How do you start SEO?
Step 1 — research before you write
Before writing a single page, understand what your audience actually types into search engines. Free keyword tools will show you search volume and related phrases for almost any topic, helping you prioritise content that people are genuinely looking for rather than guessing.
Step 2 — fix the technical foundation
A site that loads slowly, doesn't work well on mobile, or has a confusing structure will undermine even great content. Run a basic technical audit early — check page speed, mobile rendering, and whether search engines can actually crawl every important page — before investing heavily in content.
Step 3 — content, then authority
With research and technical health in place, focus on creating genuinely useful content that addresses the queries you identified. Authority building — earning links and mentions from other reputable sites — comes naturally once you have something worth linking to, but can also be actively pursued through outreach, partnerships, and PR.
A realistic first-90-days plan
In the first month, focus entirely on keyword research and a technical health check — understand what to target and fix anything broken before building on top of it. In month two, start producing content consistently around your highest-priority keywords. In month three, begin actively building authority through outreach, while continuing to monitor what's working and adjusting based on early data.
Common mistakes when starting out
The most common beginner mistake is targeting keywords that are too competitive too early, leading to months of effort with no visible progress. A more effective approach is starting with lower-competition, more specific phrases where ranking is realistic, then expanding into broader, more competitive terms once the site has built some initial authority and trust.
Setting expectations with stakeholders before you start
If you're starting SEO within a team or for a client, it's worth setting expectations early about timelines and what early success actually looks like — improved indexing, early keyword movement, or growing impressions — rather than immediate top rankings. Misaligned expectations are one of the most common reasons SEO efforts get abandoned just as they're starting to gain traction.
How to know which keywords to prioritise first
When starting out, prioritise keywords with reasonable search volume but lower competition, since these offer the most realistic chance of an early win. Tools that show a difficulty or competition score for each keyword make this comparison straightforward, helping you avoid spending months chasing terms that established competitors already dominate.
Key Takeaways
- Start with keyword research before writing anything.
- Fix the technical foundation early — speed, mobile rendering, crawlability.
- Target realistic, lower-competition keywords first, then expand once authority builds.