Simple SEO Steps: DIY SEO Guide Anyone Can Follow

Did you know that 68% of online experiences start with a search engine, and 92.26% of global traffic comes from Google? 

Two shocking numbers, right? Yes, an SEO-optimized website puts you ahead in the digital race. It captures organic traffic from the SERP’s first page and boosts conversions. 

However, I have noticed individuals find SEO complex. Let SEO be challenging to others - not for my audience. In this guide, I will explain my simple SEO steps from a beginner's perspective. Let's get started!

Understanding Search Engine Optimization and How It Works

SEO may seem technical to you. But, by breaking it down into simple concepts, anyone can understand how SEO processes in the backend. Let's understand. 

What is SEO? 

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, also known as SEO marketing, organic search marketing, and SEO optimization. It is the process of improving a site's organic traffic from search engine results.

SEO is a cornerstone practice in digital marketing, working for any website, whether it sells products, or services, or shares valuable insights on specific topics. By implementing SEO, one can ensure their target audience discovers them, and generate revenue growth.

Why is SEO important?  

There are over 1.8 billion websites on the World Wide Web, and it is hard to stand out with your content and reach the target audience. SEO is the solution here.

SEO makes sure your website ranks higher in the top three search results, which drive 75% of all clicks, according to HubSpot. Also, an SEO-optimized site loads quickly, is mobile-friendly, and offers easy navigation. These increase dwell time and decrease your site's bounce rate. 

How does SEO Work? 

SEO works by connecting your website content with the users’ search intent. Web admins target search queries (keywords) and provide user-focused content. This practice helps search engines better understand your website content, and connect users with information they are looking for.

SEO can enhance your website visibility on search engines, and improve brand awareness, gaining organic (unpaid) traffic. In fact, 53% of all web traffic comes from organic search, according to the 2019 BrightEdge study. Overall, it helps your brand stand out in the competitive market. 

7 Simple SEO Steps to Boost Your Rankings

SEO is not complex but a bit technical. However, it doesn't require you to type HTML and CSS codes. All you have to learn is the technical process that happens in the backend. 

Therefore, to ensure you learn the SEO steps practically, I'll demonstrate everything through several SEO tools. 

Step 1: Understand How Search Engine Works 

Before diving into the steps of SEO, first understand how search engines operate. Search engines are a searchable database of web content made up of two components:

• Search Index:

The search index is a digital catalog used by search engines to store information about web pages. This information includes keywords, titles, descriptions, headings, content, images, videos, etc. 

When crawling the Internet, search engines collect data from websites and store the information in their index. The index enables the search engine to quickly retrieve and rank relevant results based on users’ queries.

• Search Algorithm(s)

Search algorithms are the brains of search engines. They run on rules and calculations and determine factors like keyword matching, page authority, and user experience.

Overall, it figures out the most relevant pages based on your search queries. 

The search index and search algorithm coordinate smoothly throughout the search engine process. The entire operation can be simplified into three functions: crawling, indexing, and ranking.

1. Crawling: The first step is in which bots, such as Google bots, discover and fetch web pages. They start by visiting web pages already indexed by the search engine, then find new pages, retrieve their content, and check for updates.
2. Index: The collected information from the crawling stage is stored in a large database called the "index".
3. Ranking: When searching a query, search engines utilize algorithms to determine relevant pages based on various ranking factors.
4. Serving Results: Lastly, the search engine provides you with the most appropriate results, including a title, URL, and meta description. Sometimes it offers rich results, such as images, videos, FAQs, and featured snippets.

2. Perfect Your Technical SEO

If Google fails to find, access (crawls), store (indexes), and index web pages, your website will not appear in the search results.

Even after optimizing for every aspect of SEO, your efforts will be wasted because search engines cannot display content they haven't indexed. Therefore, fixing technical errors helps Google understand and serve your content to the right audience.

Here are some common technical errors your site faces: blocked robots.txt, no index tags, crawl errors, duplicate content, slow page load times, internal linking, and XML sitemap issues. 

To discover the issues preventing Google from crawling your site, conduct a website audit by using the Ubersuggest tool. 

In the SEO Audit section, you need to enter your URL. Then, it'll provide reports on SEO issues your site is facing.

3. Keyword Research: Find Target Keywords and Understand Search Intent

Keywords are like the bridge between your SEO strategy and target audience. Therefore keyword research and analysis is so important. Identifying the keywords your audience searches for attracts targeted traffic and aligns your content with people and search engines.

It supports on-page SEO optimization, content creation, and link-building strategies, that generate leads and customers. 

Using Ubersuggest’s “Keyword Research” feature, you can find relevant words and phrases, their competition, and content ideas.

Here, you can see a list of keywords with their search volume (demand), SEO difficulty (competition), CPC (cost per click), and other metrics to build an effective content strategy.

4. On-Page SEO: URLs, Internal Linking, and Content on Your Website

On-page SEO or on-site SEO focuses on optimizing individual web pages on your website. It directly improves website elements and user experience and makes content relevant to users and search engines.

Let's learn some vital points about on-page SEO.

SEO-friendly URLs: 

Keep URL descriptive, yet short. They must include primary keywords, and exclude unnecessary words and characters.

Catchy title: 

Keep the title within 50 to 60 characters, which includes the primary keywords at the beginning, and fulfills user intent. 

Here is an example of my blog titled “LinkedIn for Beginners from Invisible to Found?”

Perfect Meta Description

A short and compelling meta description communicates with readers and prompts them to click on your results on the SERP. 

• Add primary keywords naturally to the meta description. 
• Use calls to action like ‘Learn more”, “Discover now”, and "Buy Today”, and encourage readers to take action. 
• Keep the meta description length between 155 and 160 characters to avoid translocation on the SERP.
• Provide a descriptive summary of your content, highlighting what readers can expect. 

Observe the meta description below. It effectively communicates the importance of learning SEO for translators, which is improving your skills and earning more.

Internal linking

Internal linking is a link directed from one page to another under the same website. It helps your users find other relevant pages, and search engines crawl and index all your important pages. 

That's how interlinking can enhance website navigation, user experience, and overall SEO performance.

Schema markup

Schema markup also known as structure data is a code that helps search engines understand the content and context of your pages. 

Google uses it to show your content in rich snippets or rich results on the SERP. Also, it makes your search results more informative and appealing with images, ratings, prices, and more. 

Featured Snippets 

Featured snippets are brief text answers that appear on the top Google search result, also called “Position Zero”. These snippets answer queries in short without clicking a link. 

Some common types of Snippets are: “Paragraphs Snippets, List Snippets, Table Snipers, and Video Snippets”. Here is an example of a paragraph snippet: 

To optimize for it, you need to provide direct answers to the queries, with 40-60 words. Additionally, structure your content with proper headings.

Optimise for voice search 

About 20.5% of people worldwide use voice search, an increase from 20.3% earlier in 2024. Voice search popularity is increasing across demographics and regions. 

So, optimizing your content following voice search trends will improve your SEO and drive organic traffic. Here are some practices:

• Include conversational keywords,
• Provide a direct answer,
• Ensure a mobile-friendly website that loads fast, within 2.5 seconds,
• Keep your language as simple as a 9th-grade reading level,
• Focus on SEO for local businesses - optimize Google business profile with NAP (name, address, and phone number)
• “Near me” keyword phrases.

5. Off-page SEO: Build Backlinks to Boost Search Results

Off-page SEO involves strategic activities outside your website that improve your site's domain authority (DA) and credibility in the eyes of search engines. 

Among all practices, building backlinks is the most effective. Backlinks are the links coming from other websites directed to your site. They act as “votes of confidence”, signaling to search engines that your content is valuable and trustworthy.

You can effectively build backlinks using Ubersuggest’s Backlinks feature. For that, you need to explore the backlinks profiles of your competitor's site and identify those websites.

6. Creating High-Quality Content

Quality content that adds value to the readers, and is well-optimized with keywords, contributes to SEO in various ways. 

Here is how it helps: 

• Improve organic ranking - A well-structured, in-depth content with proper headings, insights, visuals, and FAQs gives reasons to search engines like Google (which prefers people-first content) to rank your article.
• Boost click-through rate - A great title and in-depth content improve click-through rate also known as CTR (how often people click on a link). A higher CTR sends a positive impression to search engines that your content is relevant to the search queries.
• Drive backlinks - Providing unique content often attracts quality backlinks from authoritative sites. When web admins find your content relevant, they create a backlink (hyperlink) from their website to your pages.
• Motivate social sharing - When readers find solutions in content, they are likely to share it with their networks. This drives social media traffic, and engagement, and improves your search engine rankings.

a. How to write great content? 

Writing great content requires understanding the search intent behind a user's query. It also requires optimizing your content with primary, secondary, and LSI keywords with detailed explanations. Let's learn about those.

Search intent means why the audience is typing the term into search engines. This single factor ensures whether your content will align with the users. Let's address this:

1. Informational intent- Here users are looking for solutions to their problems, and your content should solve those and educate them. Some common content types are “how to guide” and “listicle posts”. 

For instance- “benefits of multilingual content marketing”.

In this example, users want to know about how multilingual content marketing benefits businesses. So, the keyword has an informational intent.

2. Transactional intent - Users are trying to do a transaction. It can be a purchase, downloading e-books, or signing up for a course. 

Here, you should prioritize content that converts. This includes product and service pages, case studies, and comparison guides. 

For instance, “Langbay blog post translation” is a transactional keyword.

Here, users are ready to take action, such as getting a quote for blog translation or using Langbay's services.

3. Navigational intent: In this situation, users want to land on a specific website or page. They simply type the brand or website name in search queries, such as YouTube, Facebook, or Langbay, ignoring other results. 

b. EEAT  

EEAT stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. It is a Google Search Quality Rater guideline that Google's team uses to evaluate content quality. 

Google prioritizes this guideline to offer authentic information, tried-and-tested opinions, and unique strategies for all queries. 

To optimize for EEAT, you need to display author information highlighting their qualifications, expertise, and first-hand experience. Linking your social media platforms like LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube acts as proof and improves the authenticity of your expertise.

c. Content optimization

Content optimization involves improving your content by structuring headings, subheadings, bullet points, and meta descriptions, including relevant keywords, and making it more informative. 

This process ensures your content is well-organized and aligned with search intent. It also makes the content fresh and data-rich, satisfying user intent. 

An optimizer tool like NeuronWriter helps optimize your content and cover topics deeply. Here you can see an optimized blog on this tool. 

7. Monitor Your Progress and Take the Next Steps

The last step is analyzing your SEO efforts. Use SEO tools like Google Search Console, Google Analytics, and Ubersuggest, to track all the page's performance on the SERP.

They can offer the backend data, including website traffic, keyword ranking, user engagement, backlinks (inbound links), and your competitors’ performance. 

You must keep refining your SEO strategies using updated reports and metrics.

How to Create a DIY SEO Strategy: Starter Guide

A DIY SEO strategy analyzes, creates, and optimizes content to rank higher in search results. 

This strategy starts with your clear objectives like gaining higher organic traffic, generating more leads, or improving local visibility. In the next step, follow these best practices.

Step 1: Find a list of keywords 

Use a keyword research tool like Ahrefs, UberSuggest, or Semrush to find relevant keywords around your business, and target audience. You can go with some free SEO tools like Moz or Screaming Frog. Also, Google search also helps with manual keyword research.

They provide accurate data on keywords, like search volume, ranking difficulty, keyword trends, and other websites that are ranking on those keywords. 

Step 2: Analyze Google’s First Page

Enter your target keywords on Google, then analyze the top rankings pages in the SERP (10 organic results by default for most search engines). 

Next, review the key elements that are satisfying the search intent:

• Search intent: Understand why the audience types a search query. Do they want information, land on a website, or make a purchase? 
• Content type: Understand what content format is fulfilling the search intent - blog posts, how-to guides, product pages, listicle articles.
• Content quality: Examine the depth and analysis of the content. Does it include research, data, expert quotations, or case studies?
• Tone and style: Study the tone of ranking content- professional, persuasive, or conversational. 

Step 3: Identify your competitors

Search your target keywords and discover the ranking pages on the SERP to find your competitors. 

Additionally, put your competitors’ sites on the SEO tool, and analyze their domain authority (website ranking potential), page authority (specific page ranking potential), content depth, and backlink profile. 

Step 4: Create Unique Content

Create better content than the existing content. It must follow EEAT guidelines, a key ranking factor, especially in the post-AI era. And Google strictly focuses on this algorithm for “Your Money Your Life (YMYL) topics”. Such topics include finance, health, legal advice, and more. 

Step 5: SEO optimization 

Practice on-page, off-page, and technical SEO properly. If you are using a CMS platform like WordPress, optimizing your website gets easier with a plugin like Yoast SEO. 

Step 6: Update your content

SEO is a long-term game. You need to keep updating your content with current information. 

Fix broken links, include current data, visuals, real-life examples, and case studies, and engage with your audience regularly. 

Step 7: Promote your content

Lastly, build a strong presence on social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter x, and share your content. This will help you create a strong social media following. 

Also, repurposing your content into infographics, podcasts, or carousel posts can drive traffic to your pages. 

Looking for an All-in-one SEO Audit Tool? 

If you are looking for a tool that will boost your SEO strategy, I recommend Ubersuggest and Yoast SEO (if you are using WordPress). 

• Ubersuggest is a keyword research SEO tool. It conducts external research, finds keyword ideas, and assesses website health. Also, it fixes technical SEO errors and analyzes backlinks, competitor sites, and keyword rankings.
• Yoast SEO is a WordPress SEO plugin that increases your on-page SEO score. It optimizes your pages for specific keywords and helps in indexing, schema integration, and breadcrumb navigation. 

Both these tools are recommended by SEO experts and help you implement your simple SEO steps to rank higher. 

Final Words 

SEO may initially seem technical. However, by following these steps you can efficiently master it and rank your website higher. 

Remember, SEO is always evolving with new search engine algorithms, and becoming a crucial marketing strategy. So, upgrading your SEO knowledge with the trends helps you stay ahead in the ranking game.