Key Take aways
- Embrace Experimentation – Stay adaptable and try new SEO techniques, as the landscape constantly evolves.
- Learn from Experts – Follow both local and international SEO leaders to gain diverse perspectives, but don’t blindly adopt their advice. Experiment based on your learnings.
- Prioritize Impactful Strategies – Focus on SEO tasks with the highest potential impact, like optimizing high-traffic pages or quick technical wins.
- Balance Content and Technical SEO – Aim for 80% content marketing and 20% technical SEO for optimal website performance.
- Manage Your Workload Effectively – Avoid multitasking and prioritize tasks to maintain quality and efficiency, especially when handling multiple clients.
Starting in SEO can be both exciting and daunting. The field is constantly evolving, and there’s a lot to learn. If I could go back in time, here are 10 things I wish I knew when I was starting out:
10 Essential Insights for Beginners in SEO
Embrace Experimentation: The SEO landscape is constantly evolving. Don’t shy away from experimenting with new techniques or strategies. Remember, what works today might not work tomorrow, so staying adaptable and open to experimentation is key.
Learn from the Experts: Attend some SEO conferences. SEO is a diverse field with many thought leaders. Follow a mix of local and international experts to get a broad perspective. Remember, SEO strategies vary, so don’t take every piece of advice as gospel. Instead, use this knowledge as a starting point for your experiments.
Prioritize Impactful Strategies: Focus your efforts on strategies and tasks that offer the most significant potential impact. This could mean optimizing high-traffic pages first or targeting quick wins in technical SEO before delving into long-term content strategies.
Leverage Automation Wisely: Tools like Ahrefs or Screaming Frog can streamline your SEO processes. While these tools are powerful, understanding the fundamentals of SEO manually ensures you’re not overly reliant on them. Know the basics, then use tools to scale your efforts.
Balance Content and Technical SEO: Aim for a blend of 80% content marketing and 20% technical SEO. High-quality, engaging content drives traffic, while technical optimization ensures search engines can effectively crawl and index your site.
Always Back-Up Before any Technical Changes: Always back up your website before making any technical changes. This includes saving code snippets in an editor like Sublime Text for easy retrieval. A good backup can be a lifesaver in case of errors or technical issues.
If you’re looking to deepen your technical SEO expertise, consider enrolling in the Advanced Technical SEO Implementation course designed for Filipinos offered by SEO Workout, where I guide you through advanced techniques and best practices for backing up your website.
Manage Your Workload: If you’re managing multiple clients, avoid multitasking similar tasks simultaneously to reduce errors. Organize and prioritize your tasks to maintain quality and efficiency.
Innovate in Link Building: Don’t limit yourself to guest posting. Explore various link-building strategies like broken link building, resource page link building, or influencer outreach. Testing different approaches will help you discover what works best for your specific context. Follow Kaiserthesage blog for more advanced Linkbuilding strategies.
For SEO Freelancers: Learn from respected Agencies here in the Philippines, If you’re freelancing, observe the processes and strategies used in SEO agencies. Then, adapt and improve these methods to fit your workflow. Staying updated with industry best practices will enhance your service offering. Follow Searchworks.ph and their YouTube as they share a lot of processes from the agency for free.
For SEO Managers: Foster Continuous Learning: Always be open to learning and evolving. Simplify complex processes and actively involve your team in brainstorming and decision-making. Maintain a humble attitude and focus on collective growth.
Bonus Insights:
- Challenge Yourself Continuously: Seek out new challenges and learning opportunities. Even small steps in learning and applying new SEO techniques can lead to significant progress over time.
- Innovate When Stuck: If you find yourself at a standstill, conduct research to discover new trends or strategies. Document these findings and consider including them in your strategy, even if just for experimentation. This approach keeps your work exciting and can lead to unexpected positive results.
- Ethics Matter: While exploring various SEO strategies, steer clear of black hat techniques. They might offer short-term gains but can lead to long-term damage to your website’s reputation and ranking.
Embrace Imposter Syndrome: Don’t worry, you’re not alone. The vastness and ever-changing nature of SEO can leave anyone feeling overwhelmed or like an imposter. But instead of letting these feelings hold you back, use them as motivation to keep learning and growing!
Remember, SEO is a journey, not a destination. There will be ups and downs, but by staying focused, learning continuously, and adapting to changes.
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