Whether you’re a business owner looking to get ahead of your competitors online or you’re someone who wants to start their own digital marketing company, SEO is vital part of Ireland’s digital economy, yet SEO can be tricky. It is entirely possible, however, for you to be able to teach yourself some SEO techniques, which can significantly impact your business. With this in mind, we will take a look at getting to grips with the basics of SEO, as well as what to do when you need to understand the complexities and nuances within this complex environment.

Start small and work up

Perhaps most importantly, when beginning to learn about SEO, don’t assume that you already know the basics. Initially, you’ll want to understand core concepts such as:

• How search engines work – This includes the basics of search bots, algorithms, and the importance of making your website easy to crawl. 
• The role of keywords within your content – This will include how to go about researching keywords, the difference between short-tail and long-tail keywords, and ways to make your content SEO friendly and enjoyable for the reader.
• Basic on-page and off-page optimisation techniques – This includes learning about how the content on your own site is structured, as well as what elements must be present to rank your pages, including title tags, headers, alt text and meta descriptions. Here, you can also consider learning about guest posts, backlinks and the impact of social media marketing on your site. 
• Technical optimisation techniques – These include improving page speed, site structure and accessibility to drive your search rankings up.

There are many online courses that teach you how to start SEO for beginners, as well as free resources available to you if you want to get to grips with these concepts. However, it’s essential to take it slow to make sure you take everything in before moving onto the next step.

Top tips for learning the basics of SEO

If you want to get the best out of teaching yourself SEO, there are some important tips to consider.

Check who is teaching you

One of the most important things to consider when choosing online courses, or reading articles and videos is whether the source is reputable. Some of the most well-known platforms form which you can get to grips with the basics of SEO include Moz, Google and Hubspot, for example.

Experiment before moving on

If you can, create a site to use for testing. It may be a good idea to experiment on our site that you’re not too bothered about but that you could use at a later date if your techniques work well. By applying what you learn to the site, you can better analyse the results of what you are doing and refine your strategy.

Join an SEO community

Whether you choose to engage on online or LinkedIn with the SEO community or take a look at some of the most visited forums, you’ll be able to ask questions and learn from other SEO professionals who started just where you are now.

Getting Help

While DIY SEO is a great way to teach yourself SEO basics, it might be a good idea to take an accredited course if you wish to move on to more complex strategies. This may be a good idea for someone who wants to get into SEO as a career. However, a busy business owner is likely to not have the time to go into SEO in as much detail as needed to have real success on their own website. 

With this in mind, it may be worthwhile engaging the services of a company like us with experience and knowledge in the nuances and complexities of search engine optimisation. This will allow your site to benefit from advanced SEO techniques and complex technical advancements for your website that will certainly help to bring your business, higher in the search engine engine rankings.