Content Roundup

SEO for Beginners: A Step-by-Step Guide to Ranking on Google  

May 13, 2025

Not having a Google ranking means that your website is missing important traffic and potential customers. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is crucial for your website because it improves its visibility in organic search results and makes it easier for users to find your content, services, or products online without relying on paid advertising.

This beginner’s guide will walk you through the step-by-step process of SEO, beginning with keyword research and moving on to the more technical elements of a site’s backend. If you are building a new strategy or refreshing an old one, this document, along with the support of iMarketo, will help you build a stronger online presence and attract targeted traffic.

What is SEO?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a set of practices designed to improve a website’s visibility in organic (non-paid) search engine results. This further includes tweaking your content, site organization, and even its speed to ensure that it is pleasing to search engines such as Google. Leveraging effective SEO strategies ensures your web page gets listed on the top pages of Google whenever users search for relevant keywords.

Why does this matter? As reported by Backlinko, the first position on Google receives more than 27% of all clicks. This means enhanced rankings will translate to added visibility, site visits, and even clients.

Step 1: Do Keyword Research

An effective search engine optimization(SEO) strategy begins with conducting thorough keyword research. Keywords are the phrases and words that users input in Google’s search bar to retrieve relevant information. Fulfilling the keyword selection step enables the creation of content that resonates with the target audience.

Consider using Google Keyword Planner, Ubersuggest, or Ahrefs to target low-competition keywords with high search volume. For instance, if you provide digital marketing services, targeting “digital marketing for small businesses” or “SEO services for startups” would be appropriate.

At iMarketo, we assist our clients in determining the keywords most likely to drive traffic to the client’s website and increase the ROI.

Step 2: Optimize On-Page SEO

Now that you have your keywords, let’s turn our attention to on-page SEO elements - basic optimization to do with content and the HTML source code of each webpage of your site.

Start by including your target keyword in the following areas:

Insert your primary keyword in:

  • Page title (preferably at the beginning)
  • Meta description
  • URL slug
  • Header tags (H1, H2, H3, etc.)
  • First 100 words of your content
  • Image alt texts

For example, let’s say you’re targeting the keyword “SEO services for beginners.” In that case, a likely title for your blog could be: “How to Get Started with Affordable SEO Services for Beginners.” Remember to keep your writing organic, as natural as possible. Keyword stuffing can hurt your rankings.

Ensure you place relevant internal hyperlinks from other pages or blog posts on your site to this one. This practice improves Google’s perception of your website and increases session duration. For example, you can link to our post on how to build a website that actually converts visitors into customers.

Step 3: Create High-Quality Content

Content is the backbone of SEO as Google favors web pages with valuable content that is informative, original, and aligns seamlessly with what users are searching for.

When crafting blog posts, guides, or landing pages:

  • Answer questions your audience is asking
  • Provide in-depth explanations
  • Use visuals like images, infographics, and videos
  • Include statistics and external references from authoritative sources

The objective here is to become a reputable, leading figure in your field. This is the reason you should put effort into developing strategic content focusing on driving immense traffic and solidifying brand authority. Your content will now be refined and optimized for both users and search engines.

Step 4: Improve Technical SEO

Technical SEO involves optimizing a website and servers so that search engines can crawl and index them more effectively.

Here are some key technical aspects to address:

  • Ensure your website is mobile-friendly and responsive
  • Use an SSL certificate (HTTPS) to secure your site
  • Optimize your site speed—use tools like PageSpeed Insights
  • Fix broken links and crawl errors
  • Submit an XML sitemap via Google Search Console

If the technical SEO is too complicated, iMarketo developers can revise and optimize the entire site structure, interface, and performance features so that it complies with Google Core Web Vitals within a few days.

Step 5: Build Backlinks

Backlinks are the links directing from other sites to your website that serve as an integral component of Google’s ranking algorithm. Your site gains credibility in Google's eyes when authoritative sites link to your content.

Try out these methods to earn backlinks with relative ease:

  • Write guest posts for industry blogs
  • Publish original research or case studies
  • List your site in relevant directories
  • Reach out to bloggers or influencers with link-worthy content

Remember, it’s not just about quantity—it’s about quality. One backlink from a high-authority site can be more impactful than dozens from low-quality sources. Tools like Ahrefs and SEMrush can help you track backlinks and analyze your competitors’ profiles.

Step 6: Focus on User Experience (UX)

Google places importance on user engagement with your website. A poor user experience, such as slow loading times, troublesome navigation, or excessive pop-ups, can negatively impact your rankings.

Here are some ways to improve UX:

  • Make your website easy to navigate
  • Use clear CTAs (calls to action)
  • Ensure fast page loading speeds
  • Avoid pop-ups that interfere with content
  • Use readable fonts and a clean layout

Incorporate the best SEO practices alongside a user-centric design to guarantee that sites perform exceptionally well and transform users into leads or clients.

Step 7: Monitor and Adjust

SEO is never a single topic. It requires monitoring the progress, understanding what needs to be fixed, and continuously building on those improvements.

Use tools like:

  • Google Analytics for tracking traffic sources and user behavior
  • Google Search Console for outputting indexing issues, as well as keyword performance
  • SEMrush or Ahrefs for rankings and backlinks tracking

Keep track of things such as bounce rate, average session duration, and CTR. For underperforming pages, update them with fresh content, better visuals, or improved keyword targeting.

Final Thoughts: Start Your SEO Journey with Confidence

Mastering SEO for beginners may seem overwhelming, but taking it step by step unfolds extraordinary growth. By working on keyword research, page optimization, content creation, backlinking, and enhancing user experience, you will start observing some tangible changes in Google rankings.

If you want to put your SEO skills to use, then you might want to build a partnership with a company that actually thrives on digital growth. The experts at iMarketo offer affordable SEO, technical audits, and content strategies for companies, big or small. Whether you are a startup or an established brand, we will help you drive more organic traffic intensively and hence retain customers.

Still wondering how to start with it all? Contact us, and we'll give you a free SEO consultation to kick-start your online visibility journey.

Leave a Reply