Every day, an astounding 3.5 billion searches are performed on Google. No matter your business, be it a cell phone repair shop, which garners 1,700 monthly searches, or the sale of iPhone chargers with 34,000 monthly searches, the numbers are significant. Even the phrase “best smartphone” pulls in around 41,000 monthly searches. And these figures represent only US-based searches. Despite this vast search volume, our recent study reveals that a staggering 91% of content receives no traffic from Google.
How to Attract Traffic to Your Website
So, how can you be part of the remaining 9% of web pages that do attract free, consistent, and passive traffic from Google? If you’re new to SEO, this tutorial is for you. It will guide you through the steps necessary to start attracting customers from the world’s largest search engine.
Introduction to SEO
Hello, everyone! I’m Sam Oh from Ahrefs, the SEO tool designed to help you grow your search traffic, research competitors, and dominate your niche. This tutorial, “SEO for Beginners,” is tailored for those who might not even know what SEO stands for. By the end, you’ll have clear and actionable steps that you can implement on your website immediately. We’ll cover the essentials of SEO to ensure your website is optimized for search engines.
What is SEO?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It’s the process of optimizing your website and web pages to gain free organic traffic from search engines like Google. Imagine Google as a vast library with billions of books, each containing hundreds of trillions of pages. If you search for something like “global warming,” Google sifts through these books and extracts the pages containing your keywords or closely related terms.
Understanding Google’s Ranking System
Google doesn’t return search results in random order. It uses sophisticated algorithms to prioritize the most relevant results. These algorithms are so effective that most users never venture beyond the first page of search results. While the exact workings of these algorithms are a mystery, we do know some of the so-called Google ranking factors, allowing us to optimize our content.
Two Main Objectives in SEO
Your task in SEO is twofold. First, make it easy for search engines to understand what your page is about by creating content that matches the searcher’s intent. Second, prove to Google and other search engines that your content is worthy of ranking high.
Step-by-Step SEO for a Wedding Photography Business
Let’s consider an example. Suppose you’re a new wedding photographer in Toronto, Canada, starting a business called Sam Photography. Without referrals, you’ll need to rely on SEO to attract customers.
Finding Relevant Keywords
Step one is identifying relevant keywords that potential customers are searching for and determining how these search queries fit into your business. The easiest way to do this is by putting yourself in the shoes of a potential customer. For example, a bride or groom might search for “wedding photographer in Toronto.
Using SEO Tools to Analyze Keywords
You can use Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer tool to find relevant keywords. Enter the search query and set the location to Canada. While the search volume for “wedding photographer in Toronto” might seem low, it’s important to consider the parent topic, which shows that more people search for “Toronto wedding photographer.” This insight helps in making smarter SEO decisions.
On-Page SEO Optimization
Once you have a list of keywords, it’s time to optimize your pages—this process is called on-page SEO. Using the keyword data, you can craft content that helps both Google and potential customers understand what your page is about. For instance, knowing that “Toronto wedding photographer” is a more popular search query than “wedding photographer in Toronto” can guide your copywriting.
Avoiding Keyword Stuffing
It’s important to avoid keyword stuffing, which is the excessive use of keywords in your content. Google has become smart enough to understand the context of your page without needing exact match keywords repeatedly.
Basic On-Page SEO Tips
Here are four basic but important on-page SEO tips:
Optimize Title Tags and Meta Descriptions:
These are the clickable headlines and descriptive text you see in search results. They should be compelling to encourage clicks.
Use Keywords Naturally:
Your primary keyword phrase should appear naturally in your content, especially in the H1 tag or main headline.
Create Quality Content:
Your content should be informative and engaging. It’s the most important aspect of on-page SEO.
Utilize Competitor Insights:
Use tools like Ahrefs to analyze competitors and find additional keywords to enhance your page’s relevance.
Expanding Your Services with SEO
As your business grows, you might want to offer additional services like product photography. Instead of trying to rank your homepage for unrelated keywords, create separate service pages optimized with the relevant keywords. Use tools like Ahrefs Keywords Explorer to identify the best keywords for each service.
Optimizing URLs for SEO
Include your primary keyword phrase in the URL of each page. For example, a product photography services page might have a URL like “product-photography-toronto.”
Analyzing Competitors’ SEO Tactics
A quick hack is to analyze the top-ranking pages for your target keywords. This will help you identify opportunities to improve your own content and potentially overtake your competitors in search rankings.
The Importance of Off-Page SEO
Off-page SEO, particularly link building, is crucial for ranking high on Google. Links from other websites act as votes of confidence in your content. However, focus on obtaining quality links from relevant and authoritative sites.
Effective Outreach for Link Building
Successful outreach requires identifying people interested in your content, having a good reason to contact them, and offering a pitch that benefits them. For example, you could reach out to blog owners who have linked to your competitors or offer guest posts in exchange for backlinks.
Forming Partnerships with Lateral Niches
Consider forming partnerships with businesses in related but non-competing niches. For example, as a wedding photographer, you could collaborate with local flower shops, reception halls, and wedding planners. These partnerships can lead to valuable backlinks and referrals.
The Power of Blogging
Finally, don’t overlook the power of blogging. Blogging allows you to reach a larger audience and attract more traffic. Create blog content that provides practical value to your potential customers, such as articles about the best wedding venues in Toronto.
Blogging as a Long-Term SEO Strategy
Blogging can help you get ahead of competitors who only target obvious keywords. Continually researching keywords, optimizing your pages, and building links to your content will help you climb the Google search rankings over time.
Conclusion
By following these SEO strategies, you can significantly improve your website’s visibility in search engines, attract more traffic, and ultimately grow your business.