SEO Expert in Kerala: Complete Beginner’s Guide to SEO

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Hi, I am Irshad, a freelance digital marketer from Kannur, Kerala. I work on SEO, and I wrote this guide in simple words so anyone can understand it. If you want to hire an SEO expert in Kerala or a freelance SEO expert in Kerala, this guide shows how SEO works and what a good SEO person should do for your website.

What Is SEO?

SEO means Search Engine Optimization. It is the process of improving your website so it comes at the top when people search on Google.

A search engine is software that people use to search for information. Google, Yahoo, Bing and YouTube are search engines.

Why Is SEO Important?

  • More visibility: More people see your website and visit it.
  • Free traffic: You do not need to pay for ads.
  • Builds trust: Websites that rank higher look more trustworthy.
  • Organic reach: With SEO, your website can reach the top for free.

What Is Search Intent?

Search intent (also called user intent) is the reason why a person searches for something. There are 4 types:

  1. Informational: The person wants to learn something. Example: what is SEO.
  2. Navigational: The person wants to open a specific website directly. Example: typing the name of a website.
  3. Commercial: The person is doing research before buying. Example: best SEO expert in Kerala.
  4. Transactional: The person is ready to buy or take action. Example: hire a freelance SEO expert in Kerala.

Good content matches the search intent of the person.

What Is Search Intent?

A search engine uses a bot to find the best results for a search. This bot is called a spider (Google’s bot is called Googlebot). It works in 4 steps:

  1. Crawling: The bot opens millions of websites and reads their information.
  2. Indexing: The bot collects and saves the information it read.
  3. Retrieving: When someone searches, the search engine looks through the saved pages and finds the most relevant ones.
  4. Displaying: The most relevant pages are shown at the top.

The page that shows the results is called the SERP (Search Engine Result Page).

Paid vs Organic Search Results

  • Paid results: These are ads. You pay money, usually when someone clicks. They have a small label like Sponsored.
  • Organic results: These are the normal results that come free. SEO helps you rank here.

How Google Decides the Ranking

Google uses an algorithm. An algorithm is a set of rules that decides which page ranks first. Two names you should know:

    • Penguin: Checks for spam and bad backlinks.
    • RankBrain: An AI system that helps Google understand what the person really wants to find.

Types of SEO

  1. On-Page SEO: Improving things inside your website, like content and information.
  2. Off-Page SEO: Work done outside your website, like backlinks.
  3. Technical SEO: Improving the technical side of your website, like speed and security.
  4. Local SEO: Location-based SEO, so people nearby can find you.

On-Page SEO

On-page SEO has these parts: keyword optimization, content optimization, image optimization, header tag optimization, meta title and description, URL optimization and internal links.

1. Keyword Optimization

A keyword is the word or phrase (sentence) that people type in a search engine to get information. The first job is to find quality keywords.

Tools to find keywords

  • Google Keyword Planner: A free tool from Google Ads.
  • Ubersuggest: Gives keyword ideas.
  • Ahrefs Keyword Explorer: Shows keyword data.
  • AnswerThePublic: Shows the questions people ask.
  • Google Trends: Shows what people are searching now.

How to open Keyword Planner: Create a Google Ads account → Tools → Planning → Keyword Planner.

How to choose a keyword: Choose a keyword with high search volume (many people search it) and low competition (few websites are trying to rank for it).

Keyword research methods

  • Brainstorming: Think about what your customer may search.
  • Autosuggestion: Type in the Google search bar and see what Google suggests.
  • Related searches: Check the list at the bottom of the results page.
  • Competitor analysis: See which keywords other websites use.
  • Keyword Planner: Check search volume and competition.

3 types of keywords

  • Short-tail: 1 or 2 words. Example: Digital Marketing
  • Mid-tail: 2 to 3 words. Example: Digital Marketing course
  • Long-tail: More than 3 words. Example: Best Digital Marketing course in Kannur

Long-tail keywords have less competition, so they are good for beginners. Keywords like SEO expert in Kerala and freelance SEO expert in Kerala are long-tail keywords.

Main keyword and secondary keyword: Every page needs one main keyword. Add the main keyword first, then add the secondary keyword.

SEO plugins: Yoast and Rank Math are SEO plugins for WordPress. I use Rank Math.

  • To install: WordPress Dashboard → Plugins → Rank Math SEO → Install → Activate.
  • To add keywords: Elementor dashboard → SEO → Focus Keyword. Enter the main keyword first, then the secondary keyword.

2. Content Optimization

Your website content must be unique. Do not copy content from other websites.

  • Plagiarism checker: Use Duplichecker.com to check your content. Try to get 0% plagiarism and 100% unique content.
  • AI content: If you use AI to help you write, always edit it and add your own real examples. A tool like QuillBot (paraphraser) can help to make the sentences sound more natural.

3. Image Optimization

Image optimization helps your images rank and improves your SEO. The tool to use is Squoosh.

  • File format: WebP
  • File size: Less than 200 KB
  • File name: Use your keyword
  • Description (alt text): Use your main keyword
  • Caption, alt text and description: Fill all three
  • Do not use the same keyword for more than 5 images.

How to use Squoosh: Open Squoosh → select your image → Compress → choose WebP → set the quality until the size is below 200 KB.

4. Header Tag Optimization

Header tags are the headings of your page.

  • H1: The main heading (hero section). Use your main keyword here. Use only one H1 on a page.
  • H2 and H3: Use these for all the other headings.

5. Meta Title and Meta Description

  • Meta title: The title of your website page. It is the blue link people see in Google results.
  • Meta description: A short summary of the content inside your page. It shows below the meta title.

Put your focus keyword in both. A good size is about 50 to 60 characters for the title and about 150 to 160 characters for the description.

How to edit: Elementor → SEO → Edit Snippet.

5. Meta Title and Meta Description

  • Your website URL should be keyword friendly. Change the links of your home page, blog page and about page so they are short and clear.

    Example: yourwebsite.com/seo-expert-in-kerala. Use small letters and a dash between words.

6. URL Optimization

  • Your website URL should be keyword friendly. Change the links of your home page, blog page and about page so they are short and clear.

    Example: yourwebsite.com/seo-expert-in-kerala. Use small letters and a dash between words.

OG Tag and Twitter Tag

When you share your website on social media, these tags decide how it looks: the title, the image and the short text. You can customize them.

9. Site Identity

  • Site identity is the basic identity of your website, like the site title, tagline and site icon. In

    WordPress go to Preview → Customize → Site Identity.

Technical SEO

Technical SEO means improving the technical side of your website. It has these parts:
website speed, mobile friendly design, HTTPS and security, schema markup, sitemap,
robots.txt, canonical tags and broken links.

1. Website Speed

Your website should load fast. Check your speed with the free tool PageSpeed Insights.

2. Mobile Friendly Design (Responsiveness)

Your website should look good and work well on mobile phones, tablets and computers.

3. HTTPS and Security

HTTPS means Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure. It shows that your website is safe. To
get HTTPS you need an SSL certificate (Secure Sockets Layer). A secure website shows
https in the link. A website without it shows only http.

4. Google Tools for SEO

  • Google Analytics: Shows user behaviour, like new visitors, unique visitors and organic visitors.
  • Google Search Console: Shows how your website performs, like countries, clicks and
    impressions.
  • Google Tag Manager: Helps you manage tracking codes and add tools to your website.
  • Google Site Kit: A free WordPress plugin. It is a 3-in-1 tool that connects Google
  • Analytics, Search Console and Tag Manager in one place

Google Search Console and Indexing

Indexing means Google collects the data of your website. Google does this every day.
To ask Google to check a page: Site Kit Dashboard → Search Console → URL Inspection → copy and paste your page link.
The Search Console dashboard also shows Core Web Vitals. It tells you how fast and
smooth your pages are. It is close to what PageSpeed Insights shows.

How to Set Up Google Tag Manager

  1. In WordPress, open Site Kit → Settings → Connect More Services → Tag Manager.
  2. Create an account. Account name: your site name (example: My Portfolio). Country:
    India. Container name: your website domain. Target platform: Web. Click Create.
    SEO Expert in Kerala: Complete Beginner’s Guide to SEO.
  3. Copy the code. Go to WordPress Dashboard → Appearance → Theme File Editor →
    header.php. Paste the head code in the head part and the body code in the body part.
    Click Update File.
  4. Go back to Google Tag Manager → Update → Continue.

Be careful: a small mistake in the theme file can break your website, so take a backup first.
If Site Kit already adds the Tag Manager code, do not paste the code again.

5. Schema Markup

Schema markup (structured data) is code that helps search engines understand your
content in a simple and clear way. It changes your content into code.


How to make FAQ schema

  1. Open the tool Schema Markup Generator (technicalseo.com).
  2. Select FAQ and enter all the questions and answers of your page.
  3. On the right side you will see the schema code.
  4. Check the code with Schema Markup Validator: open the site → Code Snippet →
    paste the code → Run Test.
  5. Add the code to your website with Google Tag Manager: Tag → New → name it FAQ →
    Tag Configuration → Type: Custom HTML → paste the code.
  6. In Triggering, click the + icon at the top right → Trigger Configuration → Page View →
    Some Page Views → Page URL → equals → enter your page link → Save.
  7. Submit and publish the container so it goes live.


Google may not always show FAQ schema as a special result, but it still helps search engines understand your page.

6. Sitemap

A sitemap is the blueprint of your website. It tells the search engine about all your pages
and links, so it knows the total plan of your website. You submit it to the search engine.

Your sitemap link is usually: yourdomain.com/sitemap_index.xml

How to submit: Google Search Console → Indexing → Sitemaps → enter the sitemap link →
Submit.

 After that you can see the number of pages, URLs and images.

7. Robots.txt

Robots.txt is a commanding tool for crawling. It tells Google’s bot which pages of your
website it can crawl and which pages it should not.
To see it,

open: yourdomain.com/robots.txt. You will see the user agent and the sitemap
code.


You can also control one page: WordPress Dashboard → All Pages → edit the page → Rank
Math (top right) → Advanced → Robots Meta → choose Index (Google can show this page)
or NoIndex (Google should not show this page) → Save.

8. Canonical Tag

A canonical tag tells Google which link is the main (priority) link when the same content is
on more than one link. This avoids duplicate content problems.


How to add: WordPress Dashboard → All Pages → edit → Advanced → Canonical URL →
paste the main link → Save.


Use it only when the content is the same or very similar.

9. Broken Links

Broken links are links on your website that do not work. They hurt your user experience.
and your SEO. Check them in 2 ways:

    1. Manually, by clicking your links.
    2. With a tool like brokenlinkcheck.com.

Then fix or remove the broken links.

Off-Page SEO

Off-page SEO means working on the things outside your website.

    1. Guest blogging (guest posting): Write an article for another website and get a link
      back to your website.
    2. Directory submission: Add your website name and contact details to online
      directories. Examples: Justdial and Google Business Profile (earlier called Google My
      Business).
    3. Quora: You can answer questions on Quora and get backlinks and visitors.
    4. Spam check: Before you take a backlink, check if the website is a scam or spam
      website. Use a Domain Authority (DA) checker tool. SS (Spam Score) should be low.
      DA (Domain Authority) should be high.

Local SEO

Local SEO is location-based SEO. It helps you show up when people search near them.
Examples: best restaurant near me, best mobile shop in Payyannur. This is why in Kerala is
part of the keyword SEO expert in Kerala.
The main tool is Google Business Profile (earlier called Google My Business).

What to do

  • Mention your location on your website.
  • Use Google Business Profile.
  • Write local content. Example: Digital Marketing in Kannur.
  • Mention your address on your website.
  • Get local backlinks. This means backlinks from websites based in your area, like Kannur.

EEAT: How Google Checks Trust

EEAT is a framework that checks if the content of a website is useful and trustworthy. Its
focus is on the reader. EEAT means Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and
Trustworthiness.

    • Experience: Real work you have done. Example: if you helped a website rank, show it
      as an achievement.
    • Expertise: Show that you know the topic. Example: if you rank websites on top in SEO, explain it in detail with blogs and case studies.
    • Authoritativeness: Other trusted websites in your field link to your website. Example:
      a Digital Marketing website gives a link to your website.
    • Trustworthiness: Your website is accurate, genuine, safe and secure (https), the
      content is correct and the icons and links work.


How to improve EEAT:

    • Add clear author information.
    • Write original and useful content with examples.
    • Share your real, practical experience.
    • Keep the information accurate and update it when things change.
    • Get relevant backlinks.
    • Add clear contact information.
    • Use https on your website.

3 Methods of SEO: White Hat, Black Hat and Grey Hat

White Hat SEO

White hat SEO follows all the rules and regulations of Google. It is ethical SEO.

Focus

      1. Write quality content.
      2. Use proper keywords.
      3. Give a good user experience.
      4. Keep a fast website speed.
      5. Use a mobile friendly design.
      6. Optimize images.
      7. Create quality backlinks.
      8. Use proper title tags and meta descriptions.


Advantages: Safe and long-term ranking. No Google penalty. Builds trust and authority.
Disadvantage: It takes more time to get results.

Black Hat SEO

Black hat SEO uses illegal or manipulative techniques.

      • Keyword stuffing.
      • Hidden text.
      • Buying spam backlinks.
      • Duplicate content.
      • Clickbait content.

Advantage: Fast results.

Disadvantages:

      • High risk of a Google penalty. Your website can be de-indexed or banned.
      • The results are short term.

Grey Hat SEO

Grey hat SEO is a mix of white hat and black hat. It is not clearly against the rules.

  • Using AI content without proper optimization
  • Buying expired domains
  • Too much link exchange


Advantage: Faster results than white hat SEO.
Disadvantages: It is risky if Google updates its algorithm. It can become black hat at any time.


My advice: choose white hat SEO. It takes more time, but it keeps your website safe.

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