Nearly 54% of all website traffic comes from organic search results, and the first result in Google’s SERPs receives more than one-third of that traffic. So, if you’re not optimizing your website for search engines, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity to get more visitors.
However, SEO can be challenging, especially if you’re new to it. You may not know where to start, or you may not be sure which keywords to target. And even if you manage to get your website to rank in the search results, there’s no guarantee that people will click on your result.
But if you’re willing to put in the effort, there are some simple things you can do to get started. Here are five essential SEO tips for beginners:
1. Research the Right Keywords to Target
One of the most important aspects of SEO is keyword research. You need to find keywords that are relevant to your business and have a good amount of monthly searches. But you also want to ensure they aren’t too difficult to rank for.
The best way to find the right keywords is to use a keyword research tool like Ahrefs. However, there are a few things to keep in mind to ensure you are choosing the right keywords to target:
Relevance to Your Business
The keyword should be relevant to your business, products, or services. Otherwise, you’re just wasting time and effort trying to rank for a keyword that no one is searching for. For example, if you sell shoes, you wouldn’t want to try to rank for the keyword “clothes.”
Monthly Search Volume
The next thing to look at is the monthly search volume for a keyword. This is the number of times people search for that keyword each month.
The higher the search volume, the more potential you have to get traffic from that keyword. It isn’t easy to define specific numbers as they differ by niche, but, in general, you want to target keywords with at least a few hundred searches per month.
Ranking Difficulty
Ranking difficulty refers to how competitive a keyword is. The higher the difficulty rating, the more challenging it will be for your website to reach the top spots. And this rating is determined by who else is ranking in the top 10 spots.
For example, if you’re dealing mainly with low-authority blogs, you probably have a good chance. But if sites like CNN.com and Forbes.com populate the top results, you’re better off choosing a different keyword.
You can determine the difficulty of a keyword with Ahrefs, but it’s also a good idea to manually check the top results yourself.
Commercial Intent
The commercial intent of a keyword is how likely it is that someone searching for that keyword is looking to buy something. For example, a keyword like “buy shoes” has a very high commercial intent, whereas a keyword like “how to tie shoelaces” has low commercial intent.
You want to target a mix of both low and high commercial intent keywords to get the most traffic from SEO. The low commercial intent keywords will help you bring people to your website, and the high commercial intent keywords will help you convert them into customers.
2. Create Engaging Content
SEO is all about creating high-quality content that people will want to read and share. If you can produce great content, you’ll not only get more traffic from the search engines, but you’ll also get more social media shares and links.
There are a few things you can do to make sure your content is interesting and engaging:
Do Your Research
Before you start writing, make sure you do your research. This includes both keyword research and general market research. The more you know about your topic, the easier it will be to write engaging content.
Create Compelling Headlines
Your headline is the first thing people will see, so it needs to be compelling and make them want to click through to read the rest of your article. Try to use numbers or power words in your headlines to make them more enticing.
Be Clear and Concise
No one wants to read an article that is long-winded and rambling. Get to the point and be clear in your writing. Use short sentences and simple words to make your content easy to read.
Use Subheadings
Subheadings help to break up your content and make it easier to read. They also present an opportunity to include additional keywords, which can help with your SEO.
Use Visuals
People are more likely to read and share content that includes images, infographics, or videos. Adding visuals to your content can also help to break up large blocks of text and make your articles more visually appealing. It also improves your dwell time, which is a ranking factor for SEO.
3. Optimize Your Meta Description and Title Tag
Your title tag and meta description are two critical elements for SEO. The title tag is the text that appears in the search engine results, and the meta description is the short description below the title tag.
Ensure they are optimized for both SEO and CTR (click-through rate). Here are a few tips for optimizing your meta description and title tag:
Keep Your Title Tag Short
Your title tag shouldn’t be longer than 60 characters, as this is the limit that Google displays in the search results. Otherwise, your title will be cut off, and people may not bother clicking through to read the rest.
Make Your Title Tag Engaging
As well as being short, your title tag needs to be interesting and make people want to click through to read your article. Including a benefit or power words can help to make your title tag more enticing.
Use Keyword-Rich Phrases
Including keywords in your title tag and meta description is essential for SEO and CTR. However, don’t stuff your tags with too many keywords, as this will make them look spammy. Instead, focus on using one or two well-chosen keywords or keyword phrases.
Write a Compelling Meta Description
Your meta description is a summary of what readers will discover on the page and should be around 155 characters long. Again, make it engaging by including a benefit so people know there’s something in it for them if they click through. You should also have a call to action, such as “click here to read more,” so people know what they’re supposed to do.
Use power words and numbers
Using power words and numbers can help to make your title tag and meta description more compelling. Power words evoke an emotional response, such as “amazing” or “free.” Numbers, on the other hand, make things seem more concrete and can increase the click-through rate too. For example, “5 Dog Breeds for Families with Children” is more likely to get clicked on than “Child-Friendly Dog Breeds.”
4. Build Links from Other Websites to Yours
A critical component of SEO is building links from other websites to yours, better known as backlinks. The more backlinks you have, the higher your website will rank in the search engine results pages.
Google sees backlinks as a vote of confidence, so the more votes you have, the more likely you are to rank well. So, while link building can be a bit of a slow process, it’s indispensable if you want to improve your SEO.
There are many ways to build links to your website, and below are some of the best methods:
Create Shareable Content
If you’re following the tips above and creating quality content, you’re already on the right track. That’s because people are more likely to link to articles that they find interesting, informative, or valuable. So, if you want people to link to your content, make sure it’s something that they would actually want to share.
Reach Out to Other Website Owners
One great way to get links is to reach out to other website owners and ask them to link to your content. Of course, you want to make sure that the websites you’re reaching out to are relevant and have high domain authority. Otherwise, the link won’t be as valuable.
Submit Guest Posts
Guest posting is when you write an article for another website in exchange for a link back to your own website. This is a great way to get high-quality links because you’re usually only able to guest post on websites that are relevant to your niche.
Include Links in Your Social Media Profiles
Make sure to include links to your website on all of your social media profiles. While these links might not carry a lot of weight in terms of relevance, they can help drive traffic to your website.
Submit Your Website to Directories
There are a number of online directories where you can submit your website. Make sure to choose directories relevant to your niche and have high domain authority.
5. Monitor Your SEO Progress
Once you’ve implemented the tips mentioned above, you should monitor your SEO progress and adjust your strategy as needed. This includes tracking your rankings, traffic, and conversion rate.
You can use various tools to track your progress, such as Google Search Console, Ahrefs, Semrush and Neil Patel. These tools will help you to see how well your SEO efforts are paying off and whether or not you need to make any changes to your strategy.
Some of the SEO metrics you should be tracking to measure your success include your:
Search Engine Rankings
This metric will show you where your website ranks in the search engine results pages for certain keywords. It’s essential to track your rankings over time to see if your SEO efforts are paying off.
Number of Visitors
The number of visitors to your website is a good metric to track because it will show you how much traffic you’re getting from the search engines. If this number is increasing, then it’s a good sign that your SEO is working.
Click-Through Rate
The click-through rate (CTR) is the percentage of people who click on your website after seeing it in the search results. It’s important to track because it can tell you quite a bit about how effective your headline and meta description are.
Time on Site
This metric measures how long people stay on your website after arriving. It’s a good indicator of whether or not your website is providing value to visitors. And it matters because Google uses it as a ranking factor.
Bounce Rate
Bounce rate is another Google ranking factor and refers to how many people leave your website after only viewing one page and is expressed as a percentage. A high bounce rate often means that the page in question is not meeting visitors’ needs, so Google will likely lower the ranking of that page.
Conclusion
If you’re looking to increase your website traffic, then SEO is a great place to start. And these five tips will help you to get started on the right foot. Just remember that it all starts with picking the right keywords and creating great content that people will want to link to and share. From there, you can reach out to other website owners, submit guest posts, and include links in your social media profiles. Finally, monitor your progress and adjust your strategy as needed.