SEO fundamentals before starting keyword research
Table of Contents
Having learned the fundamental principles of search engines (refer to the previous article on SEO basics for search engines here, it’s time to employ SEO tactics to enhance our website’s visibility to search engines. This ensures our site ranks prominently, enabling us to harness free traffic from these search platforms.
SEO involves a five-step process:
- Keyword Research: Identify the most frequently searched keywords and understand the motives behind these searches. This knowledge helps in developing products that cater to public demand.
- Content Creation: A product alone isn’t sufficient. Without descriptive content, search engines can’t comprehend your product’s purpose and the problems it solves. Content should detail what your product does and include value-driven material like tutorials that attract visitors.
- On-page SEO: Ideally, a webpage should have a single H1 and several H2 tags for optimal layout.
- Backlinks: Acquiring quality backlinks is essential to enhance your site’s authority.
- SEO Techniques: Aid search engine bots in effectively indexing and accessing your site’s content.
Building a Strong SEO Foundation #
Start with developing a fundamental SEO understanding and skills, essential for effective keyword research and subsequent steps.
Domain Name Selection #
Opt for a domain that’s concise and memorable, avoiding hyphens and special characters. Including keywords in the domain name isn’t significantly beneficial; simplicity and recall are key.
Domain Extensions #
For SEO, the type of domain extension doesn’t matter. However, user perception favors .com domains, while extensions like .info and .biz are often associated with spam.
Website Development Tools #
Various tools and languages are available for website development. I’m using Next.js for building a tools-focused website to be hosted on Vercel.
Choosing a Hosting Service #
Select a reliable hosting service; free options include GitHub Pages, Cloudflare Pages, and Vercel.
User Experience #
Focus on HTTPS security, mobile compatibility, minimalist design, and fast load times.
Website Structure #
Organize your site with clear URL structures (services, blog, about, etc.), ensuring each URL is meaningful.
Google Search Console (GSC) #
Use Google Search Console to submit your sitemap.xml and request indexing. Post-indexing, employ Google Analytics to track traffic and other metrics.
With these foundational insights, we’re ready to dive into keyword research!