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What I’ve learned in my 1st year of SEO
**It’s been 12 months since I started seriously engaging with SEO. Here are 9 things I have learned:**
***1) One of the beauties of the world of SEO is that – with the right strategy and some smart thinking – the Davids really can take on the Goliaths.***
The reason I got into SEO was to try and improve the visibility of my legal translation website. I am a legal translator translating from German into English: my main markets are Germany and Austria. Looking at the top-ranking sites for my focus keywords, the scene was dominated by huge agencies, offering translations for many language pairs and subject areas. As a highly-specialised one-woman-show, I was doubtful about whether I would be able to compete.
Answer: Yes, I can! With the right strategy and consistency in implementation, I’ve managed to achieve several first-page rankings. I’m right up there amongst the Goliaths!
***2) Persistence pays off***
I’m only seeing the good results I am with SEO because I kept at it. If you just do SEO for a couple of months and then give up, you’ll never get anywhere.
SEO goes on, and on, and ON…a bit like Céline Dion’s heart in the late 90s.
***3) Invest in SEO like you would invest in a friendship or other relationship***
Do you invest in your relationships with an eye to gaining a specific, short-term advantage from those people? No, of course not. SEO is the same: it’s an investment you have to make with a certain amount of faith and goodwill, because there are no guaranteed results.
***4) When those results do turn up, it is SO motivating***
Because success in SEO is not an overnight thing, it’s all the more satisfying when results do start to show. You see those impressions and clicks ticking up and it makes you want to do more, be even better. In no time, you’re a total SEO nerd.
***5) Getting backlinks is really, REALLY hard***
I understand why lots of companies buy them in spite of the risks. Just getting one organic backlink involves a ton of work.
***6) Don’t obsess too much on the data***
Analysing data (keyword search volumes, traffic data etc.) is an important part of SEO…but focusing on it exclusively might negatively affect your long-term SEO success. Don’t let a data fixation distract you from creating a website which your target users love and want to come back to. When all is said and done, they are who you are building your website for – not the search engines.
***7) When it comes to content, quality beats quantity every time***
It’s best to spend time putting together a piece of unique content that carries real value for your users than to pump out 5 pieces of content that repeat what 20 other SEOs have already said.
***8) Understanding search intent is key***
Failing to analyse the true search intent behind the keywords you are basing your strategy around is going to result in a ton of waste and useless clicks later on in the game.
Make sure you’ve understood what users are actually looking for when they enter a keyword/keyphrase into the search engine. Is your content really delivering what they want/need?
***9) There’s always more to do***
I feel like I’ve learned and achieved a lot in my first year of SEO…but also like I’ve still got so much still to do. I can see weak spots in my strategy, my URLs weren’t optimised properly, certain things haven’t worked out the way I wanted and I need to work out why, other pieces of content did far better than I thought…it goes on!
**Can anyone identify with my experiences? What were the biggest lessons you learned when you first started with SEO?**
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1 Reply
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Thanks ChatGPT
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