The 3 key areas to focus on for SEO
When you realise these are what it comes down to, learning the ropes gets a bit easier.
I spent years confused and intimidated by SEO. It was like a mysterious maze of technical jargon with ever-changing rules. I avoided it and sought comfort in guesswork instead.
Eventually I decided not to let it defeat me, so took the plunge to learn what I could. I’m still a beginner, but I now realise it doesn’t have to be so overwhelming for online creators just starting out.
In the end it comes down to just three key areas for you build a solid SEO foundation.
I’m going to quickly summarise what I’ve learned to focus on.
Your content
What you write is obviously important. Quality content is the cornerstone of successful SEO. Focus on creating valuable, original, and engaging material that answers your audience’s questions or solves their problems.
Search engines are getting smarter at understanding context, so write for humans first. Use your keywords naturally throughout your text. Prioritise readability and usefulness over keyword density.
Regularly updating your content and covering topics in-depth can also boost your SEO performance.
Your website
In short, how you structure your content. A well-organised website makes it easier for both users and search engines to navigate and understand your content.
A simple navigation structure, with page content structured and tagged logically, will make a difference. Your page URLs should be concise and relevant too.
As well as that, ensure your content is mobile-friendly and loads quickly.
Backlinks
Backlinks are web pages on other sites linking back to yours. They’re like votes of confidence from other websites, telling search engines that your content is valuable and trustworthy.
Even with the right keywords, you may find you don’t appear in Google until you have 10–50 of these, as a start.
Quality over quantity matters after that. To build backlinks, the strategy is simple — create share-worthy content. You could also guest post on relevant blogs, or reach out to industry influencers.
SEO is a marathon, not a sprint. Hey, I’m only scratching the surface myself. But if you stick to these main areas and stay the course, you will watch your visibility and organic traffic grow.
Once you get more comfortable with these basics, there are plenty of more advanced SEO techniques to explore.
For more like this, you might like to follow Tiny SEO Lessons on Medium.
I’m Mark, a creator and solopreneur in the UK. I write on Medium and create resources to help others get their own ideas started.
