SEO Guide for Beginners |5 Great Tips for 2019

“What is SEO and can I optimise my own site?”

Probably the question I get asked the most! Search Engine Optimisation or SEO is a mysterious subject, or so people think. It is within the reach of any one who has the skills to use a mouse and a keyboard but does involve a lot of research and dedicated time to achieve good results.  However, in this post I will outline  the minimum SEO basics for 2019. These are 5 actionable SEO tips that you can implement right now to rank higher in Google and  improve your visibility in organic searches.  Organic results are the natural results Google displays that are most relevant to the users search words or phrases as opposed to paid results and Google Ads. 

Still reading? Then here are 5 actionable SEO tips for beginners to help optimise your site and drive more organic traffic.

SEO TIP NO. 1 : Do Your Research and Choose Relevant Keywords

Choosing the right keywords to rank for is the basis of all successful SEO work. What are YOUR potential clients going to type into a search engine to find YOUR services? For a health and fitness professional this might be: personal trainer in Bromsgrove or Health and Fitness SEO in Birmingham.

There are many tools you can use to collect a relevant selection of keywords.

1. What would you type into Google? Just write everything down!  What do you do?, what services do you offer?, what locations do you serve?, what is your USP?  Combine what you do with where you do it and form a basic list of keywords or short phrases. I would suggest collecting your ideas using a spreadsheet and include the search volumes and the relevance score.

2. Keyword research tools. From paid tools to free online tools there are so many to choose from. 

SEMRush is considered the ultimate online SEO tool but you need deep pockets to access all its functions. However, sign up with a free account and you can access some powerful tools to get your small business started. All-in-one SEO Power Suite is free to download software and has some incredible free SEO tools. Like SEMRush though you will need to buy a license to access advanced features.

Ubersuggest, KWFinder, and KeywordTool.io  are also great free tools to gather ideas for your keyword list. 

3. Use Google to search for keywords.

As you search for keywords you will see suggestions in the search bar. Add these variations to your own list. Again, search for these variations and add their suggestions too. 

You will end up with upwards of 50 keywords maybe even closer to 100. Here is an example of what your list may look like:

What is SEO

How do I do SEO

Beginners SEO

SEO for Beginners

Beginners SEO 2019

SEO for BEginners 2019

SEO tips for beginners

Top SEO tips for beginners 

SEO tips for small businesses

Obviously, the meaning of these words is very similar and can be used in your online content to optimise your page. What this means is that your web page, post or article will feature these words several times. This then ranks your page higher in search engines for a wide range of words. 

SEO TIP No.2:  Optimise your page titles and meta-descriptions

When you have your keyword list you will want to optimise your page title. This is the HTML <title> element and not what is shown on the page. This is editable in your website control panel,  SEO plugin or directly in the HTML if you know what you are doing.

We want our keywords to appear naturally rather than ‘stuffing’ them in unnecessarily.  Page titles are what are shown in search results so you need to be clear what the page is about and engage the user to click!

Here is an example for a home page

Personal Trainer in Bromsgrove – James Dean Fitness Training

For a client services page:

Personal Trainer |Marathon Training | Free Quote | Dean’s Fitness Training

Personal Trainer | Worcestershire Area | 7 Days a week | Dean’sFitness Training

These titles serve as marketing ideas using keywords like free quote and 7 day availability. These are keywords that will increase the chances of someone clicking on your search result.

A search engine result is a free advertisement, so use it as a marketing and SEO opportunity. Engagement with your search result can improve rankings which improves marketing results, which improves rankings…!

Avoid cramming keywords into your titles. It affects readability and Google doesn’t like this.

Trainer | Personal Trainer| Fitness Training | Personal Training Services

The other key component to consider is your meta description. Again, this should be editable in your website’s content management system, SEO plugin or directly in your HTML.

Page titles can have a big impact on SEO, but, the meta description is a description of the content on your page. Your title grabs people’s attention and your meta description helps convince them to click.

The page title and meta description I have used for this post is:

SEO Guide for Beginners – 5 Great Tips for 2019

5 great SEO tips for beginners. Easily improve rankings and drive traffic by optimising your site for Google. By www.thewebgym.com

The title tells you what the article is about. The meta description provides more information and encourage the user to click through.  I also include my business name to drive brand awareness.

Meta descriptions do not influence rankings directly. However, getting listed is only 50% of the job. You need users to click! Google looks at engagement metrics and the more clicks you have the higher your rankings.  Results that are not clicked can lose position in the rankings.

Write descriptive titles and engaging meta descriptions using your key words to improve your organic traffic and search rankings.

TIP NO. 3:  Optimise Your On Page Content

Your next task is to optimise your page content.  SEO tip no.1, keyword research should have given you a list of relevant keywords.  You now need to insert these into your page content in as natural way as possible.

There are several important page elements you need to consider.

• Header Tags – H1, H2, H3
• Body Content – the main text paragraphs on the page
• Images – the images you use to engage your readers

The MozBartool is useful to determine how good your on page content. Download the MoZBar tool for chrome here.

Headings and subheadings on the page should be optimised to include your keywords naturally. Ideally, you want just one <H1> tag, the visible on page title that tells users what your page is about.  Subheadings should use <h2> tags and so on. This should improve page readability and allow you to include keywords naturally.

You need to create body content that describes and promotes your business aiming to use as many of your keywords as possible, but in a natural written style.  Don’t be concerned about keyword volumes just write readable content that will engage and hold your readers’ attention.

Images can also be optimised for the purposes of SEO. The file name of the image, the image alt text (often missed out on many sites!), and the image description are the key areas to include keywords. Make sure your images are also placed next to the relevant text. Finally make sure image file sizes are kept to a minimum. Jpeg is best unless you need transparent backgrounds in which case use a .png. This will speed up page loading times an element Google considers when ranking your site. The quicker the better.

Designed well, your page should include many of your keywords and be written in a natural style that sells your services to your potential clients. Therefore, generating more leads and sales from your website!

SEO TIP NO. 4:  Optimise Your Business Online

If not already done so you need to list your business online. Social media sites, facebook, twitter, LinkedIn, Google Business, Google+ and business directories like Yell.com should all have the details of your business. Search engines use this information to build trust and authority. This will help increase your rankings. What are you waiting for…get signed up and logged in!

Make sure that you continue to update your online profiles and listings (called citations) so that they remain relevant to your business. Add your current address, contact details and use your keywords in the business listings. 

Do the same with your social media profiles. You may not be able to add address and contact details but you can still tweet and post regularly to keep your followers engaged. Use keywords in your posts, tell potential clients how you can solve their needs and what makes you unique. If you have a blog try and write at least one article a week and share it across all of your online platforms. Social media will help to build your authority and trust.

SEO TIP NO. 5:  Link Building

Building relevant links is essential if you are to improve your SEO visibility for your keywords. Link building has gained an ugly reputation. Links can both support and damage your search engine rankings.

You need to choose your links carefully and they need to point to your site. They help Google and other search engines decide upon your importance and help order search results using these metrics. Google’s link advice is to “make sure other sites link to yours”.

Links help web crawlers find your site and can give your site greater visibility in our search results. Google interprets a link from one page to another as a ‘vote’. ‘Votes’ cast by pages that are themselves ‘important’ weigh more heavily and help to make other pages rank.

Link building is the most challenging element of SEO and is where beginners fall down. However, here are some simple strategies to get some safe backlinks that will improve your visibility in search engine results.

1. Get Listed On  Directory Sites

List your business on safe sites like Yell.com, Thompson, and business directories in your niche.  If your potential clients are going to click on these directories it is absolutely worth getting your business added.

2. Competitor Link Analysis

Look at your competitors’ links to identify where you can improve your own site. Look up your top 5 or 10 competitors using the free tools in SEMRush or All-in-one SEO Power Suite. Go for quality rather than quantity. What are your potential customers likely to click on to find you.

3. Testimonials & Reviews

Writing testimonials and reviews for the businesses you work with are a fairly easy way to generate links. Try your web site designer, SEO company, social media handlers, existing suppliers and customers. 

My final top tip is to register your site with Google Search Console. It will enable you to analyse your site and will provide feedback you can use to improve how your site appears in search results. This is information directly from Google so take advantage of it!

MY 5 TOP SEO TIPS

Here are my top 5 SEO tips that ANYONE can action right now.  What are you waiting for! Your turn to reach the dizzying heights of #1 on GOOGLE!

1. Do your research and choose relevant keywords
2. Optimise your page titles and meta-descriptions
3. Optimise your on page content
4. Optimise your business online
5. Link Building

 If you haven’t already implemented these SEO tips then you will see real results in your traffic and search engine rankings. 

Interested in finding out more?

I can highly recommend the following resources if you wish to delve deeper into the not so secret world of SEO.

• Googles own SEO guidelines
• SEO 2018 by Alan Clarke. One of the best books on SEO in my opinion. Easy to read and actionable results.
• SemRush SEO Blog
• SEO Tutorial For Beginners by LINKIO

If you have any questions about SEO, web design or digital marketing then follow The Web Gym on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn and say hello! We are based in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire and offer web design, SEO and marketing services.