{"id":13596,"date":"2020-09-15T09:31:01","date_gmt":"2020-09-15T09:31:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/?p=13596"},"modified":"2023-11-24T15:23:41","modified_gmt":"2023-11-24T15:23:41","slug":"7-seo-steps-to-take-first","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/7-seo-steps-to-take-first\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting Started: 7 SEO Steps to Take First"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, you have landed an SEO job or started your first website?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Congratulations! But what\u2019s next?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What do you do first to hit the ground running? What are some of the steps that you should take right away?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here is a list of 7 such SEO steps to take first when you start.<\/span><!--more--><\/p>\n<h2><b>1. Run an SEO audit<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As an SEO professional, you will soon realize that most websites would have some SEO issues. Therefore, as soon as you start working on a website, it is highly recommended to start with an SEO audit.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">See how the website looks and what are some of the issues it has.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here are some of the common issues that you may find:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Missing meta titles or meta descriptions<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Missed internal link opportunities<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Orphan pages<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Crawlability issues<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Broken links<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Duplicate content<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Canonicalization problems<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If it\u2019s a brand new website, you will probably not run into any of these issues at this stage. But it would still be a good idea to keep an eye out on these issues for later.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We also recommend running SEO audits periodically to find problems.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Whatever issues you do find, however, make sure to fix them before moving forward. Craft a plan with subtasks, stakeholders, and deadlines to keep everything organized.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>2. Set up a content management system<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The website will likely have some sort of content management system in place. If there isn\u2019t, set up one.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you are not sure which CMS you should go with, WordPress is arguably the safest and most popular choice.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once WordPress (or any other content management system) is set up, personalize it to how you\u2019d prefer running your website. You may want to install some helpful SEO plugins, like the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/wordpress-seo\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yoast SEO plugin<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Arguably, the most important thing is to settle on a URL structure. Otherwise, if you change the URL structure later down the road, you will have to create redirects \u2014 which is something you want to keep at a minimum level.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you are using WordPress, go to Dashboard &gt; Settings &gt; Permalink to change the URL structure.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>3. Set up Google Analytics and Google Search Console<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A search engine optimiser cannot do much if the right data and information isn\u2019t available. Therefore, make sure to install and set up Google Analytics and Google Search Console at this stage.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here is <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.paperstreet.com\/blog\/how-to-setup-and-install-google-analytics-on-your-website\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">how to install Google Analytics<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And here is how to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/webmasters\/answer\/34592?hl=en\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">add<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/webmasters\/answer\/9008080?hl=en\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">verify a Google Search Console property<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lastly, it is highly recommended to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/pathfinderseo.com\/guide\/link-search-console-google-analytics\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">link the Google Analytics and Google Search Console accounts<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. This integration will give you more in-depth data and unlock valuable insights.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>4. Run competitor analysis<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is an excellent way to get started quickly \u2014 especially if you do not know much about the industry.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Find a few direct competitors, analyze their website and content infrastructure, find their top pages, identify their best-performing keywords, and shortlist their backlink sources.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you have a professional SEO tool, such as <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ahrefs<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.semrush.com\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">SEMRush<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, or <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/moz.com\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Moz<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, you can conduct a detailed competitor analysis in just a few hours.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Remember, you don\u2019t have to reinvent the wheel.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If something is working for most of your competitors, you know it\u2019ll likely work for you as well.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>5. Conduct a thorough keyword research<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Use the information you gathered in the last step and conduct thorough keyword research for your own website.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If competition is high, focus on long-tail keywords more than head keywords. Build your backlinks with those terms, drive relevant traffic, and get the ball rolling.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here is <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/keyword-research\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">a step-by-step guide on how to conduct thorough keyword research for SEO<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>6. Establish content infrastructure<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now that you have your keyword research, it\u2019s time to think about the overall content infrastructure for the site.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How many new pages you will need<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What keywords those pages will target<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How you will present them in the main menu and footer<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How will all those pages be interlinked with each other<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><b>7. Start creating high-quality content<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You\u2019re almost done now.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The next step is to start creating those pages and get that free organic traffic rolling.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is important to remember that it\u2019s tough to rank on Google\u2019s first page, even for semi-competitive keywords. Not every piece of content will rank in the top 10 positions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here are a few guides to help you create SEO-friendly content:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/seo-checklist\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A simple (but effective) SEO checklist for 2020<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/backlinko.com\/seo-content\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">SEO content: Complete beginner\u2019s guide<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Good luck!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>So, you have landed an SEO job or started your first website? Congratulations! But what\u2019s next? What do you do first to hit the ground running? What are some of the steps that you should take right away? Here is a list of 7 such SEO steps to take first when you start.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":17254,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oct_exclude_from_cache":false,"inline_featured_image":false},"categories":[33,35],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Getting Started: 7 SEO Steps to Take First | IMSR<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Get ahead in SEO with competitor analysis and keyword research. 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