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How to Learn SEO In 2024
(In Record Time)

This guide will help you learn SEO in record time.

The best part?

Everything here applies to SEO in 2024.

(In other words: you don’t need to worry about reading out-of-date stuff.)

So without further ado, let’s get started…

How to Learn SEO in 2021

About The Author

Brian Dean

I’m Brian Dean.

I remember when I first tried to learn SEO on my own…

It was REALLY frustrating.

Conflicting information.

Confusing terms.

And techniques that didn’t work.

Fast forward to today, and I rank top 3 in Google for competitive keywords, like “video SEO”:

Google SERP – Video SEO

“Keyword research tools”:

Google SERP – Keyword research tools

And “Ecommerce SEO”:

Google SERP – Ecommerce SEO

And Success Magazine considers me “the world’s foremost expert on search engine optimization”.

Brian Dean – Success magazine feature

I’m not showing you all this to brag.

It’s to show you what’s possible when you learn SEO from the right sources.

Speaking of, that’s what this guide is all about.

It’s a collection of hand-picked resources to help teach yourself SEO… in record time.

Chapter 1:SEO Fundamentals

SEO Fundamentals

This chapter is all about teaching you the basics of search engine optimization.

So if you’re new to SEO, the resources below are a must-read.

Why?

They’ll help you get the basics down before we dive into the advanced SEO strategies later in this guide.

What is SEO? Complete Guide and Tutorial

(Backlinko)


This guide will take you from a complete SEO newbie (“What is this search engine optimization I keep hearing about?”) to a pro (“Title tags=optimized!”).

Backlinko – Hub – What is SEO?

Check Out This Resource

How Search Works

(YouTube)


If you want a plain-English answer to the question “how do search engines actually work?” this short video is for you.

YouTube – Google – How search works

Check Out This Resource

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Starter Guide

(Google)


SEO advice straight from the horse’s mouth. A bit dense, but definitely worth reading.

Google – SEO starter guide

Check Out This Resource

The SEO Marketing Hub 2.0

(Backlinko)


The SEO Marketing Hub “Learning Center” is like a mini-Wikipedia for SEO knowledge. It has entries that cover keywords, outreach, indexing, and more.

Backlinko – SEO Marketing Hub

Check Out This Resource

How to Create an Effective SEO Strategy

(Backlinko)


Learn how the various elements of SEO (like content, promotion and branding) tie together. Specifically, this guide will give you a step-by-step action plan that you can follow to rank higher in Google.

Backlinko – SEO strategy

Check Out This Resource

The Definitive Guide To SEO

(Backlinko)


SEO is CONSTANTLY changing. And now that you’ve got the basics down, this guide will help catch you up with the most important SEO trends happening right now.

Backlinko – SEO this year

Check Out This Resource

Chapter 2:Keyword Research

Keyword Research

Keyword research is THE first step of any SEO campaign.

Unfortunately, it’s one of the most confusing steps too.

To start with:

How do you actually come up with keyword ideas?

Or even more important:

How do you choose the best keywords on your list?

If you’ve ever asked yourself these questions, this chapter has you covered.

Keyword Research for SEO: The Definitive Guide

(Backlinko)


This guide is designed to show you everything there is to know about keyword research, from generating keywords to evaluating the competition on Google’s first page.

Backlinko – Keyword Research guide

Check Out This Resource

The Lazy Writer’s Guide to 30-Minute Keyword Research

(Moz)


The title says it all. If you want an insanely fast keyword research process that only takes 30 minutes to implement, this post by Britney Muller is for you.

The lazy writer's guide to 30-minute keyword research

Check Out This Resource

How to Research Keywords: A Step-By-Step Guide

(Orbit Media)


This highly practical guide walks you through a proven approach to keyword research step-by-step.

Orbit Media – How to research keywords

Check Out This Resource

137 Experts Reveal Best Tools For Keyword Research

(Robbie Richards)


There are a million keyword research tools on the market. But which one should you choose? Well, Robbie Richards asked 137 SEO pros about the keyword tools they use every day. And you can find their favorites listed here.

Robbie Richards – Best keyword research tools

Check Out This Resource

Advanced Keyword Research Tutorial (5-Step Blueprint)

(YouTube)


This short video will show you how to put the concepts you learned so far into practice. Specifically, you’ll see a real-life, 5-step keyword research process in action.

"Advanced Keyword Research" YouTube Video

Check Out This Resource

Chapter 3:On-Page SEO

On-Page SEO

This chapter will show you how to optimize your content the right way in 2024.

Specifically, you’ll see exactly how to use advanced on-page SEO strategies (like “Bucket Brigades”) to get higher Google rankings and more organic traffic.

Let’s dive right in.

On-Page SEO: The Definitive Guide

(Backlinko)


This is my regularly updated guide to on-page SEO. This visual guide covers the basics (like keyword usage) as well as some advanced strategies (like maximizing Dwell Time). I’m biased, but I think it’s pretty cool.

Backlinko – On-page SEO Guide

Check Out This Resource

7 <Title Tag> Hacks for Increased Rankings + Traffic – Whiteboard Friday

(Moz)


Your title tag is THE most important part of on-page SEO. The question is: besides using your keyword, what else can you do to optimize your title tag? This advanced guide from Moz shows you seven ways to do just that.

Title tag hacks – Whiteboard Friday

Check Out This Resource

On Page SEO – 9 Actionable Techniques That Work

(YouTube)


An on-page SEO tutorial that includes lots of real-life examples and case studies.

I made this video. So, again, I’m biased. But I think it’s really helpful for anyone looking to learn more about optimizing content.

YouTube – Backlinko – On page SEO

Check Out This Resource

SEO Case Study: How I Increased My Organic Traffic 652% in 7 Days

(Backlinko)


In-depth SEO case study about an advanced content optimization strategy called “Skyscraper Technique 2.0”.

Backlinko – Skyscraper Technique 2.0 post

Check Out This Resource

SEO Copywriting: The Definitive Guide

(Backlinko)


As it turns out, there’s more to on-page SEO than optimizing for keywords. In fact, a big part of SEO in 2024 is writing for humans AND search engines (also known as: “SEO copywriting”). And this post will hook you up with actionable SEO copywriting techniques.

Backlinko – SEO Copywriting Guide

Check Out This Resource

Chapter 4:Technical SEO

Technical SEO

Don’t sleep on technical SEO.

If Google can’t access all the pages on your site, your rankings WILL suffer.

Fortunately, you don’t need to be a Silicon Valley whiz kid to master technical SEO.

In fact, the resources here will show you specific steps you can use to master technical SEO.

(No Computer Science degree required.)

Google Search Console: The Definitive Guide

(Backlinko)


The Google Search Console might be the most important SEO tool on the planet. Why? Because the data you get from this tool comes straight from Google. Unfortunately, the Search Console isn’t that user-friendly.

Enter: this guide. In it, you’ll see exactly how to use GSC’s main features. That way, you can get the most out of this powerful piece of SEO software.

Backlinko – Google Search Console guide

Check Out This Resource

Step-by-Step “Technical SEO” Checklist

(WEBRIS)


Want a quick checklist to make sure your technical SEO is in good shape? Then don’t miss this interactive checklist from WEBRIS.

Webris – Technical SEO audit

Check Out This Resource

The 15-Step SEO Audit Checklist

(Backlinko)


Whether you’re killing it with SEO, or struggling to crack the first page, an SEO audit can help give your rankings a shot in the arm.

This step-by-step process makes doing an SEO site audit accessible and easy.

Backlinko – SEO site audit

Check Out This Resource

The Beginner’s Guide to Structured Data for SEO: How to Implement It

(Moz)


Many SEOs consider structured data to be the “next big thing” in SEO.

(I don’t agree, but that’s another story. 🙂 )

Either way, structured data can definitely help you get more search engine traffic. Fortunately, Moz put together a very helpful two-part guide to structured data for non-techy people (like me).

Beginner's Guide To Structured Data

Check Out This Resource

Mobile SEO: The Definitive Guide

(Backlinko)


This guide will show you exactly how to get your site is ready for Google’s mobile-first index.

Backlinko – Mobile SEO guide

Check Out This Resource

Website Architecture and Internal Links

(Moz)


Whether you run a WordPress blog or a massive ecommerce site, your site’s structure is super important. And in this helpful guide, you’ll learn how to set up your site architecture the right way. Includes a helpful video.

Moz – Website architecture and internal links

Check Out This Resource

Chapter 5:Link Building & Content Promotion

Link Building and Content Promotion

Are backlinks still important in 2024?

Absolutely.

In fact, Google recently stated that links remain one of their “top 3” ranking signals.

The question is: How do you build links that work?

This chapter will show you the ropes.

Link Building for SEO: The Definitive Guide

(Backlinko)


This is my comprehensive guide to building backlinks. It covers the basics (like why backlinks are important). But I also made sure to include lots of advanced content, like case studies and pro tips.

Backlinko – Link building guide

Check Out This Resource

7 Actionable Ways to Loot Your Competitors’ Backlinks

(Ahrefs)


When it comes to finding GREAT link opportunities, nothing beats copying your competitors. Here’s an actionable post on “looting” your competitors’ links.

Get competitors' backlinks

Check Out This Resource

How to Promote Your Blog: 21 NEW Strategies

(Backlinko)


Learn super actionable tips and techniques that you can use to promote the content that you publish. Includes advanced social media promotional strategies.

Backlinko – Promote Your Blog post

Check Out This Resource

How to Get High Quality Backlinks (7 New Strategies)

(Backlinko)


These are 7 of my favorite link building strategies right now, including The Moving Man Method and HARO.

Backlinko – High quality backlinks

Check Out This Resource

Sustainable Link Building: Increasing Your Chances of Getting Links

(Moz)


Learn insider SEO and link building tips from someone that’s run hundreds of campaigns. Recommended.

Sustainable link building

Check Out This Resource

17 Advanced Methods for Promoting Your New Piece of Content

(Neil Patel)


Publishing an awesome piece of content is just the beginning. To get links, traffic and shares, you’ll need to promote it. This post shows how to get your content in front of influential people that can share and link to your stuff.

Neil Patel – 17 advanced promotion methods

Check Out This Resource

Chapter 6:UX Signals

UX Signals

Google is getting smart.

REALLY smart.

In fact, thanks to an AI algorithm called RankBrain, Google can tell whether or not people like your site.

If they do? Then you can expect a serious rankings boost.

If not? Google’s going to bury your site.

That’s why so-called “UX signals” are REALLY important for SEO right now.

And the collection of resources here will teach you how to optimize your site for these key UX signals.

We Analyzed 5 Million Google Search Results. Here’s What We Learned About Organic CTR

(Backlinko)


We used rare access to several Google Search Console accounts to learn why certain Google search results have high (or low) click through rates.

Backlinko – Google CTR Stats study

Check Out This Resource

Google RankBrain: The Definitive Guide

(Backlinko)


RankBrain is a HUGE Google ranking factor right now. Unfortunately, most of the content out there on RankBrain is super technical and hard to understand. Enter: this plain-English guide.

Backlinko – Google RankBrain SEO guide

Check Out This Resource

My Single Best SEO Tip for Improved Web Traffic

(Moz)


Nothing beats a simple, step-by-step process you can use to get higher rankings and more traffic. And this post by Cyrus Shepard delivers exactly that.

Single best SEO tip for improved web traffic

Check Out This Resource

The SEO Ranking Factor You MUST Master This Year

(YouTube)


See why I ranked on the first page for “how to get high”… and what it taught me about SEO.

"SEO ranking factor" YouTube video

Check Out This Resource

Hacking RankBrain: How To Survive SEO Judgment Day

(Larry Kim)


I was lucky enough to see this presentation live. And it absolutely blew me away.

Survive SEO judgement day

Check Out This Resource

11 Amazing Hacks That Will Boost Your Organic Click-Through Rates

(Search Engine Land)


There’s no doubt in my mind that Google uses click-through rate (CTR) as a ranking signal. But how do you get more people to click on your site in the search results? This infographic has everything you need to know.

Search Engine Land – 11 amazing hacks that will boost CTR

Check Out This Resource

Chapter 7:Video SEO

Video SEO

Video is EXPLODING right now.

(In fact, according to Cisco, 81% of all traffic will be from videos in 2021. Crazy.)

But for people to find your videos, you need to optimize them the right way.

That’s exactly what this chapter is all about:

Tips and strategies to help you rank your videos in Google and YouTube search.

YouTube SEO: How to Rank YouTube Videos

(Backlinko)


This guide takes you by the hand and shows you exactly how to rank your videos in YouTube.

Backlinko – How to rank YouTube videos

Check Out This Resource

Video Marketing: The Definitive Guide

(Backlinko)


Just like with text-based content, publishing awesome videos can indirectly help your video SEO in a number of different ways. This new guide will show you how to plan, shoot, edit, and optimize your video content for maximum results.

Backlinko – Video Marketing guide

Check Out This Resource

Reverse Engineering YouTube Search

(Briggsby)


This is an extensive industry study of potential YouTube ranking factors. It’s definitely for advanced YouTubers. So if you’re new to video SEO, I’d come back to this after you get the basics down.

Briggsby – Reverse engineering YouTube search

Check Out This Resource

How to Grow Your YouTube Channel

(Backlinko)


This in-depth guide will show you how to get more views and subscribers on YouTube. Including the exact strategies I used to grow from zero to 450k+ subscribers.

Backlinko – Grow YouTube Channel post

Check Out This Resource

21 Ways to Promote Your YouTube Video

(Backlinko)


Learn how to get more views on your YouTube videos… even if you don’t have a ton of subscribers yet.

Backlinko – Promote YouTube Videos post

Check Out This Resource

Video SEO – How to Rank #1 in YouTube

(YouTube)


This video contains 9 actionable tips for optimizing your videos, including strategies to improve your Watch Time, CTR, and more.

YouTube – Backlinko – Video SEO

Check Out This Resource

The YouTube Marketing Hub

(Backlinko)


A library of free content that’s designed to help you setup your YouTube channel for the first time… or grow the channel that you already have.

Backlinko – YouTube Marketing Hub

Check Out This Resource

Chapter 8:Amazing SEO Case Studies

Amazing SEO Case Studies

If you’re like me, you learn best from examples.

And you’re in luck:

This chapter is made up of 100% awesome SEO case studies.

That way, you can see the strategies you’ve learned so far in action.

Zero to One Million: an SEO Campaign Blueprint

(Matthew Barby)


See how Matthew took a site from zero to one million visits in less than a year with a mix of digital marketing strategies (like blogging, social media, content marketing, and SEO).

SEO Campaign Blueprint

Check Out This Resource

How to Get 260.7% More Organic Traffic In 14 Days

(Backlinko)


This case study will show you how to get more traffic… without needing to bang out a new article every week.

Backlinko – Content Relaunch post

Check Out This Resource

How We Scaled a Startup from 0 Organic Traffic to 100,000 Visitors/Month

(Yes Optimist)


This is a “big picture” guide to growing a site’s SEO from scratch. So if want to take a break from tactics and teach yourself SEO using a high-level approach, check this one out.

Optimist – Startup content marketing

Check Out This Resource

Link Building Case Study: How I Increased My Search Traffic by 110% in 14 Days

(Backlinko)


Learn how I used something called “The Skyscraper Technique” to double my organic traffic in a super competitive industry.

Backlinko – Skyscraper Technique post

Check Out This Resource

White Hat SEO Case Study: 1,000+ Daily Visitors (In < 6 Months)

(Bill Widmer)


So you just created a site about RVs. And you want to rank it for all sorts of keywords. What do you do? Well, Bill Widmer was in that exact same spot. And in this case study, he shows you how he grew his RV site from scratch using white hat SEO.

Bill Widmer – White hat SEO case study

Check Out This Resource

How to Rank #1 in Google [Step-by-Step Case Study]

(YouTube)


A video tutorial that walks you through the key strategies that helped me hit the top spot in Google for the keyword: “list building”.

YouTube – Backlinko – Rank in Google

Check Out This Resource

Bonus Chapter:The Best SEO Resources… Ever

The Best SEO Resources Ever

No need for a long intro here.

This chapter is a collection of my all-time favorite SEO-related blog posts, videos, and guides.

Local SEO: The Definitive Guide

(Backlinko)


Did you know that, according to Search Engine Land, 43% of Google searches are local (like “pizza NYC”). If you run a local business, or an agency that helps local businesses with their SEO, I think you’ll enjoy this comprehensive guide to ranking your website in The Map Pack.

Backlinko – Local SEO guide

Check Out This Resource

13 Advanced Link Building Strategies You Probably Haven’t Used

(Detailed)


I love me a new link building strategy (I’m a nerd like that). So imagine my delight when I came across this list of 13 untapped strategies for building links. And it lived up to my expectations.

Detailed – Advanced link building

Check Out This Resource

Large-Scale Study: How to Rank for Featured Snippets

(SEMrush)


Featured Snippets are a HUGE part of getting traffic from SEO in 2024. But how do you get your content inside a Featured Snippet? SEMrush and SEO expert AJ Ghergich teamed up to answer that exact question.

SEMrush – Blog – Featured snippet

Check Out This Resource

SEO Tools: The Complete List

(Backlinko)


A few years ago, I realized something:

There were A LOT of SEO tools out there. But no single place listed (and rated) each one. So I personally tested over 280 tools. And after weeding out the crap, I was left with this list of 177 quality SEO tools.

Backlinko – SEO tools post

Check Out This Resource

100+ Google SEO Success Factors, Ranked

(Zyppy)


You may have read that there are 200+ ranking factors in Google’s algorithm. Unfortunately, lots of them (like your domain’s age) are hard or impossible to optimize for. That’s why this guide focuses 100% on “success factors” that you can actually influence… sorted by importance.

SEO success factors

Check Out This Resource

19 NEW SEO Techniques

(Backlinko)


There’s not much to say that the title doesn’t cover. In this post you’ll find a list of 19 SEO insanely tactical techniques that you can use to boost your search engine rankings.

Backlinko – SEO techniques

Check Out This Resource

Google Algorithm Change History

(Moz)


Google makes hundreds of changes to their algorithm every year. Knowing that: how do you keep track of them all? Well, the comprehensive “Google Algorithm Change History” makes staying on top of Google’s constant updates (relatively) easy.

Google algorithm change

Check Out This Resource

Advanced Step-By-Step SEO Tutorial

(YouTube)


This video walks you through the specific steps you need to get higher Google rankings this year, including loading speed, technical SEO, content, links, and more.

YouTube – Backlinko – Advanced SEO tutorial

Check Out This Resource

11 Proven Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Website

(Ahrefs)


SEO nerds rejoice! In this post you’ll find 11 detailed SEO tactics that have helped Ahrefs grow its revenue by +65% year over year.

Ahrefs – How to drive traffic to your website

Check Out This Resource

Conclusion

How to Learn SEO in 2021 – Conclusion

I hope this guide helps you quickly learn SEO (and eventually master it).

Now I’d like to turn it over to you:

What was your favorite resource from this guide?

Or maybe you have an excellent piece of content that you think I should add.

Either way, let me know by leaving a comment below right now.

186 Comments

  1. Wow! Brian! Once again, another article crammed full of invaluable info!
    This stuff shouldn’t be free.
    Thanks so much for this Brian!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome, Tom. Let me know if you come across any SEO resources that I need to include here.

      1. Definitely will Brian, but I feel you’ve scoured all corners of the internet. Are there any other SEO resources out there worth their salt?
        A personal favourite of mine that you mentioned was the Zyppy 100+ Google Ranking Factors.
        Thanks again!
        All the best,
        Tom

        1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

          I included pretty much all of my favorites here. That said, I plan on updating this post regularly with new stuff that I find.

          And I agree: Cyrus did a great job with that post.

  2. Hello Brian and thanks for this guide. like you I have gone through tons of materials and courses on SEO but having difficulties ranking my own sites which is in highly competitive niches [SEO, Web Design and Computer repair].

    Also being located in NY is different from almost anywhere else but yes, this post is still very helpful, thank you.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome, Mike. I can’t tell you how many SEO articles I’ve read.

      99.9% of them were pretty much useless. That’s why I decided to create this “SEO Content Hall of Fame” to help people learn SEO from the right places.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Almost 🙂

  3. Great collection, Brian – thanks. You’re my go-to resource for SEO these days.

    One suggestion: I see almost everyone measuring their SEO efforts through Google Analytics.

    This is understandable – but I’ve just published some detailed research that shows Google Analytics is only reporting on a tiny fraction of real traffic. On one site, 78% of real, human visitors are not being captured.

    See https://www.tallprojects.co.uk/articles/google-analytics-is-lying-to-you/.

    Would love to hear any thoughts. Thanks 🙂

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Edward. I just skimmed your article. How do you know that GA isn’t filtering out bots? You say that WPEngine does that as well, but I’d trust GA in that case over a host.

      1. Thanks Brian. And great question!

        GA certainly is filtering out bots. But WP Engine also filter out visits from known bot user agents: https://wpengine.com/support/count-visits/

        The strongest evidence comes from seeing adblockers actively blocking calls to Google Analytics.

        And we can also see similar discrepancies between real transaction numbers (i.e. purchases) vs the ecommerce conversions captured in Google Analytics.

  4. What timing! I was looking for a comprehensive refresher & here it is! Can’t wait to go through this again to make sure I have it all correct on my website. Thanks again Brian.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome, Darhana.

  5. Hey Brian, Really helpful for Increase Website Traffic (Without Building Links Or Adding New Content).

    What I was looking for I got now.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Nice

  6. Sunny Avatar Sunnysays:

    For years, I was looking for a blog like this where I can find best content on SEO written by experts.

    Thanks Brian

    This post will stop my research.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      👍👍👍

  7. Hey Brian. Awesome article as always!

    If I may suggest: You should probably change those blue buttons into auto-width ones, because they look more like non-clickable banners right now on wide screens.

    p { text-align: center }
    p > a { display: inline-block; width: auto }

    Keep it up! 🙂

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Jordan. I’ll look into that.

  8. Justin Avatar Justinsays:

    Always love getting emails re new posts from you Brian thanks. Helps me keep up on ‘the game’

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome, Justin. I definitely try to include content for newsletter subscribers that’s more on the advanced side (that way, intermediate and advanced SEOs can use my content to step up their game).

  9. I noticed you didn’t “No Follow” those links? Just curious why.

    Also, is part of the reason to create this post to be part of a “content hub”?

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Hey Matt, I don’t nofollow editorial links (links in blog posts and articles) as a general rule. There’s no real SEO benefit to it. My take is this: if a site’s worth linking to, that link should be followed.

  10. Hi Brian, thanks for this list of awesome resources. It really blew me away how much content there is that I haven’t even heard of, and I consider myself SEO-literate.

    My list of “must read, reread and learn” posts just got expanded- and I thank you for it.
    On the other hand (it’s a bucket brigade) 🙂

    I love that you included “13 Advanced Link Building Strategies You Probably Haven’t Used”. I adore that post as it introduced me to the awesome writings over at ViperChill and now Detailed.com.
    Plus that scrapping sites for comment count technique is pure gold.

    Perhaps it’d mesh well with your link research (Ahrefs), and social popularity research (Buzsumo).
    The goal?
    To make an unscalable skyscraper, right?
    🙂
    Nikola Roza

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Hey Nikola, you’re welcome. This post started as my personal rolodex of awesome SEO content. And I realized that it was a waste to keep that list hidden away.

      And I agree 100%: everything Glen puts out is solid gold.

  11. I’d say this post from Brian is the holy grail of SEO world. All the SEO I’ve learned in the last 1 years, is summed up in one single post. My personal favorites are technical SEO, backlink strategies and increasing web traffic.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Sounds good, Dru. Happy to help

  12. Prokhor Shikder Avatar Prokhor Shikdersays:

    This is too good Boss ! Tom said it right,stuff like this should not be free…Thanks for this man 😀

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome. Glad you liked it

  13. Hi Brian,
    Thanks for the post, you must have put some crazy amount of time into this. I have been going through your blogs 27 tips to increase traffic post last month and have already noticed a difference. And even though I just run a small blog (and have no experience) I am hoping to build my blog up to be a big competitor in my niche.

    I have been having trouble getting back links so far. There are not a lot of bloggers in my niche. There are only hobby bloggers and huge websites. The huge websites are ignoring me and the hobby bloggers are not too interested in back links or guest posts. There are however a lot of Youtuber’s in my niche and I hoping that I can make a stronger connection with them. Would a link from a YouTube video description count as a good backlink?

    Thank for all of your research,
    Amy

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Hi Amy, you’re welcome. That’s true: I put a lot of time curating the resources listed here (and the Backlinko team took my list and turned it into this nice design).

      To answer your question: unfortunately not. YouTube adds the “nofollow” tag to their links, so they don’t really help with SEO.

  14. Vladimir Djurovic Avatar Vladimir Djurovicsays:

    Hi, Brian

    great post, as usual. I just can’t figure out how you come up with this stuff :-).

    I have one question, though. in chapter about video SEO, you mention that “by 2021, 81% of all traffic will come from videos”. Does this mean that text based sites will slowly become obsolete? Or that video should complement text posts?

    I can’t wait to share this post :-D.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Vladamir.

      Good question. My take is that video will eat into text based sites (like blogs) a little bit. That said, LOTS of people prefer to learn from articles vs. videos. So I don’t think text is going to become completely obsolete.

  15. sunil kanani Avatar sunil kananisays:

    Really your post is helpful for Beginner to Professional.
    This is like all test in one dish.
    Thanks, Dean and Team!!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome, Sunil

  16. Angad Avatar Angadsays:

    Hii Brian,
    An awesome guide for which I was looking for..thanks a ton.
    Brian pls also create a practical video or post on how to do SEO of HTML and PHP websites..Will be grateful

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks for the suggestion, Angad.

  17. When I see Brian Dean in the email Box, My first step is to mark Star because of this valuable information. I don’t want to lose the single email, @Brian Dean.
    If you want to be SEO Expert Learn Basic SEO Tips From Other blogs & to get expertise,
    Backlinko is the Best in the World😊

    Thank you Brain AKA Backlinko👏

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome, Sammy

  18. You are simply the best Brian,
    thanks for the amazing information you share with us

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      I appreciate that Leo. I’ve got more cool stuff on the way

  19. All of this is good, but I expected something fresh that could help..
    I have read a lot of stuff.. and managed to get some.organic traffic..
    But even after better content than the ranked blog, my bounce rate is pretty bad..
    Please suggest actionable technique to reduce bounce rate and increase visitors engagement..

    Thanks..

    Faizan Fahim

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Good suggestion. I might write a post on bounce rate and dwell time soon.

  20. Brian, I love your articles I started to use serp-stat but my go-to SEO resource is backlinko because whatever you write have real meaning in it and if you recommend any external source then there will be weight behind the source otherwise you haven’t mentioned it. Hopefully, you will inspire newbie like me for decades

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks 👍👍👍

  21. Carlos Avatar Carlossays:

    Brian, you deserve millions of likes, I love this so much. Thank you, thank you and………………so on

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome, Carlos

  22. Andrew Kordyban Avatar Andrew Kordybansays:

    Hey Brian… Top notch list man. It’s funny i have read about 75% of these resources, but there are few more for me to go through. The total complete in-depth guides are so much better than piecing together 12 articles to master one concept.

    Cyrus released a sweet site architecture guide today which I wanted to share with your audience… his content is always top-notch..

    https://zyppy.com/site-architecture-seo/

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Andrew. I agree: Cyrus is legit. I actually included one of his other posts in this guide.

  23. I have the same problem as you do. I can’t rank my sitr high. I don’t know why is that. I’m doing everything you’re mentioning but I still don’t get enough traffic. Can you give me an advice? I don’t know why my site is not getting a lot of new keywords? This is my site if interested: narrowem.com

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Ivaylo, sorry man I’m too busy right now to do site reviews.

  24. If someone wants to master SEO concepts, this is the only page he/she should read.

    Excellent collection of best SEO resources, Brian. Your blog alone is a goldmine, and now this.

    Take a bow man!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Shafi. I appreciate your kind words.

  25. hi brian, thank you SO much for such amazing posts and case studies, you have inspired me to put some of your tips into practices with good results! =) i would love to see a case study in future on image seo because as a user i use a ton of image search, and now google allows us to save images in collections. curious to see what that leads to… thank you and best wishes!!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome, Ananda. Happy to help.

  26. Abdullah Avatar Abdullahsays:

    Brian Please Make A Guide That… How You Make Your Content? How You Write Your Article….
    Thanks….
    Best Regards..

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks for that suggestion. I like it.

  27. Amazing stuff, Brian! What about “Local” for local businesses – do you have anything on that?

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Patrick. Great suggestion. I might include a local SEO chapter the next time I update this guide.

  28. Hey Brian, I am applying your teachings and my business improves with each passing day. I try to innovate always, to create new terms and to guarantee positions in the ranking still not looked for the users, but that someday they could come to be.

    Thanks a lot!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Awesome, Natanael. I definitely recommend mixing in keywords that people do already search for to. But proprietary keywords can also work really well.

      1. Natanael Avatar Natanaelsays:

        Great, thanks a lot Brian, you are the best!

  29. Hey Brian, nice collection you’ve put together here. And thanks for including my Ahrefs guide 🙂

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Hey David, My pleasure: the guide wouldn’t be complete without your awesome post!

  30. shaz Avatar shazsays:

    Hey Brian,
    This is the great post. I am new to SEO and I am looking something where I can find the material in one article. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Happy to help

  31. This awesome Brian..Thanks again for your wonderful effort..!
    I hope that some day you choose TRAVEL website as a study case.
    Will help me a lot..
    thanks again for sharing.. and keep up the great work..!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome, Laura. Great suggestion (lots of Backlinko readers are in the travel space)

  32. You are a robot Mr. Brain ( SEO brain) … one suggestion you can make the resource links to open in new page so that bounce rate of this page can be reduced??

    Congrats you are already ranking for … how to learn SEO

    Dr in my name is for medical doctor 😉 MD in internal medicine and i am big fan of your blog and approach… all the best

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Rajesh. They open in a new tab. Is that what you mean?

      1. I mean to say if you can make the links open in new tab … the bounce rate of this page can be improved right?

        1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

          I understand now. I just checked a bunch of them and they all do open in a new tab.

  33. Cheefoo Avatar Cheefoosays:

    Wow… Thanks for showing us an awesome way to do a resource page. By any chance, would you be considering a post on the discovery of 1 Aug algorithms?

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome, Cheefoo. I might cover the Aug 1st update in a future post.

  34. Appreciate you alot for these. Just seeing few of these contents for the first time.

    I have started off with SEO success factors and it’s so amazing!

    Thanks Man!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome, Khris. That’s a great post to start with.

  35. Wow, this is an amazing compilation of incredible resources, Brian. Incredible job putting this together! I never even knew that many of these resources existed. Great job on this, super-impressive as always. Thanks for sharing!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome, Tom. I’m happy to finally share my favorite SEO content with the Backlinko community.

  36. It’s awesome, I will apply this SEO tips for my blog. Thank for guiding.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Sounds good, David.

  37. Hi Brain,

    I read lots of your post, and would please publish a post of eCommerce site SEO? I think there are lots people want to learn that?

    Thank you!
    ian

      1. Wow, it’s great, I will read it carefully! Thank you Brian 大佬.

  38. Harish Reddy Avatar Harish Reddysays:

    The best resources at one place to learn SEO. Amazing stuff Brian!!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      👍👍👍

  39. Hi Brian Dean, this is a great resources that is worth a premium monthly price tag. I’ve read and studied all of your recommended resources and backlinko remains my number one go-to resource for SEO. I’m already working on a case study how you changed my life with on-page SEO that helped me rank for competitive keywords. Thanks Brain for another wonderful great resource on SEO fast learning.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Atauyo.

  40. Another masterpiece Brian. Sometimes I confused whether I should focus on technical SEO or on page SEO.

    However your YouTube channel and blog helpful but I’d like to see a detailed guide on Technical SEO. It will help me alot and others who are struggling with it. You may also suggest a good reference to learn about technical SEO.

    Thanks,
    Umesh Singh

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Umesh. I might actually cover technical SEO soon.

  41. Hey Brian,

    Breaking the ice, I am finally writing here after being a reader for sometime of your site. I was struggling alot in generating and recovering my lost organic traffic due to my content being copied, duplicated or rephrased in own words. I glued to your 27 pointer post to repurpose the old content and how to regain/increase the organic traffic. I was able to draft some plan for next 6 months to work on based on your suggestions in the article and also got a lot of help in setting up my YT channel as a part of one of the pointer in your other article.

    I have no clue about SEO only some basics that is available every where and I feel this article must help me as your other articles helped me give some direction on recovering my lost traffic and generating more content as well as repurposing old content.

    Writing this long comment just to thank you for being such a help. I am not sure if I will be successful after the 6 month plan or not but I am pretty sure at least I will be few steps forward than where I stand today. Once my content plan is completed, I will jump on to these resources to get help on SEO too.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome. Very happy to help. Keep me posted on how things go.

      1. Hey Brian,

        Working on the first phase of my project. I have redesigned the site structure and I planned to launch an eBook. It is based upon FAQs of my travel blog based on a location. I included some bonus chapters in it for lead and print as well.

        However, my question is, as it contains many important answers and is in the form of a travel guide, I was planning to publish it as an article or page on the blog and link it in my main menu and remove the category link from it. But, the article may end up being around 20,000 words. Would you recommend doing that? Of course I want add images and media in between and divide them into section. But, is it like OK to publish 20000+ words of article so that I generate contextual internal links to many of the important articles of my site with click depth of 2. Or you think I should publish multiple sections of my FAQ eBook and link all of them in the main menu? Right now I link the category of that place whose guide I created as eBook. Earlier it was a mega menu with lots of links which I have removed now to provide links as contextual ones instead of main menu ones to my articles.

        Your inputs will be highly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

  42. Damith Avatar Damithsays:

    Hi Brian,

    Great Article. Do you think that these types of posts are good for SEO? I mean list of posts with external links?

    It is really surprised that there is no any resource by Neil Patel.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Damith, it depends on the keyword, user intent and topic. In this case, the post is designed to help people learn SEO. That’s pretty much impossible to do with a post. So I curated resources that people can use to learn on their own.

  43. Very nice resources, all under one roof. I am sharing this with my team, Thanks Brian!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome. There are some absolute GEMS in this list.

  44. Thanks Brain bookmarked it so i don’t want to run everywhere.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Nice!

  45. Kunal Avatar Kunalsays:

    I was hoping that you would share some content instead of sharing the sources. I love your posts Brian, I follow them too, but not too happy with this one.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You can’t please everybody…

  46. Aditya Avatar Adityasays:

    Hi Brian, Thanks for sharing this awesome guide, I’ve learned a lot by reading your post.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome. Glad you learned some new stuff.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Amit

  47. Declan Avatar Declansays:

    Hey Brian!

    Once again, another incredible resource that I’ll be sure to share with work colleagues! It’s great to have people like yourself & Neil Patel (amongst others) creating really valuable content like this to help others out.

    Keep up the great work!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Declan. I appreciate that.

  48. Hey Brian,
    I am just newbie and seriously i do get frustrated when articles doesn’t rank on top or near top, but people like you and many other also inspire me to never give up. There are some points that i wasn’t known so far but thank to you ,you are always make us learn important things about seo.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      I’ve been there. It sucks. But if I can do it, you can too.

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