SEO Process Even Beginners Can Understand｜7 Steps from Domain Registration to Ranking Improvement

Author: Don jiang

2025-07-19

Home » blog » featured articles » SEO Process Even Beginners Can Understand｜7 Steps from Domain Registration to Ranking Improvement

Are you building a website or just launched one and hoping more people can find you on search engines?

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) might sound complicated, but if you follow the right steps, it’s really not that hard.

Today, we’re going to walk you through a super simple 7-step process—from registering your domain to boosting your site’s ranking. Think of it like stacking building blocks—straightforward and clear.

Table of Contens

How do you pick a good domain name?

A great domain name should meet three key criteria:

Clearly reflect what your site is about (your topic or brand)
Easy to remember (people can say it, spell it, and recall it easily)
Practical and trustworthy (use a familiar domain extension)

With those goals in mind, let’s break it down step by step.

3 Must-Haves: Clear, Memorable, Trustworthy

Keyword + Brand = Clearly communicates your purpose

Goal: Just by looking at your domain name, people should be able to guess what your website is about or what brand it belongs to. This lowers the barrier for users and helps search engines understand your site early on.

How to do it:

Include core business keywords: If you sell handmade pastries, handmadecakes.com is much more direct than sweetthings.com (which is too vague). Running a local yoga studio? beijingyoga.com or sunnyyogastudio.com are great options.

Use your brand name (preferably): If you already have a brand like “Xiaozhang Kitchen,” then xiaozhangkitchen.com is perfect. It helps reinforce your brand identity.

Combine ideas: Mix your brand with your business focus. If your brand is “Maple” and you’re in the travel space, try mapletravels.com.

Common pitfalls to avoid:

Don’t cram in random, unrelated words (like best456web.com).
Avoid obscure acronyms or confusing abbreviations.
Don’t get too creative if it compromises clarity.

Easy to read, spell, and remember – so users can share it effortlessly

Goal: People should be able to say it out loud, spell it right on the first try, and remember it after hearing it once.

How to do it:

Simplify spelling: Stick to familiar English words, pinyin, or short combos. bakehouse.com is way better than theexquisiteboulangerie.com.

Keep it reasonably short: Aim for 6–14 characters. Too short (<5) might be taken or too vague, and too long (>15) is hard to type and remember.

Say it out loud: Try pronouncing it a few times! Avoid tricky letter combos (like xzl vs. xsl) or tongue twisters.

Avoid numbers and hyphens: Domains like best4you.com or best-for-you.com can be confusing—is it “4” or “for”? Is there a hyphen or not? Stick to just letters when you can (or numbers only if it’s part of your brand like 360).

Pro tip: Tell a few friends your domain name idea and ask them to spell it out or repeat it back. If they mess it up, it’s probably not a good pick.

Stick to common extensions – build trust from the start

Goal: Use domain extensions that both users and search engines know and trust—it helps you look more professional.

Recommended choices (in order of priority):

.com: The most universal, most trusted, and most recognized domain. If your audience is international or broad, .com is your best bet. Nothing beats it.
.cn / .com.cn: Perfect if you’re targeting Mainland China. It’s widely accepted by local users, businesses, and even government sites.
.net: Traditionally used by tech and network-based sites. It’s also a good backup if the .com version is taken.

Considerations for New gTLDs: .site, .shop, .app, .blog, .io (popular with tech companies) are becoming more and more common.

Pros: Sometimes you can still get your preferred name, which is already taken in .com.

Cons: The general public still trusts and recognizes .com/.cn far more. People might not remember whether your domain ends in .shop or .store.

Best advice for beginners:

Always prioritize .com. If .com is already taken:
Try a suitable .cn if you’re targeting the Chinese market.
Then consider .net.
If you’re really set on using a new domain extension, make sure the name is super short and easy to remember, and always promote your domain with the full name, including the extension—online and offline.

Avoid obscure or odd extensions (like .pizza, .guru) unless you’re doing a very niche or super creative project—they often come off as unprofessional.

Where to register safely?

Go with reputable platforms: Reliability, security, and good customer support matter most. Some common choices:

Recommended in China: Alibaba Cloud (Wanwang), Tencent Cloud, Huawei Cloud. These platforms offer user-friendly Chinese interfaces, convenient payment options (Alipay/WeChat), and strong local support.
Recommended globally: Namesilo, GoDaddy, Namecheap. Sometimes cheaper, and you might find more flexible domain options.
Important: Choose a registrar accredited by ICANN to ensure legitimacy.

How it works (example using a Chinese platform):

Log into the registrar’s website.
Use the domain search tool to check your preferred domain name (include the extension, like xiaozhangfood.com).
The system will tell you if it’s available. If it’s taken, it’ll suggest alternatives.
If it’s available, add it to your cart.
Before checkout, double-check these two things:
- Registrant Info (Whois Info): Use real and valid contact info (name, email, phone). This is crucial for ownership and legal matters. Wrong or fake info could result in the domain being locked or even deleted!
- Whois Privacy Protection: Strongly recommended! When enabled, public domain lookups will show proxy info provided by the registrar instead of your real email, phone, or address. This helps protect against spam and scams. Domestic platforms usually offer this at checkout—sometimes for free in the first year or as an add-on.
Select the number of years you want to register (at least 1 year for beginners, but 2–3 years or more is better). Then pay.

Things you MUST do before and after registering

Before buying: triple-check spelling! Double-check in the search bar *and* on the checkout page. You can’t fix it once submitted! microsofp.com vs. microsoft.com—big difference.

Registration period: go longer if you can!

Trust factor: Search engines tend to trust domains registered for longer periods. It’s a small but positive ranking signal over time.
Set renewal reminders: Mark your calendar for when your domain expires! If you forget to renew, it can enter a redemption phase (costs more to reclaim) or get deleted and taken by someone else. Registering for multiple years helps avoid this risk.

Enable Whois Privacy! It shields your personal info and cuts down spam—definitely worth it.

Set up domain DNS (domain resolution): After registering, go to your registrar’s control panel and link your domain to your website server’s IP address. This is typically done under “Domain Management” or “DNS Settings”—you need to do this for your site to be accessible. (Do this once you’ve chosen your hosting provider.)

Get your site live ASAP: Don’t let your domain sit idle too long—it’s not great for SEO. Once you have the domain, keep moving forward with building the website!

Choose the Right “Hosting Space” for Your Website

Website hosting (also called web hosting, server, or virtual host)

Simply put, it’s where all your website’s files (text, images, code) are stored.

Choosing the right hosting directly affects how your website performs:

Speed: Does your page load instantly, or do users have to wait so long they want to leave?
Stability: Is your site always accessible, or does it crash often (a.k.a. “downtime”)?
Security: Can it withstand common cyberattacks? Is your data safe?
Future growth: As your site gets more traffic, can this “home” scale up with it?

Our goal is simple: Spend the right amount of money for hosting that’s fast, stable, and secure enough.

Hosting Types: What Kind of “Home” Is Best for Beginners?

Don’t get overwhelmed by all the techy terms! When starting out, just understand these common types:

Shared Hosting (Great for Beginners!)

How it works: One big server is split into smaller spaces and rented out to multiple websites (like an apartment building with many tenants).

Pros:
Great value: It’s the cheapest option, perfect for beginners with low-traffic sites like blogs, business showcases, or small online shops.
Easy to manage: The hosting provider handles server maintenance, security updates, and hardware. You just manage your site files. Usually comes with a user-friendly control panel (like cPanel or BT Panel).
Cons:
Limited resources: CPU, RAM, and bandwidth are shared. If a “neighbor” site gets a traffic spike or uses too much, it can slow your site down (aka “bad neighbor effect”).
Less control: You may not be able to tweak certain server settings or install custom software.

Beginner Tip: This is the best starting option for most new websites! Go with a reputable host that uses modern hardware and has good resource management to avoid bad neighbors.

Virtual Private Server (VPS)

How it works: A powerful physical server is divided using virtualization tech into multiple independent virtual servers. Each VPS gets its own dedicated CPU, memory, storage, and bandwidth.

Pros:
Better and more stable performance: You won’t be affected by other users on the server.
Full control: It’s like having your own server—you can install anything and configure it how you like. Great for custom setups or heavier apps.
Scalable: You can upgrade CPU, RAM, or storage as needed.
Cons:
More expensive: Costs more than shared hosting.
Requires tech knowledge: You usually have to manage server updates, security, etc. yourself. While some panels help, it’s still more complex than shared hosting.

Best for: Sites with growing traffic (thousands of visits per day), those needing better performance or custom setups, or users/teams with some server management skills. If you’re not tech-savvy but want VPS, consider “Managed VPS” plans where the host handles setup and maintenance (for an extra fee).

Cloud Hosting / Cloud Server (The Modern Standard)

How it works: Built on cloud computing, it uses a large cluster of physical servers. Your “cloud server” runs on this pool, with flexible, on-demand resource allocation.

Pros:
Highly scalable: You can add more CPU, RAM, or bandwidth in real time—great for traffic spikes or fast-growing sites.
Very reliable: There’s built-in redundancy. If one part fails, another kicks in. Very stable.
Flexible billing: Pay by the hour or month—you only pay for what you use.
Cons:
Setup can be complex: You’ll need to configure security settings, networking, storage, etc. More technical than shared hosting or some VPS plans.
Hard to predict cost: If your resource usage spikes and you didn’t plan for it, the bill might surprise you.
Cost: For the same setup, cloud servers usually cost more than or equal to managed VPS.

Best for: Medium to large websites, fast-growing eCommerce, dev/test environments, or sites needing high uptime. Alibaba Cloud, Tencent Cloud, and Huawei Cloud ECS are popular examples.

Dedicated Server

How it works: You get an entire physical server all to yourself. All resources are 100% yours—maximum performance.

Pros: Top-tier performance, full control, high security.
Cons: Very expensive. You’ll need a pro team to manage it. You’re responsible for hardware maintenance.

Best for: Huge sites, niche industries (like finance or gaming), or any site needing super high security or performance. Not recommended for beginners.

Key Things to Consider: Speed, Uptime, Security

Speed is absolutely critical
Why is it important? Users will leave if your page doesn’t load in a few seconds! Search engines also consider site speed a key ranking factor.

How to choose:

Server Location! Be sure to pick a data center that’s geographically close to your main users! If your visitors are in mainland China, overseas hosting will definitely be slow. So go with domestic providers like Alibaba Cloud or Tencent Cloud, and choose data centers in mainland China (or BGP multi-line) if that’s your audience.
Hardware Specs: SSD solid-state drives are way better than HDDs! Go for hosting that supports PHP 7.x / 8.x and the latest MySQL/MariaDB versions.
Bandwidth: This is the server’s ability to transfer data to the outside world. For beginners using shared hosting, basic bandwidth (like a few Mb/s) is enough. Avoid cheap hosting that says “unlimited traffic” but secretly throttles your speed (you get what you pay for). With VPS/cloud hosting, check for bandwidth caps (like 1Mbps/5Mbps).
Speed Test: Before paying, check reviews or try accessing the hosting provider’s demo site (if they have one) to see how fast it loads.

Uptime matters – don’t let your site “go dark” all the time!

Goal: Make sure your site runs without interruptions (e.g., 99.9% uptime = less than 8.76 hours of downtime per year). Frequent downtime kills trust from users and search engines.

How to check:

Hosting Provider Guarantee: Reliable hosts will clearly promise 99.9%+ uptime on their product pages (this is part of their SLA).
Look at Reviews: Google “host name + reputation/downtime” to see what real users say. Big brands usually offer better stability (though not always).
Customer Support Speed: When issues come up, can you reach support quickly (even late at night or on weekends)? Big companies usually do better here.

Security basics – that little HTTPS lock is a must!

Why? HTTPS encryption protects user data (like logins and payments). Without HTTPS, browsers will mark your site as “Not Secure” — which seriously affects trust and user experience! It’s also a basic ranking factor for search engines.

How to get it:

Choose a host that supports free SSL certificates! Most legit providers (including Alibaba Cloud and Tencent Cloud) offer free Let’s Encrypt wildcard SSL (covers both www and root domain). It’s usually one-click setup in the control panel. This is the bare minimum!
Easy Certificate Setup: Before buying, check if the host mentions SSL support or Let’s Encrypt.
Force HTTPS: Once the certificate is installed, make sure all traffic redirects to HTTPS (set a 301 redirect). Most control panels have this option.

Just enough is enough – how to estimate your hosting needs?

Website Storage (Disk Space): This is the total space to store your site files.

Simple estimate: Page size × expected number of pages + size of images/videos and other media.
Beginner Tip: A personal blog or small portfolio site with mainly text and images can usually start with 1GB – 5GB. If you have lots of images/videos or run an e-commerce site (with tons of product photos), you’ll need more (10GB+). You can always upgrade later.
Watch out: Be wary of super cheap hosting offering “huge” storage — performance is often terrible.

Monthly Traffic/Bandwidth: The total data downloaded by users browsing your site each month.

Beginner Estimate: (Average page size + image size) × estimated monthly visitors × average pages per visit. For example, 500KB page/image, 5,000 visitors/month, 3 pages each = 0.5MB × 5,000 × 3 = 7,500MB ≈ 7.3GB. Most shared hosting plans (e.g., 100GB/month) are more than enough for beginners.
Heads-up: Shared hosting often has hidden limits on resources (CPU/memory) — don’t just look at storage and bandwidth.

Number of Databases:

Site builders like WordPress require a database (usually MySQL or MariaDB).
Newbie Needs: Most site setups only need 1 database (one site = one database). Shared hosting usually includes several to dozens of databases — totally enough to start.

Email accounts, subdomains, etc.: Most shared hosts offer several — just set up what you need.

Picking and buying from a hosting provider

Trusted mainstream choices:

Best for Chinese users (fast speeds, great support): Alibaba Cloud (Wanwang hosting), Tencent Cloud (cloud/lightweight servers), Huawei Cloud (cloud servers). They offer mature shared and cloud hosting options, and local support is easier to reach.
Reputable international picks (if your audience is abroad or you’re tech-savvy): SiteGround (great for WordPress and known for speed), Bluehost, A2 Hosting, DreamHost, etc. But keep in mind: you’ll need to consider cross-border access speeds and possible payment issues.
Golden rule: Choose a big-name provider near your audience! If your users are in China, go with Alibaba/Tencent. If your users are in the US, go with SiteGround/Bluehost.

Key things to check before buying:

Supported languages/platforms: Make sure the hosting environment supports the website builder or stack you’re using (like Apache/Nginx + PHP + MySQL). The PHP version shouldn’t be too outdated.
Control panel: Is there a user-friendly graphical interface provided? cPanel (popular internationally) or BaoTa panel (common in China) are extremely helpful for beginners.
Automatic backups: Does the hosting provider offer regular automated backups? Data safety is crucial! How often are backups made? How long are they kept? Can you restore them yourself? Free backup options are essential (usually kept 7 to 30 days).
Customer support: What kind of support channels are available (24/7 live chat? Phone? Ticketing system? In Chinese?) How fast do they respond? Try contacting support before buying to see how responsive they are.
Pricing tricks: Look at the difference between the first-year discount and the renewal price (renewal can be much higher)! Also consider how the billing cycle affects pricing.
Refund policy: Most good hosting providers offer a no-questions-asked refund within around 30 days (a trial period), so make sure you understand this clearly.
User reviews: Check real user feedback (especially recent ones) to see if there are any consistent issues (like slow speeds, frequent downtime, poor support).

Set up your website structure wisely

A good website structure means for users: it’s easy to find what they’re looking for, and they can get to the right content with just a few clicks, resulting in a better experience.

For search engines: their crawlers (think of them as robots that collect site content) can easily find all your pages and understand what they’re about and how they relate to each other.

Navigation menu: keep it clear and simple

The navigation bar (usually at the top of the website) is like the main road that users take to explore your site. Its design directly affects whether people can quickly figure out what your site offers and how to access it.

Keep it minimal: less is more!

Rule of thumb: Don’t overload the main menu—users should be able to understand everything at a glance. Ideally, stick to no more than 5–7 top-level items.

Content ideas:

Main products/services: Like “Products,” “Services,” or “Solutions.” Organize by business type or product category. Avoid stuffing all sub-items here—use submenus.
Key info pages: “About Us” (brand story, team), “Contact Us” (all contact methods).
Value content center: “Blog,” “Articles,” “Resource Center,” “Help Center” (for posts, guides, downloads).
Call-to-actions (optional but recommended): “Free Trial,” “Contact Now,” “Cart” (for ecommerce sites).

Avoid this: Don’t cram every link into the main menu! Put secondary pages (like Privacy Policy, Careers) in the footer instead.

Use clear names: make it obvious!

Menu item names should be instantly understandable—avoid jargon or overly creative names (like using “Bright Ideas” instead of “Blog”). For example, “Services” is clearer than “What We Do.”

Keep the hierarchy flat: don’t bury stuff!

Three-level rule (ideal):

Level 1: Main menu (e.g., “Products”)
Level 2: Dropdown items (e.g., “Phones,” “Laptops,” “Accessories”)
Level 3: Specific pages (e.g., under “Phones”: “iPhone 15,” “Huawei P60”)

Main goal: Users should be able to reach any important page in no more than 3 clicks (Home -> Main Menu -> Sub Menu -> Page).

If it takes 4+ clicks, users are more likely to leave—and search engine bots may have trouble crawling it.

URL structure: clean and meaningful

Every page has a unique URL. A good URL is like a clear signpost—it helps users understand what the page is about, and search engines can better interpret its content too.

Basic rules:

Use keywords: Naturally include the main keyword or category name in the URL. For example:

Good: www.example.com/blog/how-to-choose-domain-name (Blog – how to choose a domain)
Bad: www.example.com/post.php?id=123 (random ID with no meaning)
Good: www.example.com/services/seo-services (Services – SEO services)

Show hierarchy clearly: The URL should reflect the page’s location in the site structure. Use slashes / to separate levels. For example:

Category page: .../products/notebooks
Specific product page: .../products/notebooks/macbook-pro-16
About us page: .../about-us
Blog post: .../blog/category/article-name (optional category folder)

Keep it short and punchy: Drop unnecessary words (like the, a, and) to keep it concise—but clarity comes first. Prioritize meaning over absolute brevity.
Use hyphens as separators -: Avoid spaces (which get encoded as %20 and look messy), underscores _ (which might cause issues in some cases), or special symbols. how-to-choose-domain-name is the standard format.

How to set it up (based on your site builder):

WordPress:

Go to “Settings” -> “Permalinks.”
Highly recommended: choose “Custom Structure” and enter /.
Common recommended structures: /%postname%/ (uses the post slug as the URL) or /%category%/%postname%/ (includes the category name).

Other CMS platforms (like Shopify, Wix): Most have SEO or URL editing settings. Make sure you can change URLs to a clean format. Avoid long, meaningless system-generated URLs.

Manual setup: If you’re coding your site from scratch, you should follow these rules when designing your URL routing logic.

Internal Links: Building a Content Web (Boost SEO & User Experience)

Internal links are links within your website that go from one page to another. They’re one of the most powerful yet underrated SEO tools for beginners.

Core Benefits:

Keep users engaged: Link to related content so visitors can dive deeper and stay longer. For example: In an article about “how to pick a domain,” link to “top domain registrars” or “web hosting guides.”
Help search engines crawl and index: Bots follow these links to discover new pages (especially those not listed in menus or sitemaps).
Pass page authority: Search engines treat links from high-authority pages (like your homepage) as a sign of importance for the linked page.
Define topic relevance: Interlinked pages suggest stronger topical relationships.

Implementation Tips (How-To):

Blend naturally into content: The best approach is to place descriptive anchor text links within your article body. Make sure the anchor text explains what the page is about (avoid generic phrases like “click here”).

Good: When choosing hosting, **speed** is a key factor. (Link to a detailed post about why speed matters)

Bad: To learn about the importance of speed, **click here**.

Related articles / Recommended reading section: Add a module at the end or sidebar of your post listing highly relevant content either automatically or manually.
Breadcrumb navigation: Display the user’s location near the top of the page (typically under the title), like: Home > Blog > SEO Tips > Site Structure. This is both great for navigation and internal linking.
HTML sitemap page: A plain page listing all your key pages (can be organized into categories). Not used much by users, but very helpful for search engines.
Don’t overdo it: Only link where it truly makes sense, and always to quality pages. Avoid linking just for the sake of it.

XML Sitemap: A Map for Search Engines

The XML sitemap (Sitemap.xml) is a special file (usually located at something like: www.example.com/sitemap.xml) that lists all your important page URLs along with metadata (like last updated date, change frequency, priority level).

Main Purposes:

Ensure indexing: Actively tells search engines what pages your site has (especially useful for complex sites or new/less linked pages), significantly increasing the chances of those pages getting discovered and indexed.
Detect updates: Search engines can use the lastmod field (last modified date) to quickly identify and re-crawl updated pages.
Priority hint (optional): You can assign a higher priority (0.0 – 1.0) to key pages like your homepage or major product pages.

How to Generate and Submit (Beginner-Friendly):

Generate:

Automatically via Website Platform: Mainstream CMS platforms like WordPress usually have built-in features or free plugins (like “Yoast SEO,” “Rank Math,” “Google XML Sitemaps”) that let you generate a sitemap with just one click. This is the most recommended method, as the sitemap updates automatically whenever your site changes.
Online Generator Tools: You can use free online tools (search for “XML sitemap generator”) to create one by entering your website URL. But you’ll have to update it manually. This is better suited for static websites.
Manual Creation (Not Recommended): It’s super tedious and almost nobody does it this way anymore.

Submit:

Baidu Search Resource Platform: Log in, go to Site Management → Resource Submission → Standard Submission → Sitemap, and enter your XML sitemap URL.
Google Search Console: Log in, select the relevant property (your website), go to the left-hand menu → Sitemaps → and paste your sitemap URL under “Add a new sitemap.”
Tip: After you update your sitemap, just resubmit it on both platforms.

Do Proper Keyword Research

Keyword research, simply put, is all about figuring out what your target audience is actually searching for and how they’re searching for it.

This isn’t guesswork — it’s the most important and strategic step in SEO!

You’re looking for keywords that are being searched, relevant to your content, and realistic to rank for based on your current site strength.

Goals of Keyword Research

They usually meet three criteria:

Relevance: The keyword or phrase must be closely related to your website’s niche, business, or content. If you’re selling yoga mats, optimizing for “latest smartphones” is totally off-topic.
Search Volume: It needs to have a decent number of people actually searching for it. No point going after keywords with zero or very little volume (though don’t ignore the power of long-tail keywords over time).
Manageable Competition: The keyword competition level should be within reach based on your current site authority, content quality, etc. A new site going up against broad keywords like “insurance” or “loans” is basically a lost cause.

Where to Find Keywords

Put Yourself in the User’s Shoes:

Ask Yourself: If I had this problem or wanted this product/service, what would I type into Google/Baidu?
Ask Your Customers or Target Audience: During casual chats or research, ask them how they usually search for this kind of thing. This firsthand info is gold.
Ask Your Team/Sales Staff: They talk to customers all the time and probably know the most common questions and search behaviors.

Spy on Your Competitors (Competitive Analysis):

Pick 3–5 websites that are doing well in your niche/industry.
Check out their homepage titles and descriptions: These usually highlight the main keywords they’re targeting.
Look at their top-ranking articles/product pages: Pay attention to the page Titles and what kind of content they’re focusing on.

Use Free Tools:

Keyword Tracking via Webmaster Tools: Google Search Console can show you which keywords are driving traffic to your competitor’s site (if their traffic is good, you can get some clues).
SEO Analysis Extensions (like MozBar Free, Ahrefs Free Site Audit): These give a basic overview of what keywords your competitors are targeting and some backlink info too.

Take Hints from Search Engines (Autocomplete, Related Searches):

Search Box Autocomplete: When you type a seed keyword (like “fitness”) into Google, the dropdown shows popular long-tail search terms that people often type. These are super valuable!

“Related Searches” at the Bottom: On the search results page, scroll to the bottom and you’ll see related terms other users have searched for.

How to Use: Start with your main business keywords, product names, or common problem phrases, and search them. Then record the autocomplete suggestions and related searches over and over.

Free/Low-Cost Keyword Tools (with Real Data):

Google Trends: (trends.google.com) – Similar to Baidu Index. See keyword popularity over time in a specific region or globally, plus related topics and queries.
Google Keyword Planner: (Free with a Google Ads account) – Works like Baidu’s Keyword Planner. Gives search volume estimates and competition levels (“High,” “Medium,” “Low”).

Other Free Tools:

AnswerThePublic: Enter a core keyword and it shows you common user questions around it, like “How to start fitness?” or “What equipment do I need for fitness?”

Getting to the Core: Understanding “Search Intent”

Search intent is basically: what’s the user really trying to do when they type in that keyword? What kind of results are they expecting to see?

Why does it matter? Because search engines aim to deliver the results that best match user intent.

If your content doesn’t match that intent, you might rank well but users won’t click—or they’ll click and immediately bounce (high bounce rate)—and in the end, you’ll drop in rankings.

Common Types of Search Intent:

Informational:

User wants: to learn, find information, solve a problem.
Keyword features: often phrased as questions or include words like “what is,” “why,” “how,” “tutorial,” “guide.”
Example: “What does SEO mean?”, “How to install WordPress?”, “What medicine helps you recover from a cold fastest?”
Content approach: provide clear, comprehensive, easy-to-follow answers, tutorials, or guides.

Navigational:

User wants: to go directly to a specific site, brand, or page.
Keyword features: usually a brand name, site name, or product name.
Example: “Taobao”, “Zhihu”, “Apple official site”, “Xiaomi store.”
Content approach: Brand websites dominate these terms. For non-brands, these keywords have low value (unless you’re running a portal site).

Transactional:

User wants: to buy something, sign up, download (clear purchase or action intent).
Keyword features: often include words like “buy,” “price,” “discount,” “package,” “join,” “download,” “best,” “recommend.”
Example: “How much do Nike shoes cost?”, “Web hosting discounts”, “Best yoga studio in Chaoyang, Beijing.”
Content approach: product pages, service descriptions, promo pages, strong call‑to‑action purchase guides or comparison reviews.

Commercial Investigation:

User wants: to compare brands, products, or services as part of purchase research.
Keyword features: often include “vs,” “compare,” “which is better,” “review,” “brand A vs brand B.”
Example: “Huawei phone vs iPhone”, “WordPress vs Shopify”, “XX hosting reviews.”
Content approach: in-depth comparisons, side‑by‑side reviews, pros & cons analysis, user case studies.

Long-Tail Keywords

“Long-tail keywords” are specific, usually longer phrases with lower search volume (but collectively huge volume).

Features: “Best value weekend adult beginner oil painting class in Haidian, Beijing”, “What to do if iPhone 15 Pro Max has poor signal?”, “Affordable hydrating cream for sensitive skin.”

Why focus on these for new sites?

Very clear intent: Users are super specific, so their intent is crystal clear and conversion potential is strong.
Lower competition: These niche phrases have fewer competitors, making it easier for new sites to rank.
Higher conversion potential: The more specific the query, the stronger the demand. If your content matches it, conversions (sales, inquiries, sign‑ups) are more likely.
Huge volume: Most web searches are long-tail. Small gains add up big time.

How to Find Long-Tail Keywords?

Variations and extensions of core keywords: Use tools, autocomplete, and related searches to expand core terms by questions, scenarios, locations, features.

Example: core term “fitness” → long-tail: “how to work out at home”, “what to eat when working out”, “beginner workout plan at the gym”, “fitness plan for minor weight loss”, “will women get bulky from working out”.

Q&A platforms and communities: Check Quora, Facebook, LinkedIn, industry forums to see what questions people ask and how they phrase them—these are ready-made long-tail keywords!
Check user comments: Comments and questions on your or competitors’ articles/products reveal real search needs.

Keyword Selection & Organization

Once you’ve collected tons of candidate keywords, filter and organize them into your core keyword strategy library.

Filtering dimensions (align with your goals and tool data):

Relevance: Your first filter—ditch anything off-topic.

Intent type: Does it match your focus (e.g., new blogs go for informational, e-commerce for transactional/comparative)?

Estimated search volume: Use Google Keyword Planner or similar for ranges or trends to judge if it’s worth pursuing.

Avoid “bigger is always better”; focus on long-tail terms with decent volume (even if just tens or hundreds of searches per month).

Competition level:
Tip: Check the “competition level” hints in Keyword Planner (or SEO tool difficulty estimates).

Manual search: Search the keyword on Google and observe:

Who are the top-ranking sites on the first page? (Big players like official sites, Zhihu, industry giants? Or personal blogs and small business sites? The former usually means higher difficulty.)
Are there a lot of ads on the results page? (More ads often mean high commercial value and tougher competition.)
Are there rich features like video carousels, knowledge panels, featured snippets? (These might distract clicks.)

Commercial value: For keywords with strong buying intent, even if search volume is average, give them higher priority.

Build a keyword database (structured management):

Grouping: Group by core topic, business type, or website section.

Example groupings: “Core product keywords,” “Core service keywords,” “Informational blog keywords (by topic),” “Long-tail Q&A keywords.”

Fields: Track in Excel or a doc:

Keyword
Search intent (Info / Transaction / Comparison / Navigation)
Estimated search volume (or popularity range)
Competition (High / Medium / Low)
Target page (Which page will you optimize?)
Notes (e.g., source, special ideas)

Prioritization:

Beginner formula: High relevance + low/medium competition + reasonable search volume or high commercial value.
Start with core long-tail terms: Focus on ranking for a few highly relevant, low-competition long-tail keywords to build momentum and initial traffic. Don’t try to rank big keywords from the start!

Create helpful, easy-to-read content

What’s good content? Remember these two golden rules:

Useful (core value): Actually solve the user’s problem, give them the info they need, satisfy their curiosity or demand. It should be worth their time!
Easy to read (key to experience): Clear writing, logical structure, visually comfortable. Users should get the main points with just a quick scan.

Content must be useful (solve the user’s problem)

Align with search intent:

Go back to basics: Revisit the search intent identified during keyword research (informational, transactional, etc.). Your content must match that intent 100%!
If the intent is “learn”: give clear, step-by-step, actionable guides.
If the intent is “buy”: offer solid product info, real reviews, buying guides, and easy purchase links.
If the intent is “compare”: give objective, in-depth comparisons and analysis.

Cover the depth of needs: Don’t be superficial! Try to cover all core subtopics users might care about. Offer a one-stop solution.
For example, writing “How to choose a domain name” shouldn’t stop at TLDs. Also include “platform comparisons,” “importance of privacy protection,” “what to do after registering,” etc.

Offer value beyond expectations:

Unique insights/analysis: Don’t just copy info. Add your thoughts, experiences, or unique perspective.
Actionable steps: For tutorials, make steps clear and detailed so users can follow along immediately.
Deep data/case studies: Use real data to support your points, and show examples to prove results.
Resource roundups: Provide useful tools, templates, download links, etc.

Titles: The window to clicks and clarity

Key elements:

Include core keywords: Try to naturally place your target keyword at the beginning or near the front (makes the topic obvious to both users and search engines).
Clearly state value/benefit: Let users know what they’ll gain (e.g., “Solve X problem,” “Learn X in 5 minutes,” “X guide”).
Spark curiosity (moderately): Trigger interest with curiosity, strong wording, or pain points (but keep it real—no clickbait).

Handy tips:

Title structure ideas:

Core keyword + value/solution: “Domain Selection Guide: 3 Steps to a Memorable and Reliable Website Name”
Question style: “How to Choose Web Hosting? A Beginner’s Trap-Free Guide”
Numbered style: “7 Key Formatting Tips to Make Website Content More Readable”
Pain-point solution: “Mobile Visitors Experiencing Lag? Your Hosting Might Be the Problem”

Keep it concise: Search engines only display so much (about 60 characters on desktop, less on mobile). Put the key info and keyword up front.

No clickbait: Your content must deliver on the title’s promise! Overhyping leads to high bounce rates and lost trust.

Clear structure: Make reading a pleasure

Logical hierarchy:

Stick to the main topic: Don’t stray off track.
From overview to details: Start with a short intro outlining the problem you’ll solve or the value you provide. Then go deeper into the details step by step.

Make Good Use of Subheadings (H2, H3):

Divide Content Blocks: Each subheading represents a subtopic or key point.
Include Keywords: Naturally include relevant keywords in H2/H3 titles (helps SEO and comprehension).
Stand Out Visually: Should look different from the main text (usually bigger font and bold).

Keep Paragraphs Short and Focused:

One Idea per Paragraph: Each paragraph should cover just one core idea.
Length Control: 3-5 lines per paragraph (on a desktop screen) is the sweet spot. Split long points into multiple paragraphs.

Use Lists Smartly:

Bullet Points: For parallel key points, features, or step explanations.
Numbered Lists: For steps or processes that have a specific order.
Purpose: Greatly improves scanability and readability, perfect for presenting highlights.

Use White Space:

Add spacing between paragraphs and lines: Avoid a cramped feeling and let the page “breathe.”

Text Formatting (Use Sparingly):

Bold: Emphasize the most important concepts or keywords.
Italic: For secondary emphasis or quotes.
Avoid Pitfalls: Don’t overuse bold or formatting — it loses impact and focus.

Language: Speak Human, Keep It Real

Professional doesn’t mean complicated. Clear and easy to understand is truly professional.

Audience Focus: Imagine you’re explaining to a friend or client.

Avoid Too Much Jargon: If you must use technical terms, follow with a simple explanation. For example: “CMS (Content Management System) is software that helps you build a website without coding.”

Keep Sentences Simple:

Use short sentences more.
Cut down on nested clauses.
Make subjects clear.
Avoid unnecessary passive voice.

Tone: Positive and Friendly Use “we” and “you” to get closer to readers.

Read It Out Loud: After writing, read it yourself (or ask someone to) — awkward phrasing usually sticks out, so fix it immediately.

Natural Keyword Integration

Key Places:

Opening Paragraph: Right below the title, this is critical. Naturally insert main keywords here.
Subheadings: Include relevant keywords in H2/H3 titles when it fits.
Ending Paragraph: Can mention the core keywords again naturally to wrap up.

Semantic Relevance & Variations: Don’t just repeat the same word. Use related terms, synonyms, long-tail variations, or question forms (matching the meaning). For example, for the topic “domain name,” include “website address,” “domain registration,” “domain name tips,” etc.

Density Isn’t Everything: Don’t obsess over a specific “keyword density” percentage! What matters is natural flow and focus on the topic. Overstuffing keywords ruins reading and might even trigger search engine penalties.

Put Reader Experience First: Ask yourself: Does this word feel out of place? Does it fit the flow?

Images and Multimedia: More Than Decoration

Boost Understanding and Interest:

Use charts to explain complex ideas.
Add screenshots or short videos for step-by-step guides.
High-quality, atmospheric images increase reader engagement.

Image SEO Optimization:

Meaningful File Names: Replace default names like IMG_1234.jpg with descriptive text. For example: how-to-choose-domain-name-diagram.jpg.
Alt Text Is a Must! This helps visually impaired users and shows when images fail to load. It’s also how search engines understand the image content.
How to Write Alt Text: Accurately and briefly describe the image or its main message, including relevant keywords (naturally!). For example: “Screenshot of domain registration platform backend process.”
Captions: Short notes under images explaining source, details, or highlighting key points.
Compress File Size: Optimize image size without losing quality to keep page load fast! Use tools like TinyPNG or Squoosh to balance clarity and dimensions.

Content Freshness

Set up an Update Mechanism:

Regular Review: Periodically (like every quarter or half-year) check your high-traffic content and target keyword content.

Identify Content Needing Updates:

Information is outdated (policies, data, software versions).
Significant drop in ranking or traffic.
User comments/feedback point out errors or new needs.
Original content isn’t deep or comprehensive enough.

Update Strategy:

Update data/info: Replace with the latest materials.
Add new content/sections: Increase depth or cover newly emerging related topics.
Optimize titles/descriptions: If the title isn’t catchy or the description is inaccurate.
Improve readability: Enhance structure, language, add images/charts.
Strengthen keyword coverage/intent fulfillment: Adjust according to current keyword data.
Fix errors: Spelling, grammar mistakes, outdated links.

Rewrite or Split/Merge Content:

If the topic changes a lot or the content is very outdated, consider rewriting it completely.
Very long or complicated content can be split into a series of articles.
Several related pages with little content can be merged into a more comprehensive guide.

Do Basic Technical Optimization and “Promotion”

This step of SEO is about solving two key things:

“Tidy up” your store: Make sure your website is fast, mobile-friendly, secure, and reliable (basic technical optimization). So users can browse smoothly, and search engine “bots” can easily crawl your content.
“Shout out”: Get lots of backlinks (other sites recommending you) and share on social media to let more people know your site exists (content promotion).

Basic Technical Optimization

Website Speed: The Lifeline! (Core Pain Point!)

Why critical? Users have limited patience — loading over 3 seconds might lose them! Speed is also a direct ranking factor for search engines.

Common slow causes & newbie fixes:

Too large images #1 culprit!

What to do: Always compress images! Use free online tools (TinyPNG, Squoosh) or site plugins (like WP Smush for WordPress) for lossless image compression.
Goal: Usually keep each image under 100KB-300KB on the web page (depends on resolution). Social media images are different.

Pick the right format: Photos use JPG; simple graphics/logos use PNG or SVG.

Weak hosting: Cheap “shared hosting neighbors” might have poor performance.

Avoid pitfalls/optimize:

For new sites, choose a reliable host with modern infrastructure (SSD drives)—shared hosting or basic cloud servers. Avoid overly cheap “traps.”
Consider enabling your host’s caching feature (usually just turn it on).
Use a CDN (Content Delivery Network): like Cloudflare (free plans available), Baidu Cloud Acceleration, etc. This distributes your site’s static files (images, CSS, JS) to multiple global nodes so users access the closest server, greatly speeding up load time. The free versions work well and are relatively easy to set up, highly recommended.

Bloated frontend code (too many plugins/effects): Building platforms overloaded with plugins/themes slow down your site.

Fix: Regularly review and disable/delete unused plugins and themes. Choose lightweight, well-rated themes and plugins.

Testing tools: Use free tools to test speed and find bottlenecks: Google PageSpeed Insights, Baidu Search Resource Platform -> Website Speed Test.

Mobile Adaptation

Current situation: Mobile traffic far exceeds desktop. Search engines now prioritize indexing the mobile version of websites.

What to do:

Use responsive design: The best option! Your website automatically adjusts layout, image size, fonts according to screen size (phone, tablet, desktop). Most modern platforms (WordPress themes, Shopify, Wix) support this by default. Just confirm your site uses responsive design (ask your developer/service or check theme description).
Avoid: Don’t use separately maintained mobile sites with different URLs (like m.example.com)! They’re hard to maintain and prone to errors.

Check tools: Google Search Console -> Mobile Usability Test, Baidu Search Resource Platform -> Mobile Adaptation (for older methods). Or just visit your site on a phone browser and try it out yourself: Is the text easy to read? Are buttons easy to tap? Do you need to zoom in manually?HTTPS and Secure Lock Icon (Must-Do!)

Why is it necessary? Encrypts the data transmitted between the user’s browser and the server to protect privacy (like login info), prevents browsers from marking your site as “Not Secure”, and is a basic requirement for search engine ranking.

How to do it? Super easy!

Choose a hosting provider that offers free Let’s Encrypt SSL certificates (mainstream ones like Alibaba Cloud, Tencent Cloud, SiteGround all provide it).
Log into your hosting control panel (cPanel, BaoTa panel, etc.), and find the “SSL/TLS” or “Security” settings.
One-click apply and enable the certificate for your domain (usually there’s a button like “Get for free” or “Install Let’s Encrypt”).
Force HTTPS (301 redirect): After enabling SSL, make sure to set all http:// visits to automatically redirect to https://. Usually, the control panel has a “Force HTTPS” switch or setting—just turn it on.

Check: Visit your website in a browser, and there should be a little lock icon on the left side of the address bar. Click the lock to see certificate info.

Let search engines know about new content: proactively submit links

XML sitemap submission: (Already emphasized in step 3) is a long-term, comprehensive way to notify search engines about all your important pages.

Instant submission of new pages/important updates:

Google Search Console: Left menu -> URL Inspection -> enter the new page URL -> test live URL -> request indexing.
Purpose: Speeds up the process of search engines discovering and indexing new pages (ranking still takes time).

Content Promotion & External Link Building

A large number of backlinks is key to gaining domain voting power.

Why is this core? Many different websites (especially from different industries, unrelated fields) linking to you is like many sites recommending your article or product. This passes “trust votes,” significantly boosting your site’s credibility and value in the eyes of search engines.
Principle: quantity > quality! 100 links from different domains with basic authority (DA>1) outperform 1 link from a highly authoritative relevant site. Never spend money buying high-authority backlinks (DA above 30), because the effect often diminishes as DA increases.

How to naturally get high-quality links?

The core secret: create valuable, link-worthy content!
Original research/deep reports: Publish valuable industry data, survey reports.
Authoritative guides/tools: Like “Complete beginner’s guide to XX field,” “Free XX tools.”
Infographics: Visualize complex info for easier understanding and sharing.
Unique opinions/insights: In-depth analysis and commentary on industry events.
Highly practical resources: Carefully curated resource lists, templates, case collections.

Track results and keep improving

Search engines need time (usually several months) to discover, understand, evaluate, and trust your site.

During this process, you must learn to read “data,” see what’s working well, what’s not, and where you can do better.

Core Free Analytics Tools (Must-use for beginners)

Google Search Console: Direct search engine feedback (Free, must-use!)

Core value: Official tool! Understand your site’s performance directly from Google/Baidu’s perspective.

Must-see data:

Coverage (index): How many pages on your site are discovered and considered indexable by search engines? How many pages have errors (like 404) or issues (need attention and fixes)?

Search performance/search analytics (core!):

Keywords: What actual words did users search to see your site? (These are real traffic-driving terms and might go beyond your initial keyword research.)
Impressions: Total times your site appeared in search results.
Clicks: How many times users clicked to enter your site after seeing it.
Click-through rate (CTR): Clicks / Impressions * 100%. Measures how attractive your titles and descriptions are. Low CTR (e.g. <2%) means even a high rank is useless!
Average position: Your site’s average ranking position in search results.

Links: Learn about external links to your site (number, main source sites), internal linking status (helps find internal structure issues).

Mobile usability: Google provides reports on mobile friendliness.

Security issues: If your site is hacked or compromised, notifications appear here.

Action advice: Log in weekly or biweekly, focus on “Search performance” and “Coverage.”

Google Analytics (GA): User behavior analysis (Free, highly recommended!)

Core value: Deep insights into the users visiting your site and their behavior.

Traffic overview:

Sessions/Users: Total visits / unique visitors.

Traffic sources:

Organic search: Free traffic from search engines (SEO’s core goal).
Direct: Users typing your URL or via bookmarks (brand awareness indicator).
Referral: Clicks from other websites (shows external link/cooperation effects).
Social: From social media platforms (shows social media promotion results).

Devices: Percentage of users on PC, mobile, tablet.

User behavior:

Pageviews: How many pages users viewed on your site (total pages).
Average session duration: How long users stayed per visit. Longer usually means more engaging content.

Bounce rate (important metric!): Percentage of users who left after viewing only one page. High bounce rate (e.g. >70%, varies by industry/page type) may mean:

Content does not match user’s search intent (clickbait).

Page experience issues (slow loading, messy layout, not mobile-friendly).

Low content quality / doesn’t meet user needs.

Heatmaps (provided by some tools or may require extra plugins): Show where users click/scroll on your page, giving you a clear idea of what parts attract attention.

Content performance:

Popular pages: Which pages get the most visits?
Landing pages: Which pages do users enter your site from initially?

Action tips: Check at least once a week. Combine this data with search console insights (for example: high impressions but low clicks might mean a title issue; high clicks but high bounce rate could point to content problems).

Key Metrics Explained & Troubleshooting

Overall traffic trend:

Goal: Is your organic search traffic steadily growing (even if slowly)?
How to check: In Baidu Analytics or Google Analytics, select a long enough time range (like 3 or 6 months) and look at the organic traffic trend. Focus on trends, not daily spikes!
Problems: Traffic not growing or dropping? Possible reasons: keyword strategy issues, low or outdated content quality, technical problems (slow loading, mobile-unfriendly), algorithm updates, stronger competitors, etc. You’ll need to dig deeper with more data.

Keyword performance:

Target keyword rankings: Are your main keywords moving up in rank? (You can check manually on search engines or use free tools/platform dashboards for approximate data).
Actual traffic keywords: (Check search console) Are there valuable keywords you didn’t expect? Are they driving good traffic?
Click-Through Rate (CTR): For keywords ranking decently (like top 30) but with low CTR, check the page’s title tags and meta descriptions: Are they attractive enough? Do they accurately reflect the content? Do they include the keywords? Optimizing titles and descriptions is a low-cost, effective way to boost CTR!

Page performance:

High-traffic pages: Which are your site’s “star pages”? Analyze why they succeed (what needs do they fulfill? What keywords?). Can you build related content series or add internal links to guide users deeper?

High bounce rate pages: Priority check!

Intent match: Does the page content really match what users searched for?
User experience: Does the page load quickly? Is the layout clear and easy to read? Does the opening paragraph hook users? (The intro is crucial!) Is it mobile-friendly?
Content quality: Does it provide unique value? Is the info clear and accurate?
Guidance design: Are there clear internal links on the page to lead users to related topics?

Low traffic/high quality pages: Some well-crafted content gets no attention? Check if the keywords are too competitive, have low search volume, lack enough internal or external links, or if the content wasn’t promoted after publishing.

Indexing issues (coverage report):

“Submitted but not indexed” / “Not submitted” / “Excluded”: Are there many pages? Why? (Could be low-quality, duplicate content, crawling problems). Do you need to improve content quality, fix technical issues, remove low-quality pages, or use canonical tags?
404 errors: Fix broken links! Make sure important pages (especially those with backlinks) don’t 404. Use 301 redirects to send users from deleted or moved pages to relevant new pages.

Data-Driven Action Guide

Optimize existing content:

Boost low-CTR pages: Rewrite more attractive, keyword-rich titles and meta descriptions.

Improve high bounce rate pages:

Strengthen the intro: quickly state the value to hook users.
Improve readability: apply good structure and language tips.
Match intent: fully answer the user’s search query.
Add internal links: guide users to related content.
Update info: refresh outdated data and examples.

Empower low-traffic but quality content:

Add onsite recommendations (update other high-traffic pages with links to it).
Reassess target keywords: consider more fitting or less competitive terms.
Share again on social media or relevant communities (highlighting its value).

Create new content:

Focus on high-potential real traffic keywords discovered from search console (with decent volume and relevance).
Fill content gaps and address unmet user needs (from Q&A sites, feedback, industry trends).
Target long-tail keywords and clear user intent.

Technical tweaks:

Fix coverage errors: Redirect or delete 404 pages; fix server errors (like 5xx); handle low-quality or duplicate content.
Improve speed: Check slow pages again (using PageSpeed Insights, Baidu Speed Test), optimize images, CDN setup, caching.
Ensure mobile-friendliness: Manually test high bounce pages on phones, fix issues.
Keep HTTPS stable: Watch for expiring certificates.

Boost promotion strategies:

Link building:

Get more relevant external links for your best-performing content (high traffic/quality) (see natural link-building methods in step 6).
Check which pages have the most backlinks and analyze why to replicate success.

Social media:

Analyze what types of content work best on which social platforms and invest more there.
Increase engagement frequency—not just sharing links.

Keyword strategy review:

Regularly (like quarterly) revisit your keyword list:
Which keywords underperform and should be dropped or replaced?
Any new industry or user search trends worth adding?
What new keywords are your competitors targeting?

Start your SEO journey step by step, stay steady, and watch the results bloom

Don Jiang

The essence of SEO is a competition for resources, providing practical value to search engine users. Follow me, and I'll take you to the top floor to see through the underlying algorithms of Google rankings.

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