What SEO tips do you wish you knew when you were starting out?

SEO
1

Are there any SEO strategies you wish you’d known sooner that helped you get ahead?

2

If you’re new to SEO, setting up your own test website is incredibly useful. A domain and hosting aren’t expensive, and you’ll gain valuable hands-on experience.

3

Jayson said:
If you’re new to SEO, setting up your own test website is incredibly useful. A domain and hosting aren’t expensive, and you’ll gain valuable hands-on experience.

Great advice!

4

@Nicole
Good advice! I just got my first client and am putting in a lot of hours to build traction, but I wish I’d practiced more with a personal site first. It would have helped me build a solid SEO strategy.

5

Jayson said:
If you’re new to SEO, setting up your own test website is incredibly useful. A domain and hosting aren’t expensive, and you’ll gain valuable hands-on experience.

This is exactly what my professors recommended. I think it’s excellent advice.

6

Jayson said:
If you’re new to SEO, setting up your own test website is incredibly useful. A domain and hosting aren’t expensive, and you’ll gain valuable hands-on experience.

How about using a site on Wix?

7

@BillSmith
Wix isn’t the best choice for SEO.

8

@BillSmith
I’d suggest WordPress for learning. You’ll encounter it often, and it’s powerful for SEO. Many sites use it.

9

@BillSmith
Wix has a lot of limitations when it comes to SEO.

10

I’m no expert, but here’s what I’ve learned managing SEO for my small agency.

Quality Over Quantity in Link Building: Early on, I thought more backlinks were better, but I’ve found high-quality links from relevant, authoritative sites make the real difference.

Focus on Long-Tail Keywords: Initially, I went for high-volume keywords, but realized specific long-tail keywords were more effective for attracting engaged visitors.

Pick a Link-Building Strategy and Stick With It: After trying various methods, HARO (Help a Reporter Out) was most effective for building valuable links. We eventually worked with a PR firm to secure high-quality news links, which helped boost our rankings significantly.

11

SEO was frustrating at first. Here’s what worked for me:

  1. Start with low-competition, long-tail keywords. I used a tool called ‘Answer the Public’ to find keywords.
  2. Create in-depth content based on your chosen keywords. BuzzSumo can help find popular articles and topics.
  3. Optimize for keywords by using them in the title, headers, and alt text. Also, use related terms throughout the content to help Google understand your page’s topic.
12

@Levi
+1

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@Levi
Thanks for the advice! Will give it a try.

14

Focus less on SEO and more on creating content that solves a problem. Even if other pages cover the topic, yours might be the one people find helpful.

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Nina said:
Focus less on SEO and more on creating content that solves a problem. Even if other pages cover the topic, yours might be the one people find helpful.

How does Google know what content is useful? Do they look at metrics like bounce rate and time spent on the page?

16

@Nina
I’ll probably get downvoted, but despite updates, Google still primarily uses links to determine what’s useful.

17

ContentCraftCleo said:
@Nina
I’ll probably get downvoted, but despite updates, Google still primarily uses links to determine what’s useful.

[deleted]

18

Here’s my top SEO advice:

  1. Create valuable content.
  2. Help your target audience solve real-life problems.
  3. Use reliable tools like Ahrefs.
  4. Reverse engineer with tools like Cora.
  5. Look for opportunities to gain quality backlinks.
  6. Use downloadable assets to capture emails.
  7. Pay attention to on-page SEO.
  8. Implement rich snippets when possible.
  9. Be patient; Google can take time to recognize quality.
  10. Use YouTube videos to improve visibility on Google.
19

Wish I’d understood the difference between silo types earlier. Traditional category/tagging silos don’t work as well as virtual silos, which focus on directing link juice efficiently.

20

ever said:
Wish I’d understood the difference between silo types earlier. Traditional category/tagging silos don’t work as well as virtual silos, which focus on directing link juice efficiently.

Can you explain ‘virtual silos’? I’d love to know how to use this on my site.