Learning SEO From When You Already Have Your Website With Content Made

u/chagster

What are the best sources to learning SEO from scratch when I already have my website with content made?

I had someone create my website through WordPress but I want to cut costs and learn how to optimize my website and use Google SEO. My website already has content. For some context, my business provides a legal service.

I feel like so far the videos/blogs/courses I've looked for only teach you Search Engine Optimization (SEO) with the assumption that you don't have a website or content.

Thanks in advance!

edit: WordPress SEO specifically
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Ayesha
As a professional writer for over 20 years who recently got into learning Search Engine Optimization (SEO), I have found the Ahrefs service and blog to be my most helpful resource, along with Backlinko. I had content galore and the ability to write great content, but I had no idea how to create great SEO content. I needed to expand my skillset by learning to do keyword research, analyze the competition, write engaging headlines and subheadings, choose the right website layout and font size, etc.

It's good that you already have some content. You don't need to start over, just adapt what you already have. Keep reading articles on the basics (no need to pay for a course, you can learn all you need at this point for free) and then start updating your content accordingly. You can always add more articles, too!

Do keyword research to see what people are actually searching for when they need your services. For example, if you offer special needs trusts, check to see how often people search for keywords like "Medicaid trust," "disability trust," or something even longer like "how to qualify for Medicaid without losing all my money." Maybe those are good keywords/phrases to target and you can update your article to include them.

Also, your content doesn't have to be perfect right away. It's not like you're writing a book and sending it off to a publisher and you're stuck with your final draft in print forever. Websites are living documents and it's natural for them to change and evolve. Google likes that too. You can update as you start to see movement for certain keywords. You can ask for feedback from existing customers about what they wanted to know before paying for your service.

There are so many ways to play Google's game to try to go up in the rankings, and I'm sure you'll read about many of them eventually. But ultimately, Google's stated intention is to help users find the resource, product or service they're looking for. If you provide useful information in a clear, organized fashion, you will be ahead of most and have a better chance of ranking well.
theSapiennohomo
SEO can be really technical and dense. Much of it is built in the code… making it hard to truly optimize if you're using WordPress. Therefore, you probably have to stick to the more "superficial" SEO for now which means using the right keywords, repeating them a lot in your headings and all pages, and writing good meta tags (don't know if WordPress lets you). Then take a look at Google search console to check how the crawlers are interpreting your site and try to build a sitemap. Use links that guide the crawlers to understand what your site is about, ex: sector/company/service. And its infinite honestly…

chagster ✍️
I appreciate your input. I've been learning the more "superficial" SEO actually and though it's a lot of information it seems pretty straight forward. Now, which part of the SEO is built in code and hard to optimize? (My website was built through WordPress). As I mentioned in the post, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't need a crazy Google campaign as I am not doing eCommerce nor blogging. My main goal is when someone searches {insert legal service} then I will rank somewhere in the first page locally, not nationally. My website already has more than enough keywords to utilize.

googles
You need local SEO, which is very different from the standard stuff. Check out a guy called Phil Rozek at localvisibilitysystem.com (or something like that- a bit of Googling if I'm wrong). He'll help you to understand how to rank for local services, and plenty of downloadable spreadsheets to work through.

For the standard stuff I also recommend authority hacker (like above).

Also, I disagree with the previous comment about it 'all being in the code'. For me the essence of SEO is targeting keywords and building links.
chagster ✍️
Thank you kind stranger
theSapiennohomo
You should also definitely create an account for "Google my business". That will ensure you show up in your local area pretty quickly. They mail you a code to prove you're in that address and you'll show up in one of those display boxes and on Google maps
chagster ✍️
Already did. That's one of the first things I did

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devlurve
Hi, you have such a great energy man! This is how ordinary business owners get to learn SEO! Don't hesitate and keep pushing forward.

I think that the best way to learn Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is through Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO). Here's my 5 cents on what CRO is.

So, here's what you can do:
• Create Version 1 of your Sales Funnel (a. It's never just your site, or your YouTube channel, or your socials. It's always about the Sales Funnel. b. In oder to start thinking via the Sales Funnel-driven mentality, you need to understand what you are trying to achieve with your assets. c. The first version can be very rough. For instance, look at my blog's main page. It's very down to earth. The images kinda suck. There are no categories. But all of these things are completely OK because this is just the first version of my site.)
• Set the goals (a. set some goals – they don't have to be super-long-term. In may case, it is – 1. write 30 articles, 2. talk with 30 Internal Stakeholders (you see, I am a content marketer and I am not trying to make the biggest and most popular SEO blog in the world; what I am trying to do is to create 30 articles and then start talking with 30 Internal Stakeholders (i.e. a stakeholder within the digital marketing niche (SEO users, content studios, payment gateways, webdev studios); those guys need to see some articles so that they can ordering from me. I currently have 3 such customers and I am making good money. I want to find more lucrative opportunities to make even more money). b. As you can see, in my case, it's not so much about the traffic, it's just about doing some things as opposed to just thinking about doing things!. c. Don't forget that these are just the first goals for your Sales Funnel (SF), and you'll always be able to change them subseuqently as your SF grows., d. goals should be very realistic and very specific (like in my example).
• Develop the action plan to reach the set goals (a. You should never start doing things wihtout first setting the goals – when you to a wedding, you already know you are going to marry there, i.e. you never say something like that "I just wanna marry, uknow", b. It's possible that the first goals batch will require some specific actions, while the next ones will need other types of actions)
• Execute on the action plan + monitor weekly (a. now you should start executing on the goals, as opposed to continuing to develop new strategies or learning new things. In your OP, you say that you've familiarised with some videos and articles and they only scratch the surface – this might not be true. You might only be feeling that they are touching the surface, but they are in fact telling you the gist of the scope. For instance, if you want to do socials, what you need to is follows: 1. create a Reddit account, 2. write 500 comments on various threads where you can contribute something – it's just execution. Thus, it is possible to watch some videos and start redditing. b. one of the biggest mistakes that people make in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is that that they treat the assets as the "house" – you build a house and then you start living in it. SEO does not equal "house", SEO equals "jogging" You gotta be jogging every week, otherwise you'll lose the skill and the stamina. And jogging isn't the end-goal – you jog to look nice, to stay healthy and to chill out in this manner. Another person might be drinking vodka and smoking cigs to achieve the same results. What you need to do is to keep jogging, while also doing monthly reviews. For isntance, you have just started drinking vodka every week (buying super-bad backlinks for 3$ from very bad sites) and you have just started jogging (writing one blog post on the low-frequency keyword into your on-domain blog; 750 words; reader's purpose – answer a specific question & business' purpose – provide the answer to that question and invite the reader to look at the merch via the big icons set at the end of the article and other placements). You need to keep on doing these two things even though you might think that they are useless or bad for you. And then you need ot perform the monthly reviews with an experienced SEO. You need to present that SEO with the activities that you do. There's the 100% chance that that SEO will immediatley tell you that you need to stop doing the first activity and that the second activity is really good. But, actually, the first activity will provide with much more boost during the 2-3 months since the backlinks work really work, however Google already knows how to identify cases the backlinks are totally bad and totally bought; while the second activity won't delivery much SEO karma within the 2-3 months, but it will gradully enable you to be become the authority blog in your micro-niche.)
• Reach the goals
• Set the new goals

+

7. Perform monthly reviews for the purposes specified above.

This is how I work. Don't be afraid of going very meticulous on your project. This is how people win in SEO.
chagster ✍️
Update: I've done some keyword research and the primary keyword phrase(s) I've found don't make sense for a title page. Does it have to be exact for it to optimize or no?

There was an example I saw where someone determined that "best gaming laptops under 1000 dollars" was the best keyword for low competition with high traffic. He then ranked his site using that keyword by making that exact keyword his title page.

My primary key word phrase wouldn't work for a title page. Does it have to be exact for it to still optimize? What do I even do? I'm so stressed lol.

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