Newbie Guide to SEO - Where Do I Start?
So, you just got a job in the SEO (search engine optimization) industry!
First off, I want to say congratulations. Trust me, once you start SEO, you just can’t stop. You might even find yourself working for an internet marketing company like eVisibility!
Now if you are that green to the industry you are probably wondering “Where the hell do I start?” Trust me; we have all felt that way! But don’t worry - I am going to give you a starting point.
(Warning: After you have finished reading this post and book-marking it as great resource you are on your own!)
SEO News Sites
You have to read every day! If you do not like reading, then I recommend you walk over to your boss right now and say “I quit.” It is important to stay updated on what is going on in the industry, because it is always changing. (The Google Gods get bored and like to play with us like puppets. Don’t worry, you get used to it.)
For the latest new in Search Engine Marketing:
- Search Engine Land
- Search Engine Watch
- Search Engine Round Table
- SEO Moz
- Sphinn
- Search Engine Journal
For some great tips on Social Media:
If you refuse to read or can multi-task, then try some Podcasts and Videos:
Chat it up. No question is stupid. It is very important to get active in Forums:
Now you may be wondering, “How the hell am I going to keep track of this all?” Lucky for you, there are RSS Readers:
- Blog Lines
- Net Vibes (My Favorite - and no, they did not pay me to say that)
- Google Reader
SEO Tools
Now that you are up to speed on what is going in the world of search, let’s arm you with some SEO Tools.
First off, download FireFox Internet browser and never open Internet Explorer again.
Then download these plugins:
- SEO for FireFox - Enables you to get site information with a click of a mouse. (I use this every day)
- Google Tool Bar
Spider Test Tool - Great tool that simulates what a search engine spider picks up on your site.
Keyword Research Tool - Very simple and straightforward.
Keyword Trends - Google’s version and MSN’s version
Competitive Research - Compete, Quantcast, SEODigger (Freaken Rocks), SEOmoz Page Strength
Back Link Checker - Check out what anchor text people are using to link to your site.
Keyword Density - Do you have the right amount of keywords on your site?
Duplicate Content - Don’t let Google Bot find duplicate content on your site.
301 checker - Make sure those redirects are true 301 redirects.
Google Data Centers - Check your rankings from various data centers. They could be different.
Quick Snapshot - Collects a large amount of information
Domain Research - Domain Bots, Whois Checker
Site Functionality - Find out what people are clicking on!
MSN Lab center tool kit - Way too much to mention, but useful.
PollDaddy - Need a poll on your website?
Site Maps - Great tool for making sitemaps.
Hopefully this points you in the right directions. Good luck, and most importantly remember to have fun. If you stop having fun then change your career. I recommend becoming an accountant. I hear they have all sorts of fun.
For all of you gurus out there, if I missed anything comment below and I will update the list. (Please keep in mind I wanted to make this as simple as possible).
November 19th, 2007 at 5:22 pm
[...] I just got done writing a quick Guide to SEO for people new to SEO over at eVisibility’s blog title “Newbie Guide to SEO - Where Do I Start?” [...]
November 20th, 2007 at 1:55 am
This looks like a comprehensive SEO guide. Great work.
November 20th, 2007 at 2:42 pm
Great list and like your writing style - good work!
November 20th, 2007 at 3:32 pm
Good stuff. This post has all of the best tools and readings for anyone motivated enough to get started.
November 20th, 2007 at 8:34 pm
So you have been at this stuff for as long as I have, or longer, and you are recommending newbies to a place like digitalpoint? You must be joking, right? Have you viewed there lately? Do you really want to send new people off to a place where selling links, pagerank, how to trick se’s, and how to do link exchanges is exactly what is taught there? If you do, you have not learned much in ten years. Sorry, but that’s my opinion.
November 20th, 2007 at 8:36 pm
oh, and you want to teach new people that keyword density tools and backlink checker tools are what is needed in this industry? Again; you must be joking.
Where does this industry learn anything from anyway?
November 21st, 2007 at 2:31 pm
@ Doug Heil
I feel that digital point forum still holds some learning value. Yes, there are people that sell links and are overly obsessed with Page Rank at Digital Point Forum, but if you are to become a well rounded search marketer you need to understand the good and the bad. Also, many of the news sites mentioned in the post reference Digital Point Threads as a point of discussion. More importantly, I would encourage newbies to sign up for an account over at Digital Point Form so they can ask questions and get involved. There are other forums like Cre8asite and Search Engine Watch that are also good, the point is to encourage people to participate and ask questions in industry forums.
Any of the tools I mentioned in the post help a newbie explore the concepts of search engine optimization. It will help them get started thinking and researching about keyword density and anchor text concepts.
Overall, the point of post was not to tell a newbie that these are all of the tools you will ever need to have a successful search engine optimization campaign, but more to help guide a newbie into exploring and searching the different topic and strategies of search engine optimization.
November 29th, 2007 at 8:46 am
a big round of applause to you! This is almost a comprehensive list of SEO dos. For SEO newbies, I can pretty say that this is really a great start!
December 16th, 2007 at 10:38 pm
[...] Newbie Guide to SEO – This is a must read for you if you are new to SEO. [...]
December 28th, 2007 at 4:46 pm
[...] happy New Year to me and you! I found this article called “The Newbies Guide to SEO” at eVisibility Insider. This is such a comprehensive list for beginners who want to learn [...]
January 3rd, 2008 at 12:43 pm
[...] my websurfing this past week, I came across a link to the Newbie Guide to SEO at the Freelancing Journey blog. The Newbie Guide is a great resource, whether you’re getting [...]
February 26th, 2008 at 10:29 am
[...] - Stephen Peron over e-Visibility Blog put together a list of SEO 101 sites, forums, links, tools and more. Here is the low-down! [...]
March 9th, 2010 at 12:16 pm
This is almost a comprehensive list of seo dos
May 4th, 2010 at 8:02 am
This is completely a comprehensive SEO guide.The article is full of tool guidance which is very informative for the beginners.
August 24th, 2010 at 4:05 am
This was very interesting & informative, a must read if you’re new to SEO
August 28th, 2010 at 3:09 am
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