SEO Basics: Building a Strong Foundation for Search Success

Don’t know where to start with SEO on your website? This is all you need to know about SEO Basics: Building a Strong Foundation for Search Success

1. Introduction
2. Heading Tags and the Importance of H1 Headings
3. Google Search Console: Submitting Your Sitemap
4. Crawling and Indexing: Ensuring All Pages Are Found
5. Setting Up on Bing
6. Keyword Research: Finding the Right Opportunities
7. Internal Linking: Building Authority and Structure
8. External Linking: Adding Credibility
9. Word Count: Why Content Length Matters
10. Alt Text on Images
11. .Backlinks: How to Earn Them
12. Investing in SEO Tools
13. Conclusion

Introduction

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is essential for any business or individual wanting to establish a robust online presence. By understanding and implementing SEO basics, you can drive more organic traffic, improve visibility, and ensure that your website reaches the right audience.

In this guide, we’ll cover key areas to help you get started with SEO and provide actionable steps you can take to optimise your site.

Heading Tags and the Importance of H1 Headings

Headings are critical for both user experience and SEO. Your H1 heading is the most significant—it sets the tone and subject for the page. Use it to include your primary keyword naturally, ensuring it’s clear and specific.

How to Use Heading Tags Effectively:

1. Use only one H1 heading per page, focused on your main topic.
2. Break your content into sections with H2 tags and use H3 tags for sub-sections.
3. Include secondary keywords in subheadings to help capture related search queries.
4. Keep headings descriptive yet concise.

For example, if your page is about “SEO Basics,” your H1 could be: “Mastering SEO Basics for Beginners.” Subheadings could explore topics like “The Role of Keywords in SEO” or “How to Optimise Images for SEO.”

Google Search Console: Submitting Your Sitemap

Google Search Console is a free tool that helps you monitor and optimise your site’s presence in Google’s search results. One of the first steps is submitting your sitemap, which acts as a roadmap for Google to crawl and index your website efficiently.

Steps to Submit Your Sitemap:

1. Log in to Google Search Console.
2. Add and verify your domain.
3. Navigate to the “Sitemaps” section in the left-hand menu.
4. Enter your sitemap URL (usually found at yourwebsite.com/sitemap.xml) and click “Submit.”
5. Check back to ensure there are no errors.

Regularly update your sitemap and resubmit it if you make significant changes to your site structure.

Crawling and Indexing: Ensuring All Pages Are Found

After submitting your sitemap, ensure all your pages are indexed by Google. Unindexed pages won’t appear in search results, which can limit your site’s visibility.

How to Check Crawling Status:

1. In Google Search Console, go to “Coverage” and look for errors or excluded pages.
2. Use the URL Inspection tool to see if specific pages are indexed.
3. Fix issues like broken links, duplicate content, or missing meta tags to help Google index your pages correctly.

Setting Up on Bing

While Google dominates the search engine market, Bing should not be ignored. Setting up your site on Bing can help you reach a wider audience, especially as Bing integrates with Microsoft products.

How to Set Up Bing Webmaster Tools:

1. Visit Bing Webmaster Tools.
2. Sign in and verify your domain.
3. Submit your sitemap, similar to Google Search Console.
4. Use Bing’s tools to identify indexing issues and optimise your site.

Keyword Research: Finding the Right Opportunities

Keywords are the backbone of SEO. Identifying the right keywords ensures you attract the audience searching for your products or services.

Tools for Keyword Research:

• Answer the Public: Find common questions and topics related to your keywords.
• Google Keyword Planner: Discover search volumes and competition levels for specific terms.
• Ubersuggest: Analyse keywords with medium competition and sufficient volume.

How to Choose Keywords:

1. Focus on long-tail keywords like “how to do SEO for small businesses” for less competitive results.
2. Ensure your keywords are relevant to your audience’s intent.
3. Use keywords naturally in headings, content, and metadata—avoid keyword stuffing.

Internal Linking: Building Authority and Structure

Internal linking connects related pages on your website, helping search engines understand your site’s hierarchy and context.

How to Create Effective Internal Links:

1. Link to relevant pages within your site—e.g., from a blog post on “SEO Basics” to “Advanced Keyword Research.”
2. Use descriptive anchor text, like “SEO tools for small businesses,” rather than generic phrases like “click here.”
3. Update old posts with links to newer content to keep them relevant.
4. Use a topic cluster strategy: create a pillar page on a broad topic, then link to supporting blog posts.
5. This is an example of another blog on my website, if you click the blue text it will take you directly to it, this is an internal link. Where to start with SEO for your website. 

External Linking: Adding Credibility

Linking to reputable external sites signals to search engines that your content is well-researched.

Best Practices for External Linking:

1. Link to high-authority sites (e.g., news outlets, government resources, or industry leaders).
2. Ensure links open in a new tab so users don’t leave your site completely.
3. Avoid over-linking—two to three external links per post are usually sufficient.
4. This is an example of external linking , check out this article on Forbes website its called 5 hacks to dominate your competition. 

Word Count: Why Content Length Matters

Search engines favour content that provides value, and longer content often ranks higher because it covers topics in depth.

How to Ensure Optimal Word Count:

1. Aim for at least 600 words per page; longer posts of 1,500+ words can perform better for competitive keywords.
2. Focus on quality—write comprehensive, engaging content that answers users’ queries.

Alt Text on Images

Alt text describes images to search engines and improves accessibility.

How to Optimise Alt Text:

1. Be descriptive—e.g., “blue running shoes on a white background.”
2. Include keywords naturally but don’t overdo it.
3. Add alt text to all images, including logos and infographics.
4. The Alt Text for the image above is “yellow sound wave with white text reading SEO basics and other wording around like computer, plan, strategy, money”.

Backlinks: How to Earn Them

Backlinks are links from other websites to yours and are a critical ranking factor.

How to Build Backlinks:

1. Guest Blogging: Write posts for other sites and include links to your content. Why not ask me?, I can be your first backlink.
2. Resource Pages: Reach out to sites with resource lists and suggest your content as an addition.
3. Create Shareable Content: Infographics, studies, and how-to guides often attract backlinks.
4. Press Articles: Write meaningful articles or use websites where journalists seek contributors.

Investing in SEO Tools

Investing in tools like SEMRush, AIOSEO, and Ubersuggest can simplify your SEO efforts.

Benefits of SEO Tools:

1. Monitor your site’s performance and identify issues.
2. Track your competitors’ strategies and keywords.
3. Gain insights into backlink opportunities and content optimisation.

Conclusion

By mastering these SEO basics, you can lay the groundwork for long-term success. Whether you’re optimising your headings, researching keywords, or building links, each step brings you closer to improving your site’s visibility and driving organic traffic. Ready to get started? Implement these strategies today and watch your site climb the rankings!

It should be noted that SEO requires consistent effort to help your site rank, especially for more competitive keywords. Consider what questions people are asking search engines, and aim to answer those questions on your website and in your blog posts. The tips in this blog are just the tip of the iceberg and are intended as a starting point to help you on your SEO journey.

If you found this guide useful, why not get in touch to discuss how we can optimise your website further?

And if all this SEO talk is making your head hurt, don’t worry—we’re here to take care of it for you. Let’s simplify your SEO journey together—reach out today!