Beginner's Guide to SEO: How to Boost Search Visibility

Learn how you can help search engines understand your website’s content and value so that they’re more likely to surface your site in search results.

Ranking on Google isn’t magical—it’s methodical. Google, Bing, and other search engines use sophisticated algorithms to surface the most helpful, reputable websites, which is why some sites dominate search results while others remain buried.

Understanding search engine algorithms (and how to work with them) is called search engine optimization (SEO) and it’s essential if you want shoppers to find your store. This guide breaks down the basics so you can boost your visibility without feeling overwhelmed.

Here’s how you can help search engines understand your website’s content and value so they’re more likely to surface your site in search results.

What is SEO?

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of editing and adjusting a website to improve its search engine rankings. Your goal is to appear on the first page of Google results for queries your customers actually type, using organic tactics like keyword research, quality content creation, link building, and enhancing site performance.

Types of SEO

When people talk about SEO, they may refer to several different ways of optimizing your website for search. Here are some SEO categories to be aware of:

On-page SEO

On-page SEO involves optimizing a website’s content and source code for performance. This might include improving your page loading speed, website copy, URL structure, meta data, and code cleanliness.

SEO content marketing

SEO content marketing is about publishing more content on your website in an effort to target additional keywords, including long-tail keywords (or specific phrases people search for), and appear in broader Google search results. To do this, you must create high-quality content that provides value to your target audience.

Off-page SEO

This involves actions beyond your own site to improve rankings, primarily through earning high-quality backlinks (links from other websites). It also includes brand mentions and social media marketing efforts.

Technical SEO

Technical SEO is about improving your website’s infrastructure for search engine crawling and indexing. If you picture your website as a physical building, this is like making sure the roads leading to that building are well-maintained and the signs pointing to it are easy to understand.

Mobile SEO

This is about ensuring that a web page loads quickly and responsively on mobile devices like smartphones and tablets.

Key SEO Terms Beginners Need to Know

SEO has a reputation for being a mysterious art, thanks in part to all the jargon SEO professionals use. Here’s a primer on some common SEO terms to help you start your SEO journey:

• Search engines: Platforms like Google and Bing that provide people with links to information on the internet in response to a search query.
• Search engine optimization (SEO): The practice of improving your website to increase organic traffic from search engines.
• SERP: Stands for “search engine results page,” the page displayed by a search engine in response to a user’s search query.
• Keyword research: The process of identifying which words and phrases (called keywords) users are searching for, often by using a keyword research tool.
• Backlinks: Links from other websites to your site, an important search engine ranking factor.
• Title tags: Also known as meta titles, these are HTML elements that define the clickable headline shown in search engine results.
• Meta description: A specific type of meta tag that describes the content of a particular web page.

8 Steps to Get Started with SEO

You don’t need advanced SEO knowledge to set your website up for success. Here are the eight essential steps to help your website rank higher in search results:

1. Submit your sitemap URL to Google

   • Submit your XML sitemap through Google Search Console so the crawler can discover and index every important page.

2. Conduct keyword research

   • Use a keyword research tool to uncover the terms your site, competitors, and key publishers already rank for, then look for gaps you can fill.

3. Conduct a competitor analysis

   • Study top-ranking pages to spot common structures, content angles, and technical elements worth emulating.

4. Create high-quality content

   • Use your research to create or update content that is genuinely useful to readers and reflects your brand’s expertise.

5. Improve your technical SEO

   • Focus on site architecture, speed, mobile-friendliness, and security to enhance crawlability and user experience.

6. Leverage SEO tools

   • Use tools like Google Search Console, Google Analytics, and keyword planners to refine your approach.

7. Build up your backlinks

   • Earn links from high-quality domains by creating valuable content like original data, guides, or tools, then promote it through guest posts and partnerships.

8. Monitor your results

   • Track keyword rankings, traffic, and page performance regularly, update content based on research, and publish new pages targeting your keywords.

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