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Friday, January 22, 2010
Want to eat healthier and exercise more in 2010? That's tough! Want to learn about search engine
optimization (SEO) so you can disregard the rumors and know what's important? That's easy! Here's
how to gain SEO knowledge as you go about your new start to 2010:
Step 1: Absorb the basics
If you like to learn by reading, download our
SEO Starter Guide
for reading while you're on an exercise bike, training for Ironman.
Or, if you're more a video watcher, try listening to my
"Search Friendly Development"
session while you're cleaning your house. Keep in mind that some parts of the presentation are a
little more technical.
For good measure, and because at some point you'll hear references to them, check out our
webmaster guidelines
for yourself.
Step 2: Explore details that pique your interest
Are you done with the basics but now you have some questions? Good for you! Try researching a
particular topic in our
Webmaster Help Center.
For example, do you want more information about
crawling and indexing
or understanding what
links
are all about?
Step 3: Verify ownership of your site in Webmaster Tools
It takes a little bit of skill, but we have tons of
help for verification.
Once you verify ownership of your site (that is, signal to Google that you're the owner), you can:
Usually the basics (for example, good content/service and a crawlable site with indexable
information) are the necessities for SEO. You may hear or read differently, but before you do
anything drastic on your site such as
disallow using robots.txt
all of your directories or revamping your entire site architecture, please try:
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Missing the information I need","missingTheInformationINeed","thumb-down"],["Too complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],[],[[["\u003cp\u003eLearn search engine optimization (SEO) basics through Google's SEO Starter Guide, video sessions, and webmaster guidelines.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eExplore specific SEO topics further in Google's Webmaster Help Center, focusing on areas like crawling, indexing, and links.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eVerify website ownership in Webmaster Tools to access confidential site data, utilize the tool's checklist, and manage Google messages.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eConduct thorough research using Google's resources before implementing significant website changes to ensure informed SEO decisions.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],["Begin learning SEO by absorbing basics through the SEO Starter Guide, video sessions, or webmaster guidelines. Explore specific topics via the Webmaster Help Center. Verify site ownership to access confidential information like crawl errors and messages, and use the Webmaster Tools checklist. Before making drastic changes, research in the Help Center, Webmaster Forum, and seek community feedback, as basic SEO principles are often sufficient.\n"],null,["# Google SEO resources for beginners\n\nFriday, January 22, 2010\n\n\nWant to eat healthier and exercise more in 2010? That's tough! Want to learn about search engine\noptimization (SEO) so you can disregard the rumors and know what's important? That's easy! Here's\nhow to gain SEO knowledge as you go about your new start to 2010:\n\nStep 1: Absorb the basics\n-------------------------\n\n- If you like to learn by reading, download our [SEO Starter Guide](/search/blog/2008/11/googles-seo-starter-guide) for reading while you're on an exercise bike, training for Ironman.\n- Or, if you're more a video watcher, try listening to my \"[Search Friendly Development](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SLcruwnkLk)\" session while you're cleaning your house. Keep in mind that some parts of the presentation are a little more technical. \n- For good measure, and because at some point you'll hear references to them, check out our [webmaster guidelines](/search/docs/essentials) for yourself.\n\nStep 2: Explore details that pique your interest\n------------------------------------------------\n\n\nAre you done with the basics but now you have some questions? Good for you! Try researching a\nparticular topic in our\n[Webmaster Help Center](https://support.google.com/webmasters).\nFor example, do you want more information about\n[crawling and indexing](/search/docs/fundamentals/how-search-works)\nor understanding what\n[links](https://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/search.py?%3Asearchbox&query=links)\nare all about?\n\nStep 3: Verify ownership of your site in Webmaster Tools\n--------------------------------------------------------\n\n\nIt takes a little bit of skill, but we have tons of\n[help for verification](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/9008080).\nOnce you verify ownership of your site (that is, signal to Google that you're the owner), you can:\n\n- See more confidential information about your site, like [crawl errors](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/9679690) or [messages from Google about your site](/search/blog/2007/07/message-center-let-us-communicate-with)\n- Run through the [Webmaster Tools checklist](/search/docs/fundamentals/seo-starter-guide) and learn new ways to monitor and manage your site\n- [Forward your Google messages](/search/blog/2009/06/to-make-webmaster-tools-message-center) to your personal email address\n\nStep 4: Research before you do anything drastic\n-----------------------------------------------\n\n\nUsually the basics (for example, good content/service and a crawlable site with indexable\ninformation) are the necessities for SEO. You may hear or read differently, but before you do\nanything drastic on your site such as\n[disallow using robots.txt](/search/docs/crawling-indexing/robots/intro)\nall of your directories or revamping your entire site architecture, please try:\n\n- Researching material in our [Help Center](https://support.google.com/webmasters)\n- Checking for related posts in our [Webmaster Forum](https://support.google.com/webmasters/community)\n- Asking for [feedback from the webmaster community](https://support.google.com/webmasters/community/ask) ---we've got a super skilled group of Google employees, members, and [Bionic Posters](/search/blog/2009/12/helping-webmasters-from-user-to-user).\n\n\nWritten by [Maile Ohye](/search/blog/authors/maile-ohye), Developer Programs Tech Lead"]]
