In this article, we’re going to cover some ultimate SEO tips for beginners to rank #1 in 2022.
The aim of this article is to give you a good overview of SEO. And the main things you need to get right. If you focus on these things, you should be able to get some pretty good results with SEO, even if you’re a beginner!
Of course… Some of the things we’re going to here, such as the tactics in section two, might even help out some of the pros.
Anyhow, stick around and make sure you read until the end. Or else you might just miss that one tip that could take your SEO campaigns to the next level.
Let’s get started!
Tip #1. You’ll Get Nowhere Without Content
Content, content, content….
No matter what marketing tactic you’re looking at, it seems as though content is a bit of a buzzword.
Well, when it comes to SEO, there are no exceptions. Because content really is one of, if not the most, important thing you should focus on.
In fact, you’ll often hear people say that content is King — and it’s kinda true. (By the way, you might be wondering who the Queen is, and that’s something we’re gonna cover later!)
But, why do people say that?
Well, look here’s the thing — you can probably get your website to around 1,000 visits per month. Heck even more, if you just focus on producing the right kind of content.
However, if you just build backlinks to a site that has no content. You probably won’t hit those types of numbers.
Even if you focus on the other core aspects of SEO, such as user experience (a big topic we’re gonna touch on later) — you still won’t hit those kinds of numbers.
Everything else is like fuel on the fire — but the actual fire is content. And if you want to succeed with SEO, you need to make sure you’ve got good content. And THAT, is why content is important.
Okay, so that’s all fair enough — but then how do you make sure you’ve got good content? What’s the secret here?
Well, there actually isn’t really much of a secret. And for the most part, it all comes down to outshining the competition.
So, imagine you want to rank for a really really really exciting term such as — “how to build a shed.” (some people really like sheds, what can I say?).
If you want to do that, you would probably need to look at the top three results for this term, and see what the content looks like.
You would then need to ask yourself how you can make a better version of what already exists.
Most of the time, you do this by creating something that’s more in-depth. Or even just something that’s easier to read/understand.
Anyhow, if you use that sort of approach when creating content, you should naturally end up creating some amazing content that’s worthy of a high ranking.
Tip #2. Backlinks Will Bring Visibility
Right, so we just talked about the importance of creating content. And how your website won’t get very far without good content.
Obviously, there’s no getting around this, but here’s the thing you need to remember…
Content can really only do so much for your website when it comes to SEO and it does have its limits.
That’s because if you really want to get this content in front of a lot of people. You’re gonna need backlinks. And so if we use the analogy from earlier, backlinks are kinda like the Queen, if content is the King.
Okay, but why is that then?
Well, backlinks show that your site has some level of authority.
After all, if your site/content is good, people are gonna link to you because your site is a good resource. These links will then show Google your site is trustworthy, and therefore deserving of a high ranking.
All of which is just a long way of saying… Google will rank your content high and put it in front of a lot of people, if your site has lots of good links.
Now, there are dozens upon dozens of methods you can use to build links, so we won’t focus on everything here.
What we will cover, though, are a few general things you need to keep in mind when building links.
First off, you should really only build whitehat links.
These are essentially links you attract/build naturally.
If you want some tips on how you can build these kinds of links, you should check out this video:
These tactics work really well in 2022, so check them out if you want some strategies that’ll work this year.
You also want to make sure you’re building high-authority links.
These kinds of links can sometimes be a little harder to secure. But it’s worth it because these links will produce bigger improvements in your rankings when compared to “low-authority” links.
Now, I know that might sound a little obvious.
But a lot of people, especially SEO beginners, don’t appreciate just how big the difference can be here.
To help drive this point home, here’s an example from one of our clients:
This chart is pretty crazy, and I mean if you look at the dates, you can see how quickly this site hit huge traffic levels.
Now, did content make this happen? Sure, of course, content is important, and we talked about that earlier.
But, content can only do so much — what really moved the needle here was getting backlinks from high authority sites like Forbes.
Without these kinds of links, there’s really no way they’d have been able to achieve this crazy, crazy growth.
By the way, if you’d like us to help you achieve results like this, consider booking a free consultation call with us at juliangoldie.com!
Tip # 3. Please, Please, Please Don’t Ignore User Experience!
User experience (UX) is a super important concept in SEO.
In fact, recently, kinda like the past few years. UX has jumped up a few notches in the level of importance it commands.
That’s because Google is now really starting to care about UX, and they’re even penalizing sites that don’t have the same view as them.
Here’s their statement on the matter:
Now, Google being Google, this statement is a bit complicated to read, and it feels a bit like fluffy corporate talk.
But, one of the main things they’re basically saying here is that… If the results for a certain keyword are similar, the site with the best UX will likely have better rankings.
After all, think about how bad it looks on Google if someone uses their platform, finds a result that looks good, clicks on it, and then has a horrible time using the site.
They’re just gonna be frustrated, and some of that frustration is gonna be pointed at Google. These people might then use a competitor, and if enough people do this, it’s gonna hurt Google.
So, of course, Google doesn’t want this, and so they’re prioritizing sites that give UX a good bit of thought.
Alright, so with that said, what really matters when it comes to UX?
Well, if you check out this graphic, you can see UX factors that Google really values.
There are essentially four key sections here, but it’s all a little complicated. To make things clearer, let’s just quickly go over each one…
#1 — The First Section Focuses on “Core Web Vitals.”
This sounds complicated, but this concept basically relates to things like the speed of your site, and just the overall stability of it.
If you want to see how your site performs in this area, go to Google’s Core Web Vitals Report Page.
If you provide your URL here, this webpage will produce a report based on your site.
Now, something to keep in mind here, is that this Core Web Vitals thing can all be a bit technical.
Luckily, though, Google has a ton of documentation on this that makes things a bit easier to digest. You can find that documentation here {annotation:https://web.dev/vitals-tools/}
If you just go over that, you should be able to get your head around the technical parts of this concept.
#2 — The Second Section Focuses on Having a Mobile-Friendly Site.
The best way to check if your website is mobile-friendly is by using the free test provided by Google.
This tool will give your site a once-over, and it will tell you if it is up to standard.
It’ll also provide you with some tips if there are any issues with your mobile site.
If your website isn’t mobile-friendly, and you’re using something like WordPress on your site, fixing this issue might be as simple as just getting a new mobile-friendly theme.
However, if you’re not using WordPress, you might need to hire a web developer that can help you with this kinda thing.
Or, then again, you could just take the leap, and move things over to WordPress.
Now, I know I’m pushing WordPress a bit here, but let’s face it, WordPress just makes things easier in SEO.
Plus, if your site is on WordPress, you can actually install some plugins that’ll make it easy for you to optimize the UX of your site.
For example, there’s one plugin that’ll compress images so that your site loads faster.
By the way, if you know of any good plugins when it comes to SEO, or just even some general ones, let me know in the comments. I’d love to learn about some new plugins!
#3 — The Third Section Focuses on HTTPS
HTTPS is basically just a security protocol, and it’s supposed to make sure traffic is encrypted. If you look at the URL section when you visit a site, you’ll often see a little ‘padlock’ and this shows that a site is using HTTPS.
Google announced back in 2014, that they were using this as a ranking signal.
…And as shown in the earlier screenshot, they’re still prioritizing this.
If your site doesn’t have this, you need to contact your hosting provider. They can give you something called a SSL certificate, and this will then make it so that your site has HTTPS.
By the way …. Keep in mind that you need to renew these certificates, so it’s not like a set and forget thing.
Now, this is important to remember, because if these certificates expire, and you forget about them, it might hurt your rankings and undo some of your hard work. So, make sure you create a reminder or something so that this doesn’t happen to you!
#4 — The last section basically warns people about using something called ‘intrusive interstitials.’
Okay, so first,off, you’re probably wondering what on earth that even means!
Well, Google just wants to sound clever here, but this term basically just means no excessive pop-ups.
So, yeah, you might be allowed one to ask people about cookies, and another maybe asking them to join your newsletter — but don’t push it.
Plus, I mean, if you do push it here, are you really doing yourself any favors?
Like, even if you figure out a way to get around Google’s rules — when’s the last time you enjoyed using a site that just bombarded you with pop-ups/ads?
Conclusion
We’ve covered a bunch of tips in this video that’ll help beginners rank in 2022.
These tips are based on some of the fundamentals of SEO — so there’s a good chance they’ll be relevant for years to come.
Now, I know that sounds like I’m just congratulating myself here and patting myself on the back for making a good article, but I promise it’s true!
