Starting my digital marketing journey, I realized the most effective way to master SEO isn’t just by watching tutorials or reading articles—it’s by applying what you learn. That’s why I transformed my website, Marketing with Manthan, into an SEO testing ground. This hands-on approach of learning SEO by doing has given me practical insights no theory could replicate.
In this post, I’ll walk you through how I’m learning SEO by doing—and how every experiment shapes my understanding of what works.
Why I Decided to Learn SEO Practically
When I began, I didn’t have any clients or completed projects. But instead of waiting to gain experience, I created an opportunity by working on my own site.
Here’s my simple plan:
- Build a functional, content-driven portfolio site
- Apply SEO strategies just like a professional would
- Observe, measure, and refine based on results
This hands-on approach allows me to develop practical skills while building a site I can showcase to future clients or employers.
Step 1: Launching My Website with SEO Goals in Mind
✅ I Chose WordPress for Flexibility
WordPress offered everything I needed: an intuitive dashboard, plugins, and a supportive community.
✅ I Installed RankMath
I use RankMath to manage meta tags, schema markup, and sitemaps. It’s been crucial for learning SEO by doing, as it flags issues in real time. One pro tip: Use its “Content AI” feature to analyze readability. It helped me simplify jargon-heavy drafts, improving my average page time by 30 seconds.
✅ I Set Up Core Pages
Step 2: My Approach to Beginner Keyword Research
After experimenting, I developed a basic keyword research process. Learning SEO by doing taught me to prioritize relevance over perfection.
🔍 Tools I Use:
- Ubersuggest for volume and difficulty.
- Google Autocomplete for real-time ideas.
- AnswerThePublic for user questions.
🎯 What I Look For:
- Low-competition keywords.
- Long-tail terms reflecting my beginner SEO journey.
- Queries I can answer through experience.
That’s how I chose this blog’s focus: learning SEO by doing.
Content creation has been the most valuable part of my SEO learning process.
Step 3: Writing SEO-Friendly Content
📝 Keyword Placement:
- In the blog title
- URL and meta tags
- First paragraph and subheadings
- In a natural way, without forcing it
🔗 Linking Strategy:
- Internal links to my About page and related posts.
- External links to trusted tools I recommend.
🖼️ Image Optimization:
I compress every image and ensure alt text describes it using relevant keywords. This step is vital for learning SEO by doing, as visuals impact both UX and crawlability.
Step 4: Tracking Performance and Adjusting
📊 Tools I Use:
- Google Search Console to monitor indexing and impressions
- Google Analytics to understand user behavior
- Ubersuggest to follow keyword performance
I analyze these weekly to spot trends and needed changes. Learning SEO by doing means embracing trial and error—some posts flopped, but others taught me invaluable lessons.
What I’ve Learned So Far
- SEO demands time and consistency.
- Quality content beats keyword stuffing.
- Fast-loading, user-friendly websites boost SEO.
- Learning SEO by doing revealed internal links and UX matter more than I expected.
My Next Steps
I plan to:
- Blog consistently about beginner-focused topics.
- Experiment with backlinks via guest posts.
- Optimize site speed and performance.
- Keep updating and learning from real analytics.
Final Thoughts
This hands-on SEO journey has been eye-opening. Though I lack clients, my site is now a real project I can reference. If you’re starting out too, turn your website into a live SEO experiment. You’ll learn faster by doing and build a solid foundation for your future.
Stay tuned for more updates!