People who are just starting in #SEO have a higher chance of meeting those pesky SEO myths and common beliefs.
This thread is for beginners and is aimed at understanding and preventing the most common pitfalls for learning SEO, plus some tips 🧵
This thread is for beginners and is aimed at understanding and preventing the most common pitfalls for learning SEO, plus some tips 🧵
Let's start with the basics, my recommendation will always be to start from the following free resources:
- learningseo.io
- developers.google.com/search/docs/be…
These 2 are the bare minimum and are correct. You don't need anything else to start.
- learningseo.io
- developers.google.com/search/docs/be…
These 2 are the bare minimum and are correct. You don't need anything else to start.
The most common belief they want to sell you is that SEO is business independent. Let me explain, claiming that the subject is a set of techniques or something you can apply indiscriminately.
SEO overlaps with a lot of other subjects, it is not a watertight compartment.
SEO overlaps with a lot of other subjects, it is not a watertight compartment.
SEO for a magazine will be necessarily different from an ecommerce. You have different types of content and needs, not considering the business model.
If you are just beginning find a niche and/or model you like and dig deeper.
If you are just beginning find a niche and/or model you like and dig deeper.
Speaking of which, I find it stupid to give generic SEO bits of advice without context. Writing more content or getting backlinks is not advice, it's stating the obvious.
I am not a fan of generic recommendations because non-technical people want to understand!
I am not a fan of generic recommendations because non-technical people want to understand!
You have to know some basic business or at least have some clue of the target market. It's very hard to create a solid strategy if you don't have an idea of your audience.
Sure, you can spend months on research. My suggestion is to understand the niche until you get comfortable.
Sure, you can spend months on research. My suggestion is to understand the niche until you get comfortable.
Most newcomers often do the mistake of separating business/branding from SEO. It's just an Mktg channel like others, you still need a solid plan and a value proposition.
SEO with a bad product/service is not what you want. Ideally, you want both.
SEO with a bad product/service is not what you want. Ideally, you want both.
The concept of value proposition is the most important for me. How can you even sell something if you don't know what you can offer?
Which needs can I satisfy? Where am I different from competitors?
Which needs can I satisfy? Where am I different from competitors?
SEO is both technical and creative. There are extremely specific tasks that require certain confidence with IT knowledge.
On the contrary, others swing towards creativity and soft skills.
On the contrary, others swing towards creativity and soft skills.
Starting with your website is NOT the only method and is NOT a measure to define your skills.
Be sure to respect what others do and try to learn from people with different backgrounds.
Be sure to respect what others do and try to learn from people with different backgrounds.
My advice is to help a friend with their website. It's even easier than creating your website from scratch.
You don't necessarily need to start from zero! An existing website has some data that you can use to learn Google tools faster.
You don't necessarily need to start from zero! An existing website has some data that you can use to learn Google tools faster.
The value proposition is not enough to succeed, you need a strategy.
You can think of strategy as the art of planning. Its interest is to achieve some goal in the long term.
This can be the topic for another thread due to its complexity.
You can think of strategy as the art of planning. Its interest is to achieve some goal in the long term.
This can be the topic for another thread due to its complexity.
The strategy will engulf a lot of your SEO work, from content to outreach and even technical fixes.
Careful planning is the road to victory and can save you a lot of time. Learn to detect useless fixes or what brings less value.
Careful planning is the road to victory and can save you a lot of time. Learn to detect useless fixes or what brings less value.
Traffic is not the ultimate goal unless it's specified otherwise. You care about driving revenues and increasing your ROI.
It's not like people will throw money away to get rankings improved by 2 positions.
It's not like people will throw money away to get rankings improved by 2 positions.
A short interlude, what you have to recall:
Value proposition
Strategy
Finding the most valuable activities
Focus on the true end goal
Value proposition
Strategy
Finding the most valuable activities
Focus on the true end goal
Now it's going to get rough. I will address the most common questions or doubts that I've read online for 4 years.
This part is extremely beneficial for those who need a reality check.
This part is extremely beneficial for those who need a reality check.
Q: Can I rank without backlinks?
A: Yes, depending on the niche/country and situation. Very very unlikely for competitive keywords and not worth it.
There is no absolute answer for that and it's a very common topic. >>>
A: Yes, depending on the niche/country and situation. Very very unlikely for competitive keywords and not worth it.
There is no absolute answer for that and it's a very common topic. >>>
>>> The advice here is to get backlinks when possible, that's the best scenario. Good content in certain niches will most likely attract some.
Q: Do I need to put keywords in the title/wherever?
A: Yes, you should define a good title that makes sense for the reader and helps search engines to understand the context.
Don't stuff keywords and keep it natural.
A: Yes, you should define a good title that makes sense for the reader and helps search engines to understand the context.
Don't stuff keywords and keep it natural.
Q: Which tools do I need to do SEO?
A: you can opt for a few or several according to the scope of the project. Google Search Console, a crawler, and analytics software should always be there!
A: you can opt for a few or several according to the scope of the project. Google Search Console, a crawler, and analytics software should always be there!
Q: I got all green lights in Yoast, my article is great, isn't it?
A: Idk, they are just unreliable third-party metrics. It can be anything and you should not base your quality check on this.
A: Idk, they are just unreliable third-party metrics. It can be anything and you should not base your quality check on this.
Q: Buying Ads will certainly increase my rankings, I guess?
A: No, it's not a pay-to-win game. There is not even evidence for that!
A: No, it's not a pay-to-win game. There is not even evidence for that!
Q: Do I need to post every day?
A: Content velocity is different across niches. Keep in mind that more content doesn't equal quality or more attention from search engines.
It can produce negative effects as well!
A: Content velocity is different across niches. Keep in mind that more content doesn't equal quality or more attention from search engines.
It can produce negative effects as well!
Q: Is it true that Google prefers certain CMSs?
A: Some CMSs are better in terms of SEO support but the answer is a strong no.
There is no politics, don't worry.
A: Some CMSs are better in terms of SEO support but the answer is a strong no.
There is no politics, don't worry.
Q: Are LSI keywords real?
A: Nope, it's even been disproved by Google itself. This is not the only reason, of course, it's a misused term with a different connotation.
A: Nope, it's even been disproved by Google itself. This is not the only reason, of course, it's a misused term with a different connotation.
This section covered some questions I always read. Avoid falling into these myths and you should be fine.
You will save a lot of time and money that you would spend testing stuff that doesn't work at all (or has negative effects).
You will save a lot of time and money that you would spend testing stuff that doesn't work at all (or has negative effects).
This section of the thread focuses more on mindset and generic considerations about value proposition and content marketing.
Read it if you are launching a project or are interested in understanding why more content is not necessarily good.
Read it if you are launching a project or are interested in understanding why more content is not necessarily good.
Before you even start, you have to consider what you can offer or which problems you can solve.
Defining a possible audience is part of the work, as you need to adjust your tone of voice and study their pain points.
Defining a possible audience is part of the work, as you need to adjust your tone of voice and study their pain points.
It's very easy to forget that online competitors may be different from those you have in real life. That's why manually checking the SERPs is extremely important.
Semrush and Ahrefs help you to spot and analyze them. This is not enough, try to understand how they do branding.
Semrush and Ahrefs help you to spot and analyze them. This is not enough, try to understand how they do branding.
After you have defined who you are competing against, you can start to define a possible strategy and a customer journey.
These will be topics for future threads. For now, just know that you need a plan to make value real.
These will be topics for future threads. For now, just know that you need a plan to make value real.
As you noticed, I didn't even mention that many SEO terms. The reason is that you can learn what those words mean anywhere but not the mindset or the strategy.
That's why SEO is so fascinating and difficult at the same time. You cannot simply reduce it to a set of rules.
That's why SEO is so fascinating and difficult at the same time. You cannot simply reduce it to a set of rules.
The subject is extremely hard and it can take even years to understand some concepts.
A strong SEO foundation and attention to business can get you far. Be sure to hone both.
A strong SEO foundation and attention to business can get you far. Be sure to hone both.
No, you don't need to code. Some people like me prefer to pursue more technical roles, that's not always the case in general.
If you have to hybridize, consider studying some content marketing or copywriting.
If you have to hybridize, consider studying some content marketing or copywriting.
Good content is not as easy to define as you may think. Spend some time to practice and study how successful content marketing campaigns work.
You can follow my friend @I___DEREKflint as well!
You can follow my friend @I___DEREKflint as well!
SEO is an industry where women often face discrimination. I strongly suggest you follow @techseowomen.
It's a community focused on Technical SEO with wonderful people!
It's a community focused on Technical SEO with wonderful people!
This is it for today, next threads will cover some of the subtopics I mentioned here.
If you liked this thread, please like and retweet to show your support. Thank you for reading!
If you liked this thread, please like and retweet to show your support. Thank you for reading!
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