Learning SEO

[Marked]

Hi guys,

As the title says, i'm looking to learn SEO, i have a little experience in website building but not done any in over 10 years. Looking to get back into it and want to learn SEO.

Can you advise on some books you have found useful from beginner then what to read after the beginner books?

Not looking for the usual reasons on why not to do something, even if i don't progress to using any SEO methods i am seriously interested in learning what SEO actually is and how to do it.

Cheers

Mark

 

[Ninja Commerce]

Hi Mark.

A lot of SEO is actually fairly simple, and a lot of it isn't. One of the hardest parts of learning (in my opinion) is finding the right information, as there is so much content out there that discusses the finer points, and while important, isn't that helpful for a beginner.

Anyway, I would start here:
http://moz.com/learn/seo

The guys at Moz know what they're talking about and their beginner's guide is fairly easy to follow.

I would suggest you build a very basic wordpress site to practice on, then you can put into practice each thing that you learn as you go along.

I would also suggest you make notes for your own benefit, just headlines and split into categories, something like this:

Basic on-page SEO
- keyword research
- page titles
- meta descriptions
- content
- images
- keyword usage
- duplicate content

Advanced on-page SEO
- load speed
- user experience
- mobile responsiveness
- analytics
- content marketing
- micro data

Off page
- outreach techniques
- building relationships
- guest posting
- submissions
- social media

This isn't an exhaustive list, just what I came up with off the top of my head, but you get the point. If you make notes as you go you can organize your thoughts and try to figure out which bits are worth further study / testing and which techniques are not helpful.

There are plenty of techniques which are out of favor and worth avoiding, and many more which can be done "the right way" or "the wrong way", so try to figure out what will actually work for the type of site you are working on.

Anyway, I hope that helps. And good luck!

 

[Marked]

Wow, couldn't have asked for a better reply, thanks for your time. Those headers for notes are extremely useful, thank you. I will have a read through that guide and also going to look for some books to read especially while i'm on holiday next month.

Many thanks

 

[GraemeL]

Buy this training course created by a practicing expert:-

http://www.freshbananas.co.uk/

 

[pcproblems]

Do a search for Small Business SEO tutorial

 

[LowPrices.uk]

Here's a list of resources for you:

http://www.webref.eu/search-engine-optimisation.php

The 200 Ranking Factors is very useful info.

Hope that helps.

 

[Marked]

Hi guys thanks for your replies. Those links are going to be useful for when i'm at home but i'm looking for books to read while i'm away which will include over 48 hours on a plane with possibly no internet access, surely someone has read a book that's worth a recommendation?

Cheers again

Mark

 

[HazelC]

Hi Mark,

The issue with SEO is that it's always changing, so a book that was good for SEO may now be out of date. There is new algorithm addition coming out on 21st April for example.

Books are hard copies and not changing sadly.

Have a nice time away.

Hazel.

 

[Nuno]

You could try downloading a few podcasts from somewhere like here. Listen on the flight as you will.
Can't verify the expertise on the link, but taking SEO on faith is a joy of gambling in business, with a few alpha exceptions, (hello Banana Boy Ray for example.)

 

[Marked]

I heard about these updates Hazel, i don't fully understand it that's how much of a noob i am, i guess we all have to start somewhere!

That's not a bad shout Nuno, cheers for that. I'll get to work finding some to download to my ipad.

 

[Jason L]

Hi Mark

I second ThinkTraffic's advice to start with the basics and also create a test site to practice on. It will really help you to grow in confidence if you put the theory into practice.

I would also add to the Advanced list:

- 301 redirects
- Canonicalization

Plus, become familiar with Google Webmaster Tools too

 

[Marked]

Cheers Jason, can i ask one more question, in your opinions how much does being able to do your own SEO and ranking well in google reduce the marketing costs of a website?

 

[Jason L]

in your opinions how much does being able to do your own SEO and ranking well in google reduce the marketing costs of a website

Impossible to say as there are so many variables, e.g. how hard it is to get a site to rank due to competition factors etc. Plus, different SEOs have different rates.

What I would say though is that being able to do your own SEO (or at least having the basics so you can hire someone and know enough that they aren't doing anything to hurt your site!) is a definite advantage when running an online business.

 

[InternetMarketingPlatinum]

I'd say start with the fundamentals and learn the underpinning principles of SEO before you start to learn and implement any methods. Learn the theory first.

 

[LowPrices.uk]

Learn the SEO stuff by practice and from websites when you get back.

If you need a book to read on holiday, try these reading lists:

http://www.webref.eu/reading-lists.php

Rgds

 

[InternetMarketingPlatinum]

Learn the SEO stuff by practice and from websites when you get back.

If you need a book to read on holiday, try these reading lists:

http://www.webref.eu/reading-lists.php

Rgds

Those books have nothing to do with SEO?

 

[chris424uk]

These links/resources are extremely helpful. I'm currently looking to take the plunge and DIY SEO for a project I've got coming up. I was hoping to hire for this due to being time-poor, however in the long-run, I'll save loads doing it myself.

One question though... is the sources above able to help move a well-designed, Wordpress driven site to first page on Google for moderately competitive keywords? When does it become essential to hire someone? Only for highly competitive keywords? I'm looking to focus on good content and quality.

 

[LowPrices.uk]

Those books have nothing to do with SEO?

Yes I know that, they are interesting books for his holiday, which I think will be far more rewarding.

SEO is best learnt once he's back from holiday by using the info from websites.

 

[LowPrices.uk]

In general I would focus on quality content first, i.e. delivering something people want to read, that is of high quality and gives them something useful. Get your content right and you will be successful. The technical aspects of SEO are secondary.

If you can make interesting/entertaining videos for YouTube then that will get you the most traffic.

 

[StevePoster]

Hi Mark, About learning SEO you must take the basics and understand the changing world. There are lots of platforms you can count on to guide you in the learning process such as blog sites and forum sites - a good example of an active online community that will assist you in real time regarding SEO.

 

[Tin]

Cheers Jason, can i ask one more question, in your opinions how much does being able to do your own SEO and ranking well in google reduce the marketing costs of a website?

As Jason says, it's not easily quantifiable, however, if you've a website and you want customers from that website then having an understanding of SEO and what is needed to rank well for your chosen keywords/phrases is priceless.

Whether you actually do the work yourself or you take on the services of an SEO company, having even a basic understanding of the process will help you to find the right company to work alongside you and that could save you thousands in the long run.

These links/resources are extremely helpful. I'm currently looking to take the plunge and DIY SEO for a project I've got coming up. I was hoping to hire for this due to being time-poor, however in the long-run, I'll save loads doing it myself.

One question though... is the sources above able to help move a well-designed, Wordpress driven site to first page on Google for moderately competitive keywords? When does it become essential to hire someone? Only for highly competitive keywords? I'm looking to focus on good content and quality.

Chris, yes, provided you've got the time to devote to SEOing the website and that's the crux of the matter. Whilst DIY SEO can be a cheap way to get rankings it will still cost you in time and if that results in time when you should be running your business then you've an issue. If you're prepared to burn the midnight oil, turn your back on the lure of a day out in the sun then you'll reap the rewards.

But, going back to my first point, if you've a website and you want customers then can you afford not to have an understanding of the processes required to rank your website?

Ray

 

[seowise]

Hi Mark,

I've read a lot of information when I was studying SEO by myself and I can surely say that's a hard work to find really useful guides, ebooks and so on. First I met only tons of absolute trash, that couldn't give me the answers, I had to collect pieces of information from different sources. But once I've come across one interesting site where theory meets practice - SEO in Practice. Just have a look:

http://www.seoinpractice.com/index.html#ToC

 

[Marked]

Hi Mark,

I've read a lot of information when I was studying SEO by myself and I can surely say that's a hard work to find really useful guides, ebooks and so on. First I met only tons of absolute trash, that couldn't give me the answers, I had to collect pieces of information from different sources. But once I've come across one interesting site where theory meets practice - SEO in Practice. Just have a look:

http://www.seoinpractice.com/index.html#ToC

Thanks for that, just had a quick look and it seems like a good guide to get started with, going to try and work out how i can download all of it to my ipad and read it offline.

 

[Steve Alphabet]

Two brilliant online resources are searchengineland's newsletter (sorry I can't post URLs yet) and Quicksprout, check out his beginner and advanced guide to SEO. Don't get a book... by the time you get to the end it'll be out of date

 

[InFront Digital]

There are also some basic online home study type courses around where you can learn SEO. They will probably provide you with some materials too?

 

[chris424uk]

Quicksprout is a scam I've heard... in fact, Google "Quicksprout scam" and this'll reveal all.

 

[Michael Nguyen]

Get a mentor if you want to learn fast. You need to be able to ask questions. Books, Courses, Forums, are all good but like anything else, you might want to consider a teacher to help you improve our skills.

Until you've experienced the ups and downs of SEO, you've never done any real form of SEO. To really test your skills, get into one of the Three P's

 

[jmwang]

You can learn from these blogs:
moz blog,kissmetrics blog,searchengineland,bufferapp blog,searchenginejournal
Of course,the backlinko and qucik sprout blog are very good

 

[Michael Nguyen]

I think you can learn from blogs but the real learning is from doing SEO and physically making the changes. Its like reading a book on how to become a super athlete, you can think all day long but until you get up and run, you won't know what is really going to happen. As I said, get a mentor to support you on your journey or you're going to have many unanswered questions where you're going to keep referring back to forums and website.

 

[Marked]

Thanks for your input, i agree i am going to build a simple site in my free time and throw myself in the deep end. Will be researching as i go along so no doubt ill be in here again asking for advice. Maybe UKBF will be my mentor

 

[AllUpHere]

@Tin has put his SEO course down to a ridiculously low price. IMO, anyone who could benefit from knowing a bit more about SEO would be daft not to take the course at the current price.

 

[astrolabium]

Books are too slow. By the time an author publish a book, SEO will be changed before that. I would advice you to read SEO blogs like Moz, SearchEngineLand, SearchEngineJournal, SEObytheSea etc.

All the best.