PFC Creative Selected as a Top Social Media Agency
May 16, 2022
If you’re a small or medium-sized business owner who is planning your online strategy, you’ll need formation from trustworthy sources. So, we put together an SEO Beginner Guide full of online resources to follow for trends in SEO. We also have resources for SEM, since these are two complementary strategies, and one often informs the other regarding strategy. So, check out our recommendations for reliable FREE resources for SEO and SEM info.
The websites below have been around for a long time, and web experts like PFC Creative have "grown up" with these folks on the internet. We have also included a few tools (some paid, some free) that are reliable to help DIY SEOers who are just getting started. Alright, check out the list:
SEO Beginner Guides
If you’re just getting started, start here.
- Google's SEO Search Engine Optimzation Beginner Guide
- SEM Rush | SEO Beginner's Guide
- SEOMoz | Beginner's SEO Guide
- Quora SEO Forum | A place to ask a pro a question you’re struggling with.
SEO Resources for Marketers
Search Marketing is a constantly changing animal. There are some folks who do nothing but follow the trends and share their thoughts. A few of those are linked below.
- Bruce Clay | Blog An SEO heavy-weight who has been around a long time. Promotes ethical SEO. Includes a toolset.
- Matt Cutts | Blog Matt Cutts previously worked for Google.
- Search Engine Land | News in Search, Social, expert Danny Sullivan
- Search Engine Watch | Longtime search engine analysts
- SEO Book | Blog Good SEO content mixed in with some sales pitches. Worth following for trends, etc.
- SEO Theory | Blog For folks who already have their feet wet on the basics but want to stay up on trends in SEO practices and techniques and industry news
- SEOMoz | Blog
SEO Tools
There are an infinite number of tools available to help “simplify” or “automate” your SEO. But it’s good to have a basic understanding of what you actually need to know before you go shopping for a paid service.
- Google Search Console | A critical tool for SEO
- Bruce Clay | Offers Toolset and training services
- Google | Webmaster Tools “…tools and diagnostics for a healthy, Google-friendly site.”
- Search Engine Journal | Free Tools Post A list of tools from Search Engine Journal
- SEOMoz | Toolset Helpful SEO tools for tracking online presence, keyword visibility, etc.
SEM Resources for Marketers
Search Engine Marketing resources will sometimes overlap with Search Engine Optimization, but there seems to be less movement in the other direction. ClickZ and Danny Sullivan (of Marketing Land and Search Engine Land) have been around since the very beginning. SEOMoz is a popular tool and also provides some good industry insight. We listed Ahrefs and SEM Rush last, even though are among the best tools for SEM and SEO pros. If you want to dive in to the deep end, start there.
- ClickZ | Marketing News & Advice | SEO, SEM, Social, Email, etc
- Google Ads Beginner Study Guide
- Google Ad Certification Take the official certification Google Ads Certification test
- Marketing Land | News and info in internet marketing for industry folks, expert Danny Sullivan
- Search Engine Journal | Sells services and curates industry news as well as providing some original content
- Search Engine Land | News in Search, Social, expert Danny Sullivan
- SEOMoz SEOMoz blog with a bit more focus on SEMs larger picture
- Warrior Forum Internet Marketing discussion forum
- WebProNews Industry news and analysis
- SEM Rush | Tool for identifying keywords, the best keyword opportunities, understanding competitive bids, and more.
- Ahrefs | SEM, SEO, webmaster tools, and a lot of great tools for SEO marketers.
Social Media News for Marketers
Folks that follow Social Media news, some of which are relevant to your marketing practices.
- Facebook | Business Blog News feed from Facebook about business pages and related updates
- Mashable | Social Media News
- Social Media Examiner Site sells services like reports and conferences but offers free content in social media arena.
Tech Bloggers
There are millions of them, of course, and they are all special. But here are two that often have something relevant for online marketers.
- Mashable | Marketing News
- Matt Cutts | Blog Matt Cutts worked for Google.
Google Tutorials
These are tools you might already be aware of from Google. The Power Search tutorial is not exactly SEO or SEM-related, but it is a good way to learn more about the ways people can search for your products. It can make you a more efficient searcher too.
- Google | AdWords Certification Learn the basics of Google AdWords
- Google | Power Search Class Learn to search better using Google tips and tricks
- Google | SEO Starter Guide |PDF Good beginner document on SEO from Google
- Google | Webmaster Guidelines “Best practices to help Google find, crawl, and index your site”
- Google | Webmaster Tools “…tools and diagnostics for a healthy, Google-friendly site.”
- Google | Webmaster YouTube Channel Short videos with helpful information for webmasters and web marketers
This is by no means an exhaustive list. These are just a few that we follow and have found to be trustworthy. Please feel free to share your own resources in the comments!
