Need to polish up your knowledge? The Beginner's Guide to SEO has been read over 3 million times and provides comprehensive information you need to get on the road to professional quality Search Engine Optimization, or SEO. SEO is a marketing discipline focused on growing visibility in organic (non-paid) search engine results. SEO encompasses both the technical and creative elements required to improve rankings, drive traffic, and increase awareness in search engines. There are many aspects to SEO, from the words on your page to the way other sites link to you on the web. Sometimes SEO is simply a matter of making sure your site is structured in a way that search engines understand. SEO isn't just about building search engine-friendly websites. It's about making your site better for people too. At Moz we believe these principles go hand-in-hand. This guide is designed to describe all areas of SEO—from finding the terms and phrases (keywords) that generate traffic to your website, to making your site friendly to search engines, to building links and marketing the unique value of your site.
If you are confused about this stuff, you are not alone, and we're here to help. The majority of web traffic is driven by the major commercial search engines, Google, Bing, and Yahoo!. Although social media and other types of traffic can generate visits to your website, search engines are the primary method of navigation for most Internet users. This is true whether your site provides content, services, products, information, or just about anything else. Search engines are unique in that they provide targeted traffic—people looking for what you offer. Search engines are the roadways that make this happen. If search engines cannot find your site, or add your content to their databases, you miss out on incredible opportunities to drive traffic to your site. Search queries—the words that users type into the search box—carry extraordinary value. Experience has shown that search engine traffic can make (or break) an organization's success. Targeted traffic to a website can provide publicity, revenue, and exposure like no other channel of marketing.
Investing in SEO can have an exceptional rate of return compared to other types of marketing and promotion. Search engines are smart, but they still need help. The major engines are always working to improve their technology to crawl the web more deeply and return better results to users. However, there is a limit to how search engines can operate. Whereas the right SEO can net you thousands of visitors and increased attention, the wrong moves can hide or bury your site deep in the search results where visibility is minimal. In addition to making content available to search engines, SEO also helps boost rankings so that content will be placed where searchers will more readily find it. The Internet is becoming increasingly competitive, and those companies who perform SEO will have a decided advantage in visitors and customers. The world of SEO is complex, but most people can easily understand the basics. Even a small amount of knowledge can make a big difference. Free SEO education is widely available on the web, including in guides like this.
Combine this with a little practice and you are well on your way to becoming a guru. Depending on your time commitment, your willingness to learn, and the complexity of your website(s), you may decide you need an expert to handle things for you. Firms that practice SEO can vary; some have a highly specialized focus, while others take a broader and more general approach. In any case, it's good to have a firm grasp of the core concepts. If you are serious about improving search traffic and are unfamiliar with SEO, we recommend reading this guide front-to-back. We've tried to make it as concise as possible and easy to understand. There's a printable PDF version for those who'd prefer, and dozens of linked-to resources on other sites and pages that are also worthy of your attention. Each section of this guide is important to understanding the most effective practices of search engine optimization. Want to rank higher and get more visitors to your online store? In our Shop SEO eBook we explain in detail how to achieve this.
From technical optimization and finding your niche to structuring your site and creating awesome product pages. Read all about Shop SEO » A lot of blog posts and books around SEO focus on the technical aspects. However, 90% of your ranking is not determined by the technical aspects but by your content and how you’ve optimized that. This book on Content SEO tells you everything you need to know about creating SEO and user friendly content. Read all about Content SEO » UX & Conversion from a holistic SEO perspective » This eBook teaches you about user experience (UX) and conversion and explains why working on both is very important for your site’s SEO. It shows some common usability issues, explains best practices and provides tips and tricks to give your site’s visitors a great experience. Read all about UX & Conversion from a holistic SEO perspective » SEO for WordPress » Optimize your site to the fullest! This SEO for WordPress eBook guides you through every aspect of Search Engine Optimization that is important for a site.
It covers creating awesome site content, optimizing your site technically and improving the UX of your site. Besides that, it will also provide you tips on how to market, promote or make money with your site. Read all about SEO for WordPress » Shop SEO and UX & Conversion » This eBook bundle will enable you to make your online store better found and to turn your visitors into customers! Read all about Shop SEO and UX & Conversion » SEO for WordPress and UX & Conversion » If you own a site, you’d want your site to be found, and of course give your visitors an awesome experience on your site. This eBook bundle helps you with both! SEO for WordPress Our eBook SEO for WordPress is the most extensive eBook we’ve released so far. It gives you hands on information on how […] Read all about SEO for WordPress and UX & Conversion » Optimize your Content, UX & Conversion bundle » If you want to optimize your site’s user experience, you should also think about your site’s content.