What Is SEO?
Search motor optimization (SEO) is nan believe of optimizing your website to look higher successful hunt engines' integrated (unpaid) hunt results. To summation visibility among imaginable customers who mightiness sojourn your tract and moreover make a purchase.
Organic hunt results are earned listings that often look alongside paid listings—meaning advertisers paid for those spots.

SEO is beneficial because it provides an ongoing watercourse of postulation astatine a overmuch little costs than paid advertising. And erstwhile you commencement ranking highly successful integrated hunt results, you proceed to person postulation pinch minimal further costs.
Plus, SEO helps build marque credibility and spot among consumers. Which tin yet lead to much income for your business.
But earlier you commencement your SEO tutorial, you request to understand nan basics of really hunt engines work.
How Do Search Engines Work?
Search engines for illustration Google usage web crawlers (also called spiders aliases bots) to observe and sojourn websites crossed nan net by pursuing links from known websites.
Crawlers past analyse each page's contented to understand what nan page is about. And past (assuming location are nary issues getting successful nan way) catalog this accusation successful a monolithic database called an index.
When users do a Google search, Google refers to nan scale and runs nan hunt query done its algorithm that includes ranking factors for illustration contented value and mobile-friendliness. To find nan astir applicable pages to display.
This full process tin beryllium visualized for illustration this:

Now that you cognize these fundamentals, you tin optimize your website to amended its visibility.
A 9-Step SEO Tutorial for Beginners
SEO tin look daunting for beginners, but we’re astir to spell complete really to do SEO for your website measurement by step.
1. Find Relevant Keywords
Keywords (also called hunt terms) are words aliases phrases that group type into hunt engines to find what they’re looking for.
They could beryllium looking for contented related to your industry. Or products aliases services that could lick their circumstantial problem(s).
Your occupation is to place these applicable keywords and optimize your website's contented astir them. So your website appears successful those hunt results—increasing your visibility and imaginable traffic.
To place applicable keywords, usage Semrush's Keyword Magic Tool.
Let’s opportunity you tally a wedding readying business.
You mightiness participate “wedding planning” into nan tool.

And it will make a database of related keywords that group are searching for.

You apt spot galore keywords you want your website to rank for.
But return immoderate clip to measure nan metrics for each. Like hunt measurement (“Volume”)—how galore times each keyword gets searched connected a monthly basis. To gauge nan postulation potential.
But support successful mind that keywords pinch precocious hunt volumes whitethorn besides person precocious competition. Which you tin measure utilizing nan keyword trouble (“KD %) column.
The higher nan number, nan harder it is to rank. So arsenic a beginner, you’re amended disconnected prioritizing low-competition keywords first.
Before you create contented centered astir immoderate of these keywords, you request to understand why group searched for them. We’ll spell complete that next.
2. Understand Search Intent
When group type keywords into hunt engines, there’s an underlying search intent (goal) down those searches. Understanding that intent is captious because hunt engines are improbable to show results that don’t meet what searchers want to achieve.
There are mostly 4 types of hunt intent:
- Informational: The personification wants to find accusation astir a topic. Examples: "what is simply a destination wedding" and "wedding readying tips."
- Navigational: The personification wants to spell to a circumstantial website aliases page. Example: "pinterest wedding ideas."
- Commercial: The personification is researching earlier making a purchase. Example: "best wedding planners successful nyc."
- Transactional: The personification is fresh to make a purchase. Examples: "hire wedding planner" and "book wedding venue."
You first request to understand nan hunt intent of your keywords. And past representation those keywords to nan correct types of pages, truthful you tin create contented accordingly.
The aforesaid Keyword Magic Tool study we saw earlier tin show you nan hunt intent of each keyword.

For example, if a peculiar keyword has informational intent (denoted by “I”), it’s astir apt champion to target that word successful a blog station aliases different type of contented meant to supply education. Rather than successful sales-oriented pages—those activity champion for commercialized and transactional keywords.
Once your keywords are mapped to nan correct types of pages, nan adjacent measurement is to create contented that satisfies nan user’s needs.
3. Create Quality Content
Search engines want to aboveground relevant, quality content for immoderate fixed query. So creating contented pinch value successful mind is 1 of nan astir important steps successful this SEO tutorial.
Here are immoderate tips for creating value content:
- Satisfy nan hunt intent: Provide nan worth to nan user. This could beryllium successful nan shape of useful information, answers to their questions, aliases solutions to their problems.
- Work pinch experts: Collaborate pinch taxable matter experts to guarantee your contented is accurate, reliable, and valuable. This not only enhances nan value of your contented but besides builds spot pinch your audience.
- Be unique: Try to connection a caller position aliases accusation that isn’t readily disposable elsewhere. This will thief your contented guidelines out
- Structure thoughtfully: Use due formatting for illustration headings, slug points, and images to make nan contented easy to scan and understand
- Add visuals: Include videos, graphics, and different ocular elements to heighten nan content
The extremity is to create specified a rich | and valuable contented acquisition that users person nary logic to look elsewhere.
The adjacent conception covers further optimization factors to heighten your content. So don’t commencement penning until you’ve gone complete those basics.
4. Use On-Page Techniques
On-page SEO techniques are things you do to your webpages to thief them rank higher and beryllium much adjuvant for users.
Your contented has a batch of opportunities for this type of optimization:
- Page titles: A webpage’s title is 1 of nan main things hunt engines look astatine to understand what nan page is about. Include each page’s target keyword successful its title and usage descriptive connection for maximum impact.
- Title tags: A title tag is HTML codification that specifies a page’s title and tin look successful browser tabs and hunt results. It’s champion to see your target keyword successful your title tag, to person it lucifer (or astir match) your page title, and support it betwixt 50 and 60 characters long.
- Meta descriptions: A meta explanation is HTML that provides a little page summary and tin look nether nan title successful hunt results. While not nonstop ranking factors, meta descriptions tin power click-through rates. So, constitute an enticing meta explanation that’s astir 105 characters for each page.
- Headers: Headers (H1, H2, etc.) thief break up matter and supply building to your content. Incorporate keywords erstwhile imaginable and make judge to usage a logical level to thief readers navigate nan page.
- Body text: The nutrient of a page’s contented presents tons of opportunities to incorporated keywords. But usage your position sparingly and successful ways that adhd worth for nan readers to debar keyword stuffing (overusing keywords successful an effort to manipulate hunt engines).
- URL slugs: These are nan past segments of URLs that show you what topics your pages cover. Each page’s URL slug should characteristic its main keyword and beryllium easy to read.
Semrush's On Page SEO Checker tin thief you understand really good your on-page optimization efforts are working. And supply suggestions for improvement.
Set up a project for your website, and past spell to nan “Optimization Ideas” section.
You’ll spot each nan pages connected your website and nan number of suggested ideas for each page.
Click connected nan “# ideas” fastener adjacent to a page you want to improve.

You’ll spot a elaborate breakdown of really good that page is optimized for different categories.
For example, nan “Content” conception shows a batch of accusation astir really efficaciously you’ve utilized your target keyword.

Look beyond nan greenish checkmarks to find betterment opportunities. And use nan recommendations to thief amended your contented for search.
5. Provide a Great User Experience
Offering a awesome personification acquisition intends your website is easy to use, visually appealing, and fast. Which benefits some users and SEO.
To guarantee a bully experience, commencement pinch a cleanable and elemental creation that has ocular appeal, straightforward navigation, and legible fonts that are easy to read.
Then, optimize your page speed. Because fast-loading pages support users happy and tin amended your SEO.
Here are immoderate tips to boost your page speed:
- Enable compression: Use record compression devices for illustration Unminify to trim nan size of your CSS, HTML, and JavaScript files. This will region unnecessary characters from a file, decreasing its size and improving load times for your pages.
- Optimize images: Ensure that images aren’t larger than they request to be, are successful nan correct record format (JPEG for photos and PNG for graphics), and are compressed for nan web utilizing devices for illustration ShortPixel.
- Use a contented transportation web (CDN): Try a CDN, which distributes your website crossed aggregate servers astir nan world. This lets users entree it from nan closest server to velocity up entree to your website.
6. Create a Well-Organized Website Structure
Website structure is really pages wrong your website are organized. And a well-organized website building is important for some visitors and hunt engines.
Why?
Because it allows users to easy find nan contented they’re willing in. And helps hunt engines amended find and understand your pages.
Here's what a bully website building looks like:

First, you person your homepage that links to your main class pages. These class pages past nexus to applicable subcategories aliases individual pages (depending connected really ample and analyzable your tract is).
The extremity is to person a shallow architecture, truthful important pages aren’t excessively acold distant from nan homepage.
This allows some users and hunt engines to entree nan astir important contented quickly and efficiently.
7. Address Technical Issues
Technical SEO is each astir addressing nan method aspects of your tract that tin impact your capacity successful hunt results. And it’s captious because moreover high-quality, optimized contented is improbable to rank if your tract has galore method issues.
Some communal method problems include:
- Duplicate content: Pages pinch identical aliases astir identical contented confuses hunt engines astir which type to service successful hunt results. Which tin lead to little aliases moreover nary rankings.
- Redirect loops: Two aliases much pages that each redirect to 1 different shape an infinite loop that tin frustrate users and forestall hunt engines from decently crawling your site
- Non-secure pages: Hypertext transportation protocol (HTTP) pages are little unafraid than hypertext transportation protocol unafraid (HTTPS) pages. Which is why HTTPS is simply a lightweight ranking factor.
- Broken links: Links directing to pages that nary longer beryllium aliases person been moved provides a bad personification experience. And tin get successful nan measurement of crawling.
- Robots.txt record mistakes: Problems pinch nan directives successful your robots.txt record (which tells hunt engines which parts of your tract they should and shouldn’t crawl) tin forestall each your important pages from being discovered
To find method issues, usage nan Site Audit tool.
Follow nan Site Audit configuration guide to group up a project.
Then, caput to nan “Issues” report.

You’ll spot a database of items you should reside to amended your site’s method health.
Click “Why and really to hole it” adjacent to immoderate rumor to study much astir it and really you tin reside it.

Start pinch nan errors (the astir terrible issues) first. Then, move connected to warnings (issues of mean severity) and notices (non-critical things that are worthy resolving).
You whitethorn want to activity pinch a developer to thief you instrumentality immoderate of these changes.
8. Build Backlinks to Your Site
Backlinks are links from different websites that constituent to your site. They’re 1 of nan astir important factors that hunt engines see erstwhile ranking websites.
Generally, nan much links you have, nan better. But amount isn’t everything—quality and relevance matter, too.
This intends you request links from reputable websites. Like media outlets, different celebrated websites successful your industry, and acquisition and authorities websites.
If you’re creating value content, you should people pull links. But to get more, put successful immoderate link building tactics for illustration surgery nexus building.
This is erstwhile you find a surgery nexus connected different website, find contented connected your website that’s a bully substitute, and past inquire nan tract proprietor to switch nan surgery nexus pinch a nexus to your contented instead.
This useful because some parties benefit. The website proprietor gets to hole a surgery link. And you get a valuable backlink.
To find applicable surgery nexus opportunities, usage Semrush’s Backlink Analytics tool.
Open nan tool, participate your competitor’s website, and click “Analyze.”

Then, spell to nan “Indexed Pages” study and cheque nan container adjacent to “Broken Pages.”

These pages don’t exist. But location are tons of websites linking to them.
Click nan number successful nan “Backlinks” file adjacent to a surgery page to spot each nan pages that nexus to it.

Study these pages to get a consciousness of what resources they were linking to. So you tin find comparable pages connected your website.
Then, scope retired to nan domains linking to nan aged pages and inquire them to nexus to you instead.
If you’re caller to outreach and request help, cheque retired our dedicated email outreach guide.
9. Track Your SEO Results
Tracking your SEO results is important to knowing really effective your efforts are. So you tin make basal adjustments.
Specifically, present are nan 2 main metrics you should track:
Organic Traffic
Organic traffic refers to visitors who scope your website done unpaid hunt motor results. And it shows really good your efforts person paid off.
To quickly get a consciousness of your integrated traffic, usage nan Organic Research tool.
Open nan tool, participate your domain name, prime nan country, and click “Search.”

You’ll spot a batch of accusation astir your website. Including really overmuch postulation it gets and really it’s progressed complete time.

If you spot an increase, that intends your SEO activity has been successful. And you should proceed pinch your strategy.
Keyword Rankings
Another important metric to way is keyword rankings—which show wherever your website appears successful hunt results for your target keywords.
This metric is intimately tied to integrated traffic. Because nan higher your website ranks for your target keywords, nan much postulation you’ll apt get.
To spot your keyword rankings, usage Semrush’s Position Tracking tool.
First, set up a project successful nan tool.
Then, spell to nan “Overview” tab and scroll down to nan “Rankings Overview” section.

You’ll spot each your keywords and really precocious your website ranks for each.
If you spot rankings that are position 11 aliases higher, that intends those keywords request much attention. So, analyse nan corresponding pages to spot really you tin improve.
SEO Factors You Shouldn’t Worry About
While location are galore aspects of SEO to consider, immoderate factors are often overemphasized aliases misunderstood.
Here’s a speedy overview of those elements:
Word Count
Word count refers to nan number of words successful a contented piece. And successful SEO, galore judge that higher connection counts lead to amended rankings.
But it isn’t a nonstop ranking factor. Plus, it will alteration importantly based connected nan taxable and attraction of your page.
What matters much is whether your contented satisfies nan user's intent.
Meta Keywords
Meta keywords are HTML tags that let website owners to specify keywords for a peculiar page. But awesome hunt engines for illustration Google nary longer usage them for ranking purposes.
So, don’t interest astir meta keywords—they person nary effect connected your SEO efforts.
Google Penalties
Google issues penalties (called manual actions) against websites that it believes person violated their guidelines.
You mostly don't request to interest astir these unless you're engaging successful manipulative tactics.
If you travel ethical SEO practices for illustration creating value content, utilizing keywords naturally, and building backlinks, you’re improbable to person penalties.
Keyword Density
Keyword density refers to really often a keyword appears connected a page successful narration to nan full connection count.
While it’s important to see keywords successful your content, there’s nary magic keyword density percent that will guarantee higher rankings.
Instead of obsessing complete hitting a peculiar number, attraction connected penning people and ensuring your contented is applicable and valuable to your audience.
Get Started pinch SEO
Use nan tips shared successful this SEO trading tutorial to optimize your website for hunt engines.
You’ll apt get higher rankings and much traffic.
And bully news: Semrush offers a suite of SEO devices that tin thief you get connected nan way to success.
Sign up today.