Friday, February 2, 2024

We refreshed our SEO Starter Guide to
better fit its namesake (you guessed it): a starter audience.

Launched in 2008, this guide was
originally a 22-page PDF that was designed to be a one-stop-shop for the most common SEO (short
for search engine optimization) topics of the time. The PDF expanded to 40 languages,
and then got modernized into HTML.
Over the years, we also added more topics (but rarely removed anything), with each addition
reflecting the general advice of a respective era (looking at you, mobilegeddon).

Today we’re publishing a refreshed, more pocket-sized version of the SEO Starter Guide with a
better focus on a starter audience and the topics we think a person who’s just dipping their toes
in SEO should focus on and why.

Better focus on the target audience

As the name suggests, the SEO Starter Guide is not actually for SEO professionals, but rather
newish website owners and other content creators who would like to learn how to improve their
content’s presence in search results.

To better help our intended audience, we removed jargon and fluffy language (and just got to the
point faster), compressed most sections to their core elements, and deleted a few sections
entirely. We also focused our rewriting efforts on explaining terms and concepts in a more
approachable way, and elaborating on the “why” behind a given topic or best practice.

We removed:

• Glossary section: Instead, explained the individual terms in context.
• Structured data section: It’s a more of an advanced topic that starters don’t have
  to think about; if someone is using a content management system (CMS) like Wix or Squarespace,
  they might try using a plugin and not have to worry about learning how to add code to their
  website.
• Mobile friendliness section: Most new sites and platforms are already mobile friendly.
• Analyzing site performance section: This is a next step and more of an advanced topic;
  likely, it’s something to look into after understanding the basics and making a few changes on
  your site.

We compressed:

• “Are you on Google” sections: Simplified to one section that focuses on a quick way to
  check if your site is on Google, and on the first steps a site owner should take if they don’t
  see their site in Google Search results.
• “Do I Need an SEO” section: We have a standalone doc; no need to repeat it. Compressed
  it into 2 sentences and linked out to the full guide.
• Title links and snippets section: Shortened considerably, in favor of the more
  comprehensive standalone docs.
• Images section: For a starter audience, alt text is the more important guidance.
  Those interested can learn more in the image best practices guide, if they are feeling
  adventurous.
• “Opt out of Google Search” section: While it’s an important topic that should be
  mentioned, it’s probably not why the reader is working their way through the guide.
• Links section: Compressed (without changing the message about them), and highlighted
  their useful aspects and why linking is helpful for users (and search engines).
• Promoting a site: Compressed and linked out to
  Google for Creators, as they have a
  more detailed guide on this topic.
• Site structure section: Largely kept it unchanged, however removed:
  • Navigation section: Instead, focused on linking important onsite URLs more
    aggressively.
  • 404 section: Because we really don’t care about 404 pages
    and site owners should just do whatever makes sense for their users.
  • Explicit setup for breadcrumbs: This is more of an advanced topic.

Newly added content

We tried our best to not add anything new, but some sections lacked an answer to “why should I do
this” and “why is this thing not here”. Far-from-groundbreaking, the additions are in the
duplicate content section,
which now elaborates on what is duplicate content and how to fix it (if that’s even needed at
all), and a new short section for videos
(for parity with the images section).

We also added a new section about common SEO theories and ideas
that we think people shouldn’t focus on too much, and a new section about
how long it can take to see impact.
While we waffled a bit
on whether it’s a good idea to document anti-patterns and myths, in the end we added this with the
intent of helping newcomers focus their efforts on areas that actually matter.

What’s next?

The SEO Starter Guide rarely changes and
we hope that it stays that way. However we do want to continue making our documentation clearer
and easier to understand in the coming months. If you have ideas about which guide or topic we
should prioritize, or you have feedback about the SEO Starter Guide (like releasing a bespoke
leatherbound edition, or a full-cast audiobook recording), use the feedback button on this page.

Posted by Lizzi Sassman
and Gary Illyes, Search relations