How to learn SEO? How long does it take to learn SEO? How to learn SEO for free? Find this all in detail here.
Learning SEO might be intimidating. It’s a complicated subject, and there’s a lot of misinformation out there. However, with a little time, effort, and the appropriate plan, anyone can learn it.
This is the road map we’ll follow in this guide to give you the answer to your question, “How to learn SEO for free”
How to Learn SEO?
Learn SEO Fundamentals
If you are unfamiliar with the fundamentals of SEO, this is where you should begin. You must grasp how search engines work to understand how to learn seo or understand how long does it take to learn seo as well as the four basic aspects of SEO. Let’s go over these quickly.
How Search Engines Function
Search engines function by locating and storing content in a large database known as an index. Consider this a library, but instead of books, it keeps web pages. When you run a search, the search engine searches the index and returns matching results. Finally, search algorithms, which are complex processes, rank the results.
As a result, when you search for something on Google, you are not scanning the entire internet. You’re merely looking at Google’s index.
This is significant for one simple reason:
You can’t rank in Google’s search results if you’re not in their index.
Google’s index is built from two key sources:
Sitemaps – A sitemap is a file that lists all of your website’s significant pages that you want search engines to index. You may notify Google about the existence of your pages by submitting your sitemap.
Links from well-known websites – Google has billions of pages in its database. If one of those pages links to you, Google can “follow” the connection to find your page.
Not all well-known web pages can be found on other websites. By “following” links from recognized sites on your site, Google can explore new pages on your site.
Assume Google already has your blog’s homepage in its index. If you add an internal link from there to a new blog post, Google can “follow” the link to find the post.
Keyword Research
Picking the terms you want to rank for — termed keywords — requires research. If you use keywords that people often search for and are related to your business, you may be able to get your site in front of a wider audience.
The two categories of keywords are long-tail keywords (three or more words) and short-tail keywords (one or two words). Long-tail keywords help to narrow your pages and increase interest.
For example, if someone searches “where to buy magazines,” it is more specific than “magazines,” allowing you to better appeal to their expectations.
So, how can you find out what the most popular searches are in your industry?
As you learn SEO, you use keyword tools such as Keywords Everywhere, Soolve, and KeywordsFX. You can also see what keywords your competitors are using for some good SEO competition.
Keywords are essential for SEO since they will be woven into your content, titles, meta descriptions, and URLs. Understanding keyword research is a critical first step in your SEO journey.
On-page SEO
SEO takes occurs in two parts: on-page and off-page. What happens on-page is something you can directly influence when you study SEO; however, what happens off-page is up to other sites.
It’s no surprise that on-page SEO is a simpler topic to cover and comprehend. You manage many aspects of your sites to delight visitors and search engine bots.
Formatting (such as H1 and H2 tags), keyword use, navigation, URLs, meta descriptions, and picture descriptions or alt text are all part of on-page SEO.
But it goes even beyond this collection of aspects, which necessitates a great deal of diligent work.
Link Building
Link building is known as the practice of obtaining backlinks from other websites to your site. Backlinks are significant because they are one of Google’s top three ranking factors.
This is most likely why there is a strong association between connecting websites and organic traffic:
However, not all links are made equal. Links from high-quality and relevant websites typically move the needle more than links from low-quality and irrelevant websites. In other words, if your site is about Bitcoin, a link from a cryptocurrency website will likely have a greater influence on rankings than one from a tourism website.
Building high-quality links to your website is one of the most difficult components of SEO and one of the most in-demand SEO abilities.
Deepen Your Knowledge of SEO
Another step in the guide of “how to learn seo free” is this.
It is impossible to learn everything there is to know about SEO. The subject is simply too wide. So, now that you’ve spent some time in the trenches and discovered which areas of SEO you prefer, it’s time to specialize and hone your skills in one area.
This is referred to as becoming a t-shaped SEO.
Being a t-shaped SEO means that you are well-versed in all aspects of SEO yet excel in one particular area. The specialty you chose should be one in which you excel and like working.
Here are some more t-shaped SEO examples:
- Patrick Stox: Technical SEO
- Nick Eubanks: Keyword research
- Jon Cooper: Link building
- Marie Haynes: Google penalty recovery
Keep Your Fingers on Pulse
Despite popular belief, the fundamentals of SEO remain constant. However, minor details are continually altering. Google updates several times a year, changes in how search engines handle areas of technical SEO, clever people devising new strategies, and so on.
With this in consideration, while you shouldn’t spend your entire day reading SEO news, you should have your finger on the pulse.
Here are a few suggestions:
Listen To SEO Podcasts
Podcasters frequently interview skilled SEOs about their achievements, mistakes, and experiences, making podcasts an excellent method to stay up to date while on the go. In one episode of the Authority Hacker podcast, for example, link-building guru Bibi discusses her inventive method to link outreach mailings.
Official Sources
Google’s Search Console Blog releases official algorithm updates and announcements, while its YouTube channel holds weekly “office hours” hangouts. You can also follow Google search representatives on Twitter, such as John Mueller and Gary Illyes.
Read SEO News
Search Engine Roundtable bills itself as the “pulse of search marketing,” publishing daily updates on all things search. Search Engine Land and Search Engine Journal both post news on a regular basis.
Teach Others What You Know
This may sound paradoxical considering your want to learn more about SEO, but we’ve discovered that educating others helps me retain and assimilate knowledge. We believe this is because it compels us to explain our thoughts, which frequently leads us to conclude that we don’t know as much as we thought we did.
While this can be done publicly on a blog or a YouTube channel, it can also be done semi-discreetly (in groups and communities) or privately (via direct messages, face-to-face).
If you’re brave enough, doing it publicly can provide an extra line of protection against disinformation because people are usually gracious enough to correct you when you’re wrong.
Read More: What is a SEO Company?
Final Thoughts
K. Anders Ericsson, a well-known psychologist, proposed that learning a new ability requires 10,000 hours of practice. You’ll undoubtedly learn a lot about SEO over that period, but the truth is that you never stop learning.
But keep in mind that learning is more than just reading and memorizing facts. It’s also about putting what you’ve learned into practice, checking things out for yourself, and looking for ways to improve on conventional wisdom over time.
Also, if you are thinking about how much you can earn from SEO working here, have a look at this article “How Much Does SEO Cost” to understand how much $$$ companies are paying SEO workers.
