SEO For Beginners: A Basic Search Engine Optimization Tutorial for Higher Google Rankings
- August 24, 2022
- Ahrefs
New to SEO? This tutorial shows you the basics of doing search engine optimization for your website to rank high in Google.
Complete SEO Course for Beginners: Learn to Rank #1 in Google ►
First, what is SEO and how does it work?
SEO stands for search engine optimization. By definition, it is the process of optimizing your website and webpages to get “free”, “organic” traffic from search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing.
As a business owner, blogger, or website owner, your job is two-fold:
First, you need to make it easy for search engines to understand what your page is about and create content that matches what we call, the “searcher’s intent.”
Second, you need to show Google and other search engines that your pages are ‘worthy’ of ranking.
In this video, Sam Oh teaches the a 101 into the world of search engine optimization.
There are plenty of clear examples and some basic (yet powerful) SEO tips to optimize a brand new website to rank #1 on Google (step-by-step).
The techniques that are taught in this SEO training include:
1. Keyword research
By doing keyword research, you can see the average number of times someone searches for a specific keyword phrase in Google each month.
Often times, the query that you think will be the most popular is often far from the truth.
Using tools like Ahrefs Keywords Explorer ( ), you’ll learn how to use the “parent topic” of a term to determine the best keywords to target for your pages.
You’ll also learn what not to do (ie. keyword stuffing).
Keyword research gives you clues on the language you should use to let both Google and potential customers know what our page is about.
There are a few vivid examples in here to illustrate the best practices on how to do keyword research. If you want to sharpen your keyword research skills, I highly recommend watching this series on doing keyword research in 2018 and beyond.
2. On-page SEO
On-page SEO is the process of optimizing web pages with the intention to rank high in Google. If you want to rank #1 on Google, then your on-page SEO will need to be right on.
In this tutorial, you’ll learn 4 simple, yet highly effective tips to ensure you are following Google SEO best practices. Having optimized web pages will set the foundation for your success in search engine optimization.
It will help Google understand what your content is about and help your customers find you.
A few of the basic tips include:
– Title tags
– Meta descriptions
– Heading tags (or H1 tags)
– keyword usage
– content creation
– competitor analysis
Learn more about our top 10 on-page SEO tips that actually work in 2018 and beyond.
3. Off-page SEO
Off-page SEO is often referred to as link building.
Link building is the process of getting other websites to link to your web pages.
Basically, links act as “votes” or other people vouching for your website.
Backlinks work in a similar way that you would refer your friend to buy a product from your favorite store because you’ve tried it, used it, and loved it.
In general, the more quality backlinks you can get from relevant pages, the higher you’ll rank in Google.
Sam will show you how to find backlink opportunities and the key technique that SEOs use to build links, which is through email outreach.
I highly recommend watching our video series on competitor backlink analysis and link building here:
We also have another playlist on more "advanced" link building.
There’s a lot to learn with SEO marketing and we're constantly adding new tutorials to help you learn and execute SEO in effective ways.
Contents:
0:00 Intro
1:18 What is SEO?
2:43 Find keywords that are relevant to your niche
5:56 Optimize title tags and meta-descriptions
11:00 Do Off-page SEO
12:12 Use outreach and guest-posting to build links
15:44 Start a blog and create useful content
18:30 Pick topics that provide value to your business
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#SEO #SearchEngineOptimization #SEOTutorial
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Great video! Really explained your points clearly and the do’s and don’ts were much aporeciated
Thanks! Glad it was helpful!
-Helen
Thank you so much for this video, Sam. I don’t think anyone would have done it any easier and in such a short space of time. Looking forward to watching more of your videos so I can increase my knowledge on SEO.
Glad you enjoyed it! More to come – don’t forget to subscribe 🙂
-Helen
Hi Sam! Amazing video. Simple and clear as a beginner at SEO I learned a lot. Thank you. 🙂
Glad it was helpful to you! 🙏
-Helen
Thanks so much for making this video. I feel like this is the first video that I’ve seen that is ACTUALLY for beginners. Very clear and concise so keep making great content!!
So glad to hear it was helpful!
-Helen
This is brilliant, thank you for sharing. Love your easy to understand breakdown and the example and usages. Learning SEO is a lot more fun with creators like you =)
Glad it was helpful!
Thanks for the great intro & refresher! No wasted time and very helpful 👍
You’re welcome!
the most well-explained guide on SEO for beginners I have stumbled upon so far! All the basic SEO concepts are explained simply enough and broken down to the core for anyone with no prior knowledge on SEO. Brilliant work, thank you!
Do you need Seo work done longterm?
Thank you so much!
What an incredibly helpful video! Thank you for all the info. The other videos I watched so far have been rather generic with their advice about SEO, but yours was actually really helpful! Thank you!
Glad it was helpful!
15 years old trying to learn everything I can about digital marketing. Thank you for this vid
How ur age is center of concernd for people
When I was 15 I was just skateboarding and having fun with friends lol
Not sure y your age is important
good for you ! i’m older than you and still trying to learn about SEO
Doing the same for my business at 15 years old. GenZ isn’t just a bunch of video game addicts 🙂
This video is sooooo informative. You’ve explained everything so clearly. I am a beginner and I have understood the concept to quite an extent. Thank you so much.👍🏼
You’re welcome!
Wow. Your channel is amazing. The little edits like the zooms and click sounds on your screenshare and images beside your head when you talk about a new topic is gold. Little memes every now and then keep it human and the constant visual display of strategies is gold. You give actionable advice and actually take us through a hypotheoretical business to show how actionable it really is – this also shows vulnerability and openness. The clear speech and minimalistic setting you sit in ensure attention is locked on you and viewed arn’t distracted. Even the end of the video is optimised so cleverly to lead viewers on to the next video with perfectly placed arrows and order. The attention to detail and upfront value in your videos really places your company on a reputable and respectable peak, and truely applaud you for your work. I’ll definitely be checking out your other videos and blogs. I feel like I could trust y’all and learn all the relevant skills I need to be a digital marketer purely from these videos!
Well done 👍
Thank you! That is a huge compliment for us. 🙂
The fact that you tackle a lot of subtopics in a span of 19 minutes and 39 seconds and putting it into somewhat layman’s words without boring me is *definitely* worthy of a sub. 👏👍
Thanks for a kind feedback =)
This has got to be one of the best and most thorough SEO video I’ve come across for Beginners. Nice!
Yeah it was really good, I wish it was about YouTube and not webpages though. 🙂
I agree!
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it 🙂
-Sam
I have been using internet since the good old RDSI days and this must be the best video tutorial I have watched. 20 minutes full of tips, useful and quality content. It is sometimes overwhelming to find useful information in this “guru” world where there is so much empty talking for free views.
Thank you very much for showing practical cases. Everything in this video is excellent. You have a new subscriber ready to wolf down all your content related to SEO.
I’m sure it will be useful for me to create a succesful website with full reviews aiming at helping people and building my own affiliate marketing business.
Jose, thank you for a kind feedback. We tried to include as much useful information as possible, while still keeping it easy to understand. Hope you will enjoy our existing and future videos =) Thanks for subscribing!
– Max
This. was. AWESOME! Love it! Great examples, love the overall information and flow to the video! Thank you ☺
Yeah so professional right?! 🙂 His videos are awesome.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Really simple, straight forward explanation I can put to practise. I will be doing more research now and will watch more videos. Thanks again.
Thank you! Good luck with your learning journey, we will make sure to help you with that =)
– Max
Great video, really simplified what so many others complicate too much. Thanks!
Thank you for the feedback!
Thank you for making a very informative and concise video. You’re very well spoken. I’m new to SEO and I learned a lot from watching this. Yes, I hit the subscribe button =)
Thanks for subscribing and watching 🙂
If you’re new to SEO, I highly recommend digging through our SEO for beginners playlist (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvwS7cV9GmQ&list=PLvJ_dXFSpd2uHtGoHf8K06ebr-TIrgM0G). We also have some helpful videos that will accelerate your learning here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O75u6p2tD9E&list=PLvJ_dXFSpd2s-OV4MiYXV8yhUjKYtW_bm).
We release new videos weekly here on SEO and marketing, so be sure to subscribe/follow to get updates ► https://www.youtube.com/AhrefsCom?sub_confirmation=1
Excellent vid 🌹 are you guys providing SEO services as well ? If yes then I am interested
How do I make my page more relevant?
Ll
Awesome teaching
Thank you so much. This is the first YouTube video I’ve watched on SEO — and I’m impressed with your presentation for its clarity, directness and efficiency in laying out the key factors a newbie needs for a basic understanding of the topic. Heretofore I have only read books/articles on SEO — I immediately subscribed to your series. Quite useful!
Thanks, Christopher. Happy to hear it was clear. Lots of different playlists within our channel and articles on our blog that should get you off to a great start with search engine optimization.