Beginner's Guide to SEO - Moz

Introduction

Welcome to your SEO learning journey! This guide is designed to describe all major aspects of SEO, from finding the terms and phrases (keywords) that can generate qualified traffic to your website, to making your site friendly to search engines, to building links and marketing the unique value of your site.

SEO Basics

Ever heard of Maslow's hierarchy of needs? The theory is that you can't achieve the needs at the top without ensuring the more fundamental needs are met first. Our founder, Rand Fishkin, made a similar pyramid to explain the way folks should go about SEO, and we've affectionately dubbed it "Mozlow's hierarchy of SEO needs."

Mozlow's Hierarchy of SEO Needs

1. Crawl accessibility so engines can read your website
2. Compelling content that answers the searcher's query
3. Keyword optimized to attract searchers & engines
4. Great user experience including a fast load speed and compelling UX
5. Share-worthy content that earns links, citations, and amplification
6. Title, URL, & description to draw high click-through-rate (CTR) in the rankings
7. Snippet/schema markup to stand out in SERPs

Explore the Chapters

1. Quick Start Guide: A step-by-step refresh on the core fundamentals for setting your site up for SEO success.
2. SEO 101: What is SEO, and why is it important? Learn the basics to start yourself off right.
3. How Search Engines Work – Crawling, Indexing, and Ranking: How search engines find your site, add it to their indexes, and rank it for search results.
4. Keyword Research: Understand what your audience wants to find, and how to determine what keywords to target.
5. On-Site Optimization: Use your research to craft your message, and adjust how you publish content to maximize its visibility and resonance with your audience.
6. Technical SEO: Basic technical knowledge to help you optimize your site for search engines, including responsive design, robot directives, and structured data.
7. Link Building & Establishing Authority: How to earn attention and links from other sites and influencers by creating share-worthy content.
8. Measuring, Prioritizing, & Executing SEO: How to set yourself up for success, track your progress, and adjust your approach as you go along.
9. SEO Glossary: A glossary of key terms and phrases to help you get a handle on the industry jargon.

Getting Started

If you're serious about improving search traffic, we recommend reading the Beginner's Guide to SEO front-to-back. You can also check out the Moz Academy SEO Essentials Certification to learn SEO fundamentals alongside unique learning methods, task lessons, and quizzes.

Let's launch into Chapter 0: Quick Start Guide!