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Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a scary world for bloggers. There is just too much
information to take in. Some of the articles you’ll read online will make things seem very
technical. You’ll feel like you wouldn’t know how even to begin, so you just give up.

If you have a business blog, or your blog is not getting as much organic traffic as you need, then
I would suggest hiring an SEO specialist to help you out. However, if you are on a tight budget,
then the following article is what you need.

Below I will discuss the SEO techniques that you can implement without any SEO experience.
These are just the basics of what Search Engine Optimization is about, but they don’t require
you to be a technical genius to get them done.

On-Page SEO Techniques

On-page SEO deals with everything that happens on your end of the website. That means you
have 100% control of these things. However, many aspects require some technical help, but
that’s not our focus.

Let’s see what can you do today for on-page optimization.

High-Quality Content

There is no blog without content and no SEO without either of the two. That is why you need
your content to be as high-quality as possible. If your blog is old, it is best to go ahead and start
updating old posts, and maybe delete some of them.
The process is relatively straightforward. To make a decision about which content stays and
which gets deleted, here are some of the criteria you need to have in an article:
– Well-written,
– Updated in terms of images, links, and even details.
– Helpful to your audience,
– Fits your brand’s/blog’s voice.

If a piece of content doesn’t meet these standards and cannot be edited to meet them, then it
shouldn’t exist on your blog.

Basic Keyword Best Practices

On-page SEO focuses a lot on the keyword part of the campaign, and so should you. Finding
the right keywords to target can be tricky, and that’s why there are expert in that aspect.
However, if you have selected your keywords, you should know what to do with them.
Here are a few things to do:
– Mention your main keyword in the title
– Put your keyword in the URL
– Make sure to use the keyword in the first lines.
– Use co-occurring keywords in your article.
These keyword placement tactics shouldn’t be abused, or you may get penalized. But, if your
article reads naturally with the keywords in it, then you have nothing to worry about.

Site Speed

At first glance, you’ll think this is very technical and can’t do anything about it. So, you give up
on your blog’s speed.
Let me tell you that it isn’t as hard as you make it out to be in your head.
I’ll assume for the next part that you have a WordPress site, but the same idea can apply to
other CMSs as well. I’m just a big fan of WP as one the best tools available to bloggers.
Here’s how to make your website faster.

Small size images

Using a website like TinyJPG or even just Photoshop, you can make your image’s size smaller
and keep the same quality. Instead of uploading a 3Mb image, you can make it 300kb and same
quality. Some SEOs will even try to make the size smaller, and that’s fine too. You should aim at
making the size as small as possible without losing the quality. Also, permanently delete images
that you don’t need anymore. (especially if you remove old posts.)

Plugins

Many bloggers make the mistake of downloading as many plugins as they think are useful and
never use them. Usually, a blog can be fully functional with a maximum of 12 plugins, maybe
less. (Here’s 5 of them, courtesy of Nancy)
If you have more than 12 plugins installed and active, delete some. Chances are you have
plugins that do the same task and may end up slowing your website AND conflicting with each
other.

Caching

Among the 12 needed plugins for a fully functional blog is a cache plugin. There are 100 free
ones out there, and you can upgrade to pro versions any time of the day. I’m personally using
Autoptimize, while Nancy probably uses another one.
Off-Page SEO

Off-page SEO is mostly known as link building. While on-page offers you the opportunity to
control 100% of what you need, off-page gives you almost no control. It all happens OFF your
pages. These techniques take time and are usually easy to implement. Let’s discuss a few of
them.

Guest Posting

Anyone can use this technique both with or without a blog. Guest posting isn’t just about placing
your link on someone else’s website, but it is about building a good relationship bloggers. The
process is simple, and you probably know it already.
All you have to do is find blogs in your niche that allow for guest posts, pitch a great blog post
idea, write the article, and wait for publication.
These steps are basically it. You can whatever personal twist on it, but that is it.

Skyscraper Technique

When Brian Dean first talked about the Skyscraper Technique, many were astonished. But if
you look at closer at the steps as he outlined them in his article, it is just as simple as it can get.

● Step 1: find a good, relevant topic
● Step 2: write better, high-quality content about it
● Step 3: ask for backlinks.

While he has more advanced techniques to find topics and ask for backlinks, you can simplify
the process to your needs and budget.
Here’s how you could do it:
● Step 1: look into your competitors most viewed/popular content and see what comes up
repeatedly. If you can’t find it, then have a look at the number of comments and shares.
That should give you a rough idea.
● Step 2: write the best content about the topic without leaving any detail. Be the authority
and expert everyone needs.
● Step 3: reach out to bloggers in your niche about your new article.
As you can see, this process requires NO SEO or technical experience what’s so ever. You
won’t even use any tools at all.

Basic Content Marketing

Here’s the thing:
Off-page SEO isn’t just about getting backlinks, but also about putting your content in front as
many people as possible. The term used for that is the content marketing.
Let me give you these two, quick online marketing tips that require no SEO or marketing
experience and no budget.
Use Social Media

I’m pretty sure Nancy knows a lot more than I do in this area. However, she’ll agree that social
media can help your website’s traffic reach unbelievable numbers if done right.

What I would suggest for you to do is merely be active online. Try Facebook, Twitter, Google+,
or anywhere your audience is. The point is to be out there and be relevant.

The recent SEMRush Ranking factor study shows that Social media may have some positive
effect on your overall rankings.

Get on Quora

I’m a big fan of Quora. In case you didn’t know what is, Quora is a Q&A platform where your
audience can ask questions, and you can jump in to answer. The beauty is that you only need
to answer questions, and Quora’s algorithm will do the rest.
The Quora Digest can reach literally millions of people, and you only need 1 percent of a million
of visitors to have a sustainable blog.

Subscribe to HARO

HelpAReporterOut (HARO) is an email newsletter that brings to your inbox up to 100 questions
3 times a day during weekdays. HARO brings to you journalist and bloggers asking for your
input. They offer an opportunity to be featured on their personal blogs, business blogs, or even
big websites such HuffPo and Forbes.
The plus side is that you can get a backlink for your contribution. So, you’re not only getting in
front of millions of people, but your links are placed on high-authority websites.

Conclusion
All of the mentioned techniques above require no SEO experience to implement them. You
don’t even need to know what SEO means to use them. But in case you want to learn more, this
resource guide may help you out.

Youness Bermime loves to write about content writing, marketing, and SEO. You can read more of his content on WritersDo or hispersonalblog. Don’t hesitate to ask him questions below. Or, follow him on Twitter and Facebook where he is most active.