Kyle Garcia
Learning SEO can be simple, but certainly not easy. As a beginner, there are many areas you will need to master (including technical SEO, on-site optimization, off-site optimization, link building and more). This article advises you how to start.
Setup a Test Site
The first thing you should do, is setup a test site which will allow you to experiment with the SEO strategies you are reading and learning about. You will also be able to better understand some of the more technical aspects being discussed in many SEO materials.
We recommend going with one of the popular content management systems (CMS) like WordPress or Shopify. It is generally easier and quicker to get setup on such platforms, plus there is a lot of learning resources and materials already published online about them. If you run into issues, more likely than not someone will have written an article about how to fix it already.
Only Learn From Experts
You need to be careful of who you learn from when it comes to learning SEO, there is a lot of myths, misconceptions and misinformation out there.
Whenever possible, seek to learn from those that do as they say. Anyone offering advice on SEO should be actively ranking for competitive keywords. Those working as an in-house SEO for a popular brand or at a respected agency are likely to be more trustworthy.
Avoid anyone making too-good-to-be-true promises and guarantees like:
- Overnight ranking.
- Rankings for competitive keywords with little-to-none investment.
- Turnkey systems which always result in rankings.
- Guaranteed top positions.
There are plenty of good SEOs to learn from, make sure you follow some of the Google spokespeople (like John Mueller) who often interact and engage with credible SEOs.
Read The Official Google Docs
Google provides plenty of documentation explaining how their search engine works. You would be silly to note read it!
Pay particular attention to their quality rater guidelines. These give you a great insight into what type of sites they are aiming to rank top in the search results.
