In brief
Ranking on Google starts with the basics of SEO: on-page, off-page, technical and local. In practice this means a title tag with the keyword on the left, a meta description of about 160 characters, relevant internal and external links, link building, images with the keyword in alt attribute and file name, the HTTPS protocol and a Google My Business listing, with results monitored in Google Search Console.
- Title tag, URL and meta description of about 160 characters form the snippet in Google's SERP, with the keyword at the left of the title
- Link building is done through guest blogging, content of higher quality than competitors who earn links, and analysis of how competitors obtain backlinks
- Google Search Console shows the keywords that bring traffic, positions gained or lost over time, and performance on Google Discover and News
SEO Guide for Beginners: How to Rank on Google
SEOor Search Engine Optimization helps improve a site’s ranking in Google’s search engine.
Most web traffic comes from Google, so learning the basics of SEO can help you gain an edge over your competitors and rank your website.
If you think that SEO can be a complicated topic, we try to clarify all your doubts in this SEO guide for beginners. The topics covered are: what is SEO, what types of SEO exist, how to do SEO and position yourself on Google and finally how to monitor your SEO project.
By inserting the keyword, it helps users who have done a search on Google to understand the topic discussed and what is contained within the text.The title tag must be at least 60 characters long, the keyword on the left side of the string indicates the relevance of the topic. If the keyword is missing or the title tag exceeds the characters, Google will tend to index all the words and not the most important word.
The meta description is a text string of about 160 characters in which to insert a short description of a text that stimulates people to click and learn more. It is placed under the title tag and the url, all three elements make up the snippet present within the serp of Google.
Internal links and external links
I internal links or incoming links improve indexing, ranking and establish the site architecture. A link related to keywords helps create a well-defined path within the site, and only if the anchor text takes users to relevant resources.
external links or outgoing links to authoritative resources are a determining factor for the positioning of the blog, as well as an improvement of the user’s information experience while reading blog posts. It is good to be careful to mention reliable links and to anchor the links to relevant keywords.
Link building
Link building or link construction is an SEO technique that allows you to gain visibility and gain authority in the eyes of Google. It is a good positioning factor, but sometimes doing it takes time and it is not at all obvious to obtain valid links or backlinks.
Link building is generally done through guest blogging, creating quality content that is better than competitors who receive links from authoritative sources, analyzing the competition’s links and therefore investigating how they receive backlinks.
Image optimization
An important element for positioning on Google is image optimization. In this case, the keyword describing the topic is inserted both in the ‘alt’ attribute within the HTML code and in the file name.
Enabling the Https protocol
The HTTPS protocol helps maintain a good SEO positioning of the website within Google. Furthermore, to ensure security for users browsing your site, you must ensure that it is always encrypted by the SSL/TLS certificate.
Google my Business
To position a site on Google it is important to do Local SEO. A very valid tool that allows you to do this is Google My Business, where you can enter everything about your local business, business name, geographic positioning, telephone number, the reference category and the address of your website.
How to monitor the SEO project?
At this stage it should be clear what SEO is and how to do SEO, but how can you monitor the progress of your project?
To analyze and improve your SEO positioning on Google, you need to use Google search console which allows you to analyze the keywords that bring traffic to the site, the best positions and those that have allowed you to gain traffic over time or that have instead made you lose it.
You can check the positioning through the pages, images or videos, you can export the data and compare it with the impressions, understand which title tags and meta descriptions need to be improved to increase traffic to the site. Furthermore, it is possible to check the positioning on Google Discover and News, two other sources that generate many visits.
Conclusion
There is really a lot to say about SEO, but in this beginner’s guide we wanted to talk to you mainly about the basics that concern this vast world.
In particular, we focused on what SEO is, what types of SEO exist, namely: SEO on-page, off-page, technical and local, some rules on how to do SEO and how to position your website on Google.
Finally, we provided an in-depth look at the importance of monitoring results so you can understand what worked in your project, what didn’t work, and how to fix any mistakes.
Frequently asked questions
What is SEO and why does it matter for ranking on Google?
SEO, or search engine optimisation, is the set of practices that improve a site's ranking in Google's search engine. It matters because most web traffic comes from Google, so learning the basics gives an edge over competitors and helps a website rank. SEO is divided into on-page, off-page, technical and local SEO, each covering a different part of how Google evaluates a site.
How do you write a title tag and meta description for SEO?
Put the keyword on the left side of the title tag, because that position signals the relevance of the topic; if the keyword is missing or the title is too long, Google tends to index all the words instead of the most important one. The meta description is a string of about 160 characters with a short description that encourages the click.
What is the difference between internal links and external links in SEO?
Internal links connect pages of the same site: they improve indexing and ranking and define the site architecture, creating a clear path for users when the anchor text leads to relevant resources. External links point to authoritative outside resources: they are a determining factor for a blog's positioning and improve the reader's information experience, provided the linked sources are reliable and the links are anchored to relevant keywords.
How do you do local SEO with Google My Business?
Local SEO is done with Google My Business, where you enter everything about the local business: business name, geographic position, telephone number, reference category and the address of the website. A listing helps the site rank on Google for local searches. It should go together with other basics, such as image optimisation with the keyword in alt attribute and file name, and the HTTPS protocol with an SSL/TLS certificate.
How do you monitor SEO results on Google?
Use Google Search Console. It shows the keywords that bring traffic, the best positions, and the pages that gained or lost traffic over time. You can check positioning for pages, images or videos, export the data and compare it with impressions, and identify which title tags and meta descriptions need improvement to increase traffic. It also reports positioning on Google Discover and Google News, which also generate many visits.
Last substantive revision: May 7, 2025.
