By John E. Lincoln
SEO is a complex subject with multiple components. While it is a rather extensive subject, the basics can be easy to learn if you know where to go. With the world of online marketing evolving so quickly, book and course information can be outdated in just a few months. Therefore, reading online SEO resources to supplement this information gives you multiple perspectives and the latest insights.
Here are some of the best resources online for SEO education:
Moz Whiteboard Friday and Beginner’s Guide
The Moz Beginner’s Guide to SEO is one of the most popular resources for SEO information. Read over a million times, it’s a handy go-to tool to find the answers to your SEO questions or to refresh your SEO skills. The 10 chapter guide covers everything from search engine interaction and increasing the user experience to SEO keyword research and monitoring data.
Plus, Moz has Whiteboard Friday for specific tips and tricks to boost website traffic and online engagement. Whiteboard Friday covers the latest trends, as well as social media marketing, website development and design, and everything in between to get you up to speed with the latest online marketing skills. That being said, it has a heavy SEO focus.
Search Engine Roundtable
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Search Engine Roundtable gives a full view of SEO and PPC to implement the most important segments to boost website visibility across all major search engines and social media sites. From general SEO and Google news to Google SEO and Updates, it’s a complete resource to helping you navigate the latest SEO practices to abide by search engine algorithms.
Search Engine Roundtable is really known as the area to find breaking news on SEO and SEM. Run by Barry Schwartz, there is never an SEO update that is missed.
Search Engine Land
Search Engine Land’s guide to search engine optimization is a complete crash course to using SEO to get more traffic. There is a Periodic Table of SEO Success factors and a chapter-by-chapter breakdown of the entire SEO process. Featuring 9 chapters, there are explanations for the best SEO practices to avoid search engine penalties and violations.
For more advanced SEO, Search Engine Land has a vast SEO library, covering everything from content writing to link building. If you subscribe to the newsletters, you’ll have the latest industry news and tips for expert advice to grow your SEO skills.
Search Engine Journal
Search Engine Journal is your all-in-one toolkit for SEO, search engines, content marketing, and social media. Plus, they cover paid search and entrepreneur marketing from all angles. There’s also Search Engine Journal’s Beginner’s Guide to SEO, a huge 13 chapter resource. Combine the guide with their SEO 101 series, and you’ll learn how to audit websites, build backlinks, and more with a toned-down analysis of the basics to SEO.
The Google Starter Guide
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Google in general is a wealth of information to help you learn SEO with a ton of information found on the Webmaster’s Blog and forums, but the Google Search Engine Starter Guide is the best place to start if you’re new to SEO. The 32 page PDF covers everything you need to know about ranking on the search engine. It covers the proper implantation of keywords, website promotion, mobile SEO, and just about everything else. The guide has screenshots and insider notes to help you develop a firmer understanding of exactly what’s needed to appear well on Google.
Google Webmaster Central Blog
Google Webmaster Central Blog is the official Google blog to crawling and indexing websites, while providing insider help to Webmaster Tools. Here, you’ll find the latest news, trends, and algorithm updates that are surfacing the web. With Google’s frequent updating to make a more user-friendly internet experience, you’ll have access to Google’s recommendations for all things SEO and the best practices to make sure you aren’t violating their algorithms. This is a great place to check frequently.
Google Webmaster Hangouts
Google Webmaster Hangouts let you directly connect directly with Google employees to ask your most pressing questions. Hangouts take place 1 to 3 times weekly and are offered in multiple languages. While Google won’t tell you everything, they will help you if they can, without getting in trouble by corporate.
Ignite Visibility Blog and Starter Guide
The Ignite Visibility blog has great information and it offers much more than just your basics. The blog features real actionable tactics that are proven to generate results. Heavily read by tens of thousands of visitors a month, Ignite’s blog features comprehensive guides, checklists and case studies to help you generate a higher ranking and increase profits. The most popular guide is the SEO Starter Guide.
HubSpot Blog
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With over 400,000 subscribers and 2 million monthly visitors, HubSpot’s Blog is a top resource for all things marketing and sales related. Covering a wide scale of topics for specific industries, you’ll unlock the top SEO and marketing tactics with numerous guides and blog posts to help you succeed.
Their blog is actually composed of multiple blogs that make it easy to discover exactly what you’re looking for. The basic blogs include marketing, sales, web design, and agency information, but there’s also the academy blog. The academy provides real success stories, insider tips, and the latest news to drive search engine traffic.
Mashable
Mashable is a leading resource for news and information to drive business development through social media and online marketing. Although the website as a whole covers extensive information, in the tech, social media, and business sections, you’ll find the latest news related to online marketing. You’ll discover the next big thing to take your SEO skills over the top.
Quick Sprout Advanced Guide to SEO
Quick Sprout’s Advanced Guide to SEO is perfect for those who already have an understanding of SEO basics but want to take their skills to the next level. The 9 chapter guide offers in-depth information to increasing search traffic. Although the guide covers more advanced tactics, it’s written in a clear and concise language for easy understanding to various search verticals to improve ranking, performance, and traffic. It extends beyond the basics of SEO with real solutions to apply to every section of your website to improve organic search.
There are a number of online resources to help you on your journey to learning SEO. The more your read, the wider the diversity of resources you‘ll have to develop a deeper array of SEO skills.
Sources:
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“What is SEO/Search Engine Optimization?” Search Engine Land
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“The Beginners Guide” MOZ
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“Whiteboard Friday” MOZ
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“The Advanced Guide to SEO” Quick Sprout
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“About Us” Search Engine Roundtable
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“2014 Beginner’s Guide to SEO” Search Engine Journal
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“Google Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide” Google User Content
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“Webmaster Central Blog” Google
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“Academy Blog” Hub Spot
John E. Lincoln, president of Ignite Visibility
John Lincoln is the President of Ignite Visibility, a full service digital agency. Lincoln is also a frequent writer for Search Engine Land, Marketing Land and Search Engine Journal. During his career, Lincoln has worked with over 200 online businesses and has enjoyed working on national clients such as Fox, Coupons.com, Jacuzzi, Tacori, 1800Dentist and more. He has taught a variety of courses for Extension in the past, and continues to guest speak and collaborate whenever time allows.