Posted by Danny Dover

For as long as I can remember, the best way for me to learn has been to do. I have gone through countless checklists while trying to understand search engine optimization. The following is a compilation of the most useful checklists I have completed in order to learn SEO. My intent is that this list can be used by people who are inexperienced in SEO but want to learn more. (As a bonus I included handy dandy check boxes.)

Learn how to build a basic website

Before diving into SEO techniques it is important to know the basics of web development. The following tasks will develop the necessary web development skills needed to become a successful SEO:

Learn how to code a basic website without using a WYSIWYG editor – Don’t fear the word code, writing HTML is much easier than you think. If you can make a sandwich with two pieces of bread and put something in the middle, you can write HTML. For help, check out this excellent tutorial. Remember, don’t worry about SEO techniques at this point. Focus on learning how to build a website first.

Code a website that contains the following:

• All styles with CSS. No Tables!
• Homepage has 3 unique paragraphs about you
• 3 pages total; homepage, contact and portfolio

I have created a sample for you using my information, Danny Dover. Feel free to use it as a guide but don’t copy and paste my code or you won’t learn anything. You will likely have to scour the internet to learn how to fill some of these requirements. This is useful because it improves your searching skills. (Note: I have purposefully not SEOed my example website; you will see why in a little bit)

Register a domain name and find hosting – This is not nearly as difficult as it sounds. I recommend SuperbHosting or SiteGround as good options. However, there are literally thousands of choices. Use your best judgment, but remember you shouldn’t be paying more than $7.00 USD a month and the domain name should be included for free. Your only requirement is that your host can’t have immovable ads. These could be crawled by the search engines and ruin your rankings. For your domain name, pick something uncompetitive. I recommend using your name. Ex. dannydover.com. If that is not available use some variation of your name that is sure not to be competitive. Ex. DannyDoverSweatsHappiness.com or ICaughtARandFiskinThisBig.com. If your real name happens to be Paris Hilton, Britney Spears or Sexy McSexSex, call your parents, yell at them,and then choose a completely different domain name so you have a chance to rank.

Upload your website files to your new hosting account -  The easiest method is to use FTP to drag and drop your files. See your hosting provider for details.

Sign up for Google Analytics and verify your website– This free tool will allow you to track visitors to your website. Installation instructions are included by Google.

Wait a week and search for your website in the big four search engines– It is alright if your website doesn’t show up. That is what SEO is for. If you do find your website ranking (even if it is not on the first page), record how it ranks in the major search engines (Google, Yahoo, Live, and Ask) in a spreadsheet.

Wait two weeks to allow search engines to find your site and for Google Analytics to get data.

Learn about SEO and apply it to your website

Now for the fun part. Learn basic SEO techniques and apply them to your glorious website. This will allow you to see how SEO can help your website rank.

Read the entire Beginner’s Guide to SEO– This is essential to building a strong SEO foundation. I also recommend reading the completed parts of the new Beginner’s Guide and Aaron Wall’s SEO Overview.

Read all of the Google Search Engine Ranking Factors– These will reinforce what you already know and give a perspective on variation. These factors are based off of the experience of some of the SEO industry’s most successful people.

Sign up for Google Webmaster Tools, verify and read everything– This phenomenal resource will show you how Googlebot sees your website and point out any SEO problems you have on your site. Be sure to familiarize yourself with it. The information it provides is formulated toward Google but applies to all the search engines.

Run your website through the SEOmoz tools– Specifically, I recommend the Term Target Tool and Page Strength Tool. These tools will point out areas where you can improve your website.

Add a robots.txt file and a sitemap  – Although these are not really necessary for such a small site, familiarizing yourself with these files will be indispensable.

Apply your knowledge– Optimize your Title Tags, Anchor Text, HTML structure (H1, H2), and keyword usage. This is the bread and butter of onsite search engine optimization.

Link build– Add a link to your website on all of your favorite social media/networking sites. Feel free to try your luck with linkbait, although for a site with no competition this isn’t really necessary.

Track your site on Yahoo! Site Explorer– Wait a week or two for Yahoo to find your links and then check to see what links are being counted. Be sure to select "inlinks except from this domain to entire site." The links should be displayed roughly in order of importance.

Check Google Analytics– By this time you should see more interesting data from your analytics tool. Use this data to learn the basics of analytics and use it as a reference point while link building.

Update your spreadsheet– Search for your website in the big four search engines again and look to see where it ranks. Record these in your spreadsheet. Tracking your data lets you see what techniques are working what techniques are not worth your time.

I sincerely believe that if you complete all the items on this list you will be well on your way to becoming a successful SEO. I recommend printing this post out and pasting it somewhere visible near your computer. That way you can complete all of the items in your spare time and develop your skills. Best of luck to all of the new SEOs.

For all of the experienced SEOs, feel free to give me some feedback on how to improve my list. Are there any tasks that you find essential to learn early on? Are one of my tasks a waste of time? Let me know.

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