What is SEO? How to Learn SEO

If you’re curious about SEO and how to learn it, or if you’re wondering if you can do SEO on your mobile device, you’re in the right place.

In today’s article, we’ll dive deep into the world of SEO, covering a wide range of topics in detail. By the end of this read, even if you’re a complete beginner in the world of SEO, I aim to turn you into a skilled SEO practitioner, inshallah!

Did you know that the demand for SEO experts in the online sector is soaring? Companies are willing to pay top dollar for SEO services, but not everyone can become an SEO expert. It’s not about physical strength; it’s about mastering the techniques that rely on your brainpower.

Before we get into the nitty-gritty details, let’s first understand what SEO is and whether it’s possible to make money through SEO. Stay tuned!

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What is SEO?

Let’s talk about SEO. Have you ever wondered what SEO means? Well, it stands for Search Engine Optimization. It’s all about making your online content friendly for search engines like Google.

But you might be thinking, What’s the big deal about SEO? Let me explain with an example. Imagine you have an online shop where you sell mobile phones. When someone goes to Google and types mobile, you want your website to be the first thing they see.

Why? Because most people click on the first results Google shows. So, how do you make sure Google puts your website at the top? The answer is SEO.

You see, there are thousands of websites online, but not all of them can convince Google that they’re the real deal. Google won’t rank your website high unless it understands what your website is all about.

That’s where SEO comes in. When you optimize your website properly for search engines, Google will give it top billing in search results.

By now, you should have a good idea of what SEO is. If you’re still not sure, well, I might not be doing a great job explaining it.

Now, let’s explore why you should learn SEO. Knowing SEO can benefit you, and not knowing it could be a missed opportunity.

Basics of SEO

Just like humans have basic needs like food, clothing, shelter, and more for survival, SEO (Search Engine Optimization) has its own set of fundamentals that are crucial for its success.

These fundamentals are like the building blocks of SEO, and without them, SEO remains incomplete. To truly grasp the concept of SEO, it’s essential to have a detailed understanding of its basics.

SEO has several fundamental elements, and in this article, we’ll explore some of the most important ones.

Competitor Analysis: Becoming an SEO expert means understanding the importance of something called ‘Competitor Analysis.’ It’s a crucial skill because analyzing your competitors is like having a map to success in the world of SEO.

But wait, who exactly are your competitors, and why should you care? Let’s break it down.

Imagine you’re running a website that’s all about ‘online income.’ You’ve been publishing content for a while, but when you search on Google, your content shows up on the 2nd page. So, who are your competitors? Well, those are the websites sitting at the top positions on the 1st page of Google.

Now you might wonder, Why is my content on the 2nd page, and what’s so special about their content? That’s where competitor analysis comes in. You need to look at a few things:

Content Quality: How good is their content?
Content Quantity: How much content do they have?
Focus Keywords: What keywords are they targeting?
LSI Keywords: Are they using related keywords effectively?
Backlinks: Who’s linking to their website?
DA/PA: What’s their Domain Authority and Page Authority?

Once you analyze these aspects of your competitor’s websites, you’ll know what you need to do to improve your own content. For example, if your content is 5,000 words and the top-ranking content has 7,000 words, it’s time to add more words and update your content.

This is just a glimpse of how competitor analysis works. It’s all about learning from your competition and making your blog or content even better.

Also Read, Who Invented Mobile Phone? History of Mobile Invention

Keyword Research

If you’re diving into the world of SEO, there’s one task that’s both important and sometimes a bit tricky: keyword research. When you do keyword research, you want to keep a few important things in mind:

Keyword Search Volume: How many people are searching for that keyword?
Keyword Difficulty: How tough is it to rank for that keyword?
Keyword Quantity: Are there enough relevant keywords to choose from?
LSI Keywords: What related keywords can you use?
KGR Keywords: Are there keywords with low competition and decent search volume?

Here’s the deal: You need to pick keywords that lots of people search for because even if your content is super SEO-optimized, it won’t help if no one’s searching for those keywords.

Keyword difficulty matters too. If you choose a high-demand keyword that lots of good websites are already ranking for, you’ll have to work extra hard to compete.

Here’s an interesting tidbit: As you become more experienced in SEO, you’ll discover two more types of keywords. One is the KGR Keyword, which has low competition and search volume. The other is LSI keywords, which often lurk at the bottom of Google’s search results.

It takes time and experience to fully grasp these keyword techniques, but they’re essential for success in the world of SEO.

Backlinks

Let’s talk about something really powerful in the world of SEO: backlinks. Some people might think that backlinks don’t work anymore, but that’s not entirely true.

Sure, some old backlink techniques don’t work as well as they used to, but that doesn’t mean you can skip this important part of SEO.

When you dive into the world of backlinks, you’ll come across various strategies like:

Anchor Text
Blog Comments
Forum Posting
Guest Posting
Profile Backlinks
Social Bookmarking
Web 2.0
Social SEO, and more.

Here’s the thing: When you’re building backlinks, you need to make it look natural. Google should never suspect that you’re just trying to force or buy links for your website.

Plus, the websites you get backlinks from should be high authority, and the lower their spam score, the better. It’s all about quality over quantity when it comes to backlinks.

Visitor Analyzes

Let’s talk about something really important when you’re running a website and doing SEO: your visitors. After all, the whole point of creating a website and doing SEO is to attract visitors, right?

But it’s not just about getting them to your site; you also need to understand them. Here are a few things you should be looking at:

Finding Out How They Got Here: Are visitors coming from search engines or other sources?
Discovering the Keywords: What keywords are leading them to your site?
Checking the Bounce Rate: Are visitors leaving your site quickly, or are they sticking around?
Monitoring Time Spent: How much time are visitors spending on your content?

Keeping track of these things is crucial for making your website better and more visitor-friendly.

Why do SEO?

Let’s answer a simple question: Why bother with SEO? Well, it all comes down to one thing—to get more visitors to your website. Because, let’s face it, a website’s lifeblood is its visitors. You already knew that, right?

Here’s the deal: There are millions of websites out there, and chances are, if you’re working on a website, there are thousands of others covering the same topic.

Now, when you search for something on Google, you’ve probably noticed that some websites show up at the top, while others are way down or on different pages. Ever wondered why?

Why does Google put some websites above all the rest, and why do they sometimes shuffle them around? Can you pinpoint the exact reason?

Hang on, I’ll explain.

The main reason is optimization. Sure, anyone can create content on the same topic, but not everyone can convince Google (and other search engines) that they’re the real deal.

Until search engines understand your website, it won’t show up on the coveted first page of search results. And if your site isn’t on that first page, you won’t get the visitors you’re hoping for.

Now, let’s look at it from a different angle. E-commerce is booming, and you decide to launch your own online store.

Your brand-new website is a mystery to people; they don’t know it exists. So how do you attract visitors to your shiny new site?

The very first step after creating a new website is optimizing it for search engines. You see, search engines need to understand what your website is all about and who you’re targeting.

I’ve been saying two words a lot in this article: Search Engine. Do you know what a search engine is? Let’s talk about that in a nutshell.

What is Search Engine?

Let’s talk about something important: search engines. You’ve probably heard of Google; it’s a famous search engine. But did you know that there’s more to search engines than just Google? If you thought Google was the only one, don’t worry, you’re not alone.

In reality, there are many search engines out there, each with its own unique features. Google might be the big player, but it’s not the only one in the game. Here are a few other search engines you might want to know:

Duckduckgo.com
Yahoo.com
Youtube.com
Bing.com
Baidu.com
Yandex.com
Ask.com

And there are several more! But for today, let’s focus on Google since it’s the most popular. Keep in mind that every search engine uses a different algorithm. However, if you understand how one algorithm works, you’ll have a head start in understanding others.

Now, the real fun for an SEO expert is to understand and work with these search engines. But before diving into algorithms, let’s first explore how these search engines do their magic.

How do Search Engines Work?

We all know that when we type something into Google, it gives us information. But as an SEO expert, you need to think a little differently.

Don’t just think, Google shows us whatever we search for. Instead, think about why Google shows us what we search for.

So, when can you call yourself an SEO expert? Well, it’s when you understand how search engines work. And let me tell you, understanding this isn’t easy.

When you search on Google, do you think there’s someone sitting at a computer, personally finding and showing you the information you need? Not at all. If that were the case, there would have to be millions of people working at Google around the clock, which is impossible!

So how does Google do it? They have these incredible things called ‘Programs.’ It’s like someone, just like you or me, is programming and building a robot. When we search on Google, this robot finds and gives us the right information.

Now, you might be wondering, what are these search engine robots? How do they know what we want to see?

Well, these search engine robots have two important parts:

The Crawler
The Indexer

Think of them like the organs in your body, such as your hands, feet, and lungs. In the world of search engines, these crawlers, indexers, and spiders are like the lungs—they help search engines breathe and function properly.

It might sound funny, but it’s true! Let’s explore this fascinating world a bit more.

What does the crawler do?

So, you’ve built a new website, and you’ve optimized it for search engines. Now, the search engine’s crawler pays your website a visit.

The crawler’s job is to look around your website and check out what’s going on. It’s like an investigator, taking a close look at your website to understand what it’s all about and who it’s meant for. This whole process is known as ‘crawling.’

What does the indexer do?

Once the crawler has had a good look around your website and understands what it’s all about, it’s time for the next step. The crawler figures out the main content of your website and then passes all that information to something called the ‘indexer.’

Think of the indexer as a librarian. It takes all the information from your website and carefully stores it in its own database for safekeeping.

How does SEO Work?

If you want to learn SEO but don’t know how it really works, your SEO journey might feel like a puzzle missing its pieces.

Learning something means understanding it inside out, right?

Imagine you have a website or a blog, and you write about Online Income. Now, just because you published this content doesn’t mean Google will automatically put your website on the first page when someone searches for online income. That’s where SEO comes into play!

But here’s the thing, doing SEO doesn’t mean your content will instantly land on Google’s front page. When you do SEO, you’re basically sending positive signals to search engines.

The main goal of SEO is to convince search engines that your content is packed with important information that everyone should see.

So, let’s say you published content, and Google puts it on the second page of search results. Your aim is to get that content to the first page. But how do you do that? You need to optimize it properly.

When Google places your content on the second page, it means the Google crawler has some idea of what your content is about. Now it’s your turn to fine-tune your content after publishing it, making it easier for the Google crawler to understand.

This way, you gradually apply SEO techniques, and the Google crawlers start grasping the essence of your content.

Assuming you’ve optimized your content 100%, when someone searches for online income on Google, Google’s spiders will check their massive database for any information related to online income. If your content has convinced Google through SEO that it’s about online income, your content will likely show up at the top of the search results.

But remember, SEO is not a magic wand. It’s a slow and steady process. Don’t expect instant results in this field; it takes time and effort.

What are the Types of SEO?

The world of SEO can be a bit confusing, can’t it? Some folks say there are two types of SEO, others claim there are four. Well, let me simplify things for you. From where I stand, there are three main types of SEO:

Black Hat SEO
Gray Hat SEO
White Hat SEO

You might be wondering, Why should I care about hats in SEO? Well, SEO is all about attracting more visitors to your website, right? To do that effectively, you need to understand these three approaches in detail.

So, let’s dive in and explore the colorful world of SEO hats!

Black Hat SEO

Imagine trying to get more visitors to your website by using sneaky and illegal methods. That’s what we call Black Hat SEO.

It might surprise you, but Black Hat techniques can actually drive a lot of traffic to a website. If you’re thinking of going down this shadowy path, here’s what you need to do:

Keyword Stuffing: Jam-pack your content with keywords, even if they don’t make sense.
Clickbait Titles: Create catchy but misleading titles to trick people into clicking.
Lots of Backlinks: Get as many backlinks as you can, regardless of their quality.

Now, you might wonder, if Black Hat techniques can bring in visitors, why bother with the other SEO techniques? Well, Black Hat SEO is like trying to outsmart Google. When you understand how Google’s algorithm works, you might think you can pull a fast one on them.

But here’s the catch: Trying to deceive a search engine is a dangerous game. Sure, you can boost your site’s ranking in the short term, but Google is no fool. Sooner or later, they’ll catch on to your tricks.

And when they do, they’ll slap your website with penalties, making it nearly invisible in search results. So, while Black Hat SEO might seem tempting, it’s a risky strategy that’s not worth the long-term consequences.

Gray Hat SEO

In the world of SEO, there are good techniques, there are bad techniques, and then there’s Gray Hat SEO. Many bloggers and SEO experts lean toward Gray Hat SEO.

Now, you might be wondering, Are there any downsides to Gray Hat SEO?

Well, Gray Hat techniques do come with their fair share of risks. But it’s a bit like a game of cat and mouse: as long as search engines don’t catch on to your techniques, you’re in the clear. But once they do, your SEO strategy could be in jeopardy.

White Hat SEO

When it comes to SEO techniques, White Hat SEO stands out as the safest and most lawful approach.

By mastering the techniques of White Hat SEO, you can proudly call yourself an SEO expert.

In this article, we’ll focus exclusively on White Hat SEO, the tried-and-true method for achieving SEO success while staying on the right side of the law.

How to Do SEO?

SEO experts worldwide use two main approaches to achieve top search rankings:

Organic SEO: This method focuses on improving your website’s visibility naturally, without paid promotions.
Paid SEO: Also known as Paid Search or Search Engine Marketing (SEM), this approach involves investing in paid advertisements to boost your website’s visibility.

In this article, we’ll delve into these two methods to help you understand how they work and which one may be right for your needs.

What is Paid SEO?

Paid SEO, also known as Paid Search or Search Engine Marketing (SEM), involves investing money to enhance your website’s visibility in search engine results. To kickstart your paid SEO journey, you’ll need to follow these steps:

Keyword Selection: Choose the specific keywords you want to target and attract visitors to your website.
Budget Allocation: Determine how much money you’re willing to spend on your paid SEO campaign.
Payment to Search Engines: If you’re using Google, for instance, you’ll provide your chosen keywords and learn the cost upfront. Once you make the payment, your campaign begins.

Once your campaign is live, your website will appear at the top of search results when someone searches using your targeted keywords. This method offers a fast-track approach to improve your online visibility.

What is Organic SEO

Organic SEO is all about attracting visitors to your website through search engines without spending any money. It relies on various techniques, and I’m here to shed light on them.

In fact, there are three primary techniques you can use to bring visitors to your website without opening your wallet:

On-Page SEO: This involves optimizing the content and elements on your website to make it more search engine-friendly. You’ll learn more about this in the upcoming sections.
Off-Page SEO: Off-page SEO strategies focus on building your website’s authority and reputation on the web. It’s a crucial aspect of organic SEO that we’ll delve into shortly.
Technical SEO: Technical SEO ensures that your website is set up correctly for search engines to crawl and index. We’ll also explore this aspect in detail.

Although I’ve covered these topics before, I’ll provide concise explanations to make them more accessible for you.

What is OnPage SEO?

If you own a website and want to improve its visibility on search engines, you need to focus on On-Page SEO. But what exactly is On-Page SEO, and how can you harness its power? Let’s dive into it.

On-page SEO involves optimizing various elements within your website to enhance its search engine performance. To excel in On-Page SEO, here are the key tasks you should prioritize:

Title Optimization: Crafting an engaging and keyword-rich title tag is essential to catch the attention of both search engines and readers.
Meta Tags: Properly optimize meta tags to provide concise yet informative descriptions of your web pages.
SEO-Friendly Content: Create high-quality content that resonates with your target audience and search engines alike.
Keyword Research: Thoroughly research and select relevant keywords to target in your content.
Keyword Placement: Strategically place keywords throughout your content to signal its relevance.
LSI Keywords: Incorporate Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) keywords to enhance content context and understanding.
Content-Length: Longer, in-depth content often performs better in search results.
Tags and Categories: Organize your content using appropriate tags and categories for easier navigation.
Menu Placement: Ensure easy access to essential pages through well-structured menus.
HTTPS and SSL Certificate: Secure your website with HTTPS and an SSL certificate for user trust and search engine preference.
Robots.txt: Implement a robots.txt file to guide search engine crawlers through your site.

All of the above factors fall under the realm of On-Page SEO, and it’s vital to address each one. As I mentioned earlier, search engine crawlers need to understand the topic of your website clearly. On-page SEO is your way of communicating that message effectively.

When a search engine crawler visits your website, it first examines your website’s title, meta tags, and descriptions. It evaluates how well your content is optimized and even assesses the quantity of content available.

The information gathered during this crawl is then indexed in the search engine’s data center. So, if you’re just starting with SEO, make On-Page SEO your top priority.

What is Off-Page SEO?

Have you heard about Off-Page SEO? It’s the magic that happens outside your website to make it more popular and influential in the online world.

Off-page SEO holds the power to elevate your website’s Domain Authority (DA) and Page Authority (PA), two essential factors for improving your website’s rankings. Now, let’s delve into the techniques you can employ for effective Off-Page SEO:

Backlinks: Backlinks are like digital endorsements. When other websites link to your content, it sends a strong signal to search engines that your website is valuable.
Social Authority: Your website’s presence and activity on social media platforms can significantly impact its popularity and credibility.
Local Business: If you have a local business, optimizing your online presence for local searches can help attract more customers to your area.

Off-Page SEO serves several crucial purposes, including:

Boosting Domain Ranking: Enhancing your website’s overall ranking and authority in its niche.
Keyword Ranking: Aiding specific keywords and content to rank higher in search results.
Elevating DA and PA: Increasing both Domain Authority and Page Authority over time.

Now, you might be wondering how exactly DA and PA increase.

Domain Authority (DA) represents your domain’s trustworthiness and relevance in search engines. When you begin, your domain might have a low score, like 0-1% out of 100%. However, by implementing Off-Page SEO techniques, you can gradually raise your domain’s score.

Similarly, Page Authority (PA) measures the authority of specific pages or content on your website. Off-page SEO can enhance PA just like it does for DA.

So, why do these scores increase?

The answer lies in two powerful factors: Backlinks and Social Sharing. Backlinks are like recommendations from other websites. When different websites link to yours, search engines take notice. They see it as a sign that your website holds valuable content. This, in turn, leads to improved rankings over time.

What is Technical SEO?

So, you’ve mastered On-Page SEO and Off-Page SEO, and you might be thinking, Why isn’t Google ranking my website already? Well, there’s one more crucial aspect of SEO that often goes unnoticed but plays a significant role – Technical SEO.

While many discussions around SEO revolve around On-Page and Off-Page techniques, Technical SEO is equally vital. In fact, it can make or break your chances of ranking your website effectively.

Picture this: You’ve dedicated yourself to perfecting On-Page and Off-Page SEO, but you’ve neglected Technical SEO. Let me tell you, your website’s chances of reaching the top of search engine results are slim to none.

But why is Technical SEO so important? Before we get to that, let’s explore some of the key elements that fall under the umbrella of Technical SEO. These include:

Sitemap & Robots.txt File: Uploading these files correctly helps search engines understand and index your website better.
Crawler Error Fixes: Addressing and rectifying errors that search engine crawlers encounter while navigating your site.
Dealing with Duplicate Content: Ensuring your website doesn’t have identical content causes confusion for search engines.
Implementing 301 Redirects: Properly redirecting old or outdated URLs to new ones.
Optimizing URL Structure: Creating clean, descriptive, and user-friendly URLs.
Securing an SSL Certificate: Ensuring your website is secure, especially if it involves transactions or personal data.
Website Structure & Design: Ensuring your website’s layout and structure are user-friendly and easy to navigate.
Page Loading Speed: Enhancing your website’s speed to keep visitors engaged.
Mobile Usability: Ensuring your website functions seamlessly on mobile devices.

Imagine this: Your website ranks at the top of Google for a specific keyword. When someone clicks on your link, they’re excited to explore your content. However, if your website takes a whopping 30 seconds to load, chances are that visitors won’t wait around.

Instead, they’ll hit the back button and explore other websites. And here’s the catch: Google notices this behavior. They interpret it as your website not providing the value visitors expected.

As a result, Google starts to lower your ranking. Your first-place position slips to second, then third, and before you know it, you’re on the dreaded second or third page of search results.

The solution? Technical SEO. It’s the secret sauce that allows you to address and resolve all these website-related issues, ultimately boosting your website’s chances of ranking higher and maintaining its position.

SEO Tools

When it comes to SEO, there are numerous tasks to tackle. If you attempt to do everything manually, you’ll find yourself investing an enormous amount of time. What might take a whole day of manual work can often be accomplished in just one minute using the right tools.

Online, you’ll encounter two primary categories of SEO tools:

Paid Tools
Free Tools

The choice between paid and free tools often depends on your budget. If you have the resources, investing in paid tools can provide advanced features and capabilities. However, if you’re just starting or working with limited finances, there are plenty of valuable free tools at your disposal.

These tools can help you with various SEO-related tasks, making your optimization journey more efficient. Let’s delve into some of the noteworthy SEO tools available.

1. What are paid tools?

In today’s world, there’s an array of paid SEO tools designed to streamline your SEO tasks quickly and effectively. These tools can be incredibly beneficial for optimizing your website, and they come with various features to assist you in your SEO journey.

Here are the names of some popular paid SEO tools:

SEO Spider
Ahrefs
SEMrush
Moz Pro
KWFinder
Searchmetrics
Yoast SEO

To access the capabilities of these tools, you’ll need to invest a certain amount of money, either on a monthly or annual basis. However, if you’re new to the world of SEO, you can consider utilizing these tools through group subscriptions to make them more accessible.

2. What are free tools?

If you’re new to the world of SEO or simply prefer not to use paid tools, fret not. There’s a plethora of free SEO tools available that can help you accomplish various tasks efficiently and at no cost.

Here are some noteworthy free SEO tools you can take advantage of:

Google Analytics
Google Trends
Search Console
Keyword Hero
Screaming Frog
SEOlyzer
Answer The Public
Keyword Planner
Keyword Surfer
Ubersuggest

Beyond these, there are numerous other free tools at your disposal. A quick Google search will unveil a treasure trove of options, with hundreds to choose from.

Can Income be Made from SEO?

Absolutely! Many individuals have successfully generated substantial income through SEO services. A quick visit to freelancing marketplaces will reveal the high demand for SEO service providers.

If you’re skilled in SEO, you can monetize your expertise in three primary ways:

1. Income from blog/website

If you have SEO knowledge, you can start a blog. With this blog, you can publish various content and earn through different Ad Networks such as Google AdSense.

Furthermore, in the growing world of e-commerce, you can create an online store where you can sell products and generate a good income.

2. Income by freelancing

As time goes on, the popularity of websites is growing. New websites are being made every day. But there’s a problem: the people creating these websites often lack SEO skills, and many don’t have the time for SEO. As you may know, it’s impossible to rank a website without SEO.

If you’re an SEO expert, you can offer your services to help these new websites rank and earn income through freelancing.

3. Income by selling courses

In the world of SEO, many people start as beginners. Those who are new to SEO often seek courses to learn the ropes.

If you can reach out to these newcomers and offer your SEO course, you have the potential to earn a substantial income through course sales.

How Long Does it Take to Learn SEO?

The time it takes to become an SEO expert varies from person to person. Learning speed differs for everyone. So, there’s no fixed answer to this question.

But I can provide some guidance. Let’s say you dedicate 30 days to learning SEO. In those 30 days, make it a habit to read two SEO-related blogs and watch two SEO videos daily. Start implementing what you learn from day one.

After this initial learning phase, you’ll need about 90 days, or three months, of continuous practice. During this time, you’ll experiment with SEO techniques and start to understand why websites rank the way they do.

This hands-on experience will kindle your passion for SEO. Over time, this passion will drive you to become an SEO expert. However, keep in mind that SEO is an ever-evolving field. What works today might not work tomorrow due to changes in search engine algorithms.

So, stay updated with the latest trends and techniques to continue your journey towards SEO mastery.

By the way, did you know you can earn money through SEO? Yes, it’s possible, and we’ll explore how in this article.

What is SEO – Our Last Word on What is SEO

Understanding SEO is like exploring the depths of an ocean. It’s a vast subject that can’t be fully covered in a single article or video. The more you dive into it, the more you discover.

In this article, we’ve touched on the main aspects of SEO, explaining what it is and how it works. But before we conclude, here’s one last piece of advice:

If you’ve come this far, don’t stop now. Consider revisiting this article. As the saying goes, ‘The more you read, the more you learn.’ SEO is a journey, and there’s always more to explore and understand.

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