digital marketing agency in Kolkata to have an in-depth understanding. In this fast-paced and changing world, we are a growing company who are ever-ready to help our clients, so contact us now and solve all your queries without any hassle.