17 Must Read SEO Blogs For Beginners

When you’re new to the SEO field, things can be a little daunting for a start.

You probably rely on Google a lot to get answers for random questions, can’t be sure of where to get a guide for beginners and where to look after that.

I’ve tried my best to compile a list of blogs, that I personally find useful, to help you get on your feet in terms of SEO knowledge.

If you’re not a total greenhorn, worry not, this is a categorized list of SEO blogs based on their specialties such as general knowledge base, local SEO etc. So feel free to scroll down to your preferred category to check out which blogs to follow.

Ready? Now let’s dive straight in.

General knowledge base

News updates, introductory guides, detailed technical guides, local SEO, international SEO, they have it all. Regardless of your level of knowledge in SEO, these are a few websites that will always be relevant.

They feature a wide variety of content from either guest writers to in-home writers and editors. So these blogs can also serve as your stepping stone to discover other SEOs and their informational blogs.

1. Moz blog

Me myself started learning about SEO by reading “The Beginner’s Guide to SEO” on the Moz blog. That post is THE entry guide for every SEO newbie. It also doesn’t hurt that it just got a 2019 update.

So if you’re new or you’re a beginner starting to learn about SEO, go give that guide a try.

Other than the beginner’s guide, Moz also have regular blog post updates from in-house and guest writers. They all kind of specialize in different subjects about SEO, so you can get a good mix of content there.

Oh, and also lookout for their whiteboard Friday where one of their writers will be presenting a SEO topic in a video format. All decked out with the relevant information drawn on a whiteboard. That’s usually not that long, and really easy to understand due to the visual aspects.

2. Search Engine Land

3. Search Engine Watch

4. Search Engine Journal

Now I’m grouping these 3 websites together not just because their names are similar, but they are also offering contents in a similar way. They are the jack of all trades websites that have blog post on most of the major compartments of the SEO industry.

These blogs are all frequently updated with blog posts that have a decent quality, and is generally easy to follow with actionable advice.

Search Engine Land has more news update than the other 2 websites, and it’s also launched by Barry Schwartz, a well-known figure in the industry who is usually quick on updating the latest SEO news, so it’s definitely worth checking in once a while to keep yourself updated.

Step-by-step guide

5. Backlinko

6. Neil Patel

If you’re looking for some hand holding, the blogs of Brian Dean (Backlinkho) and Neil Patel provide just that.

Both blogs feature long, detailed, blog post with well decked with screenshots and clear instructions to follow on mostly on-page SEO and inbound marketing topics, which always go hand in hand.

Both of them also features content in video forms, where they will coach you on topics such as what SEO tactics to avoid.

Or from Brian Dean, what are some on-page SEO techniques that works.

Brian Dean also has a few videos on video SEO and how to rack up those views on YouTube, with 751k views on that video, you can bet that it’s working.

News update from Google

7. Search Engine Round Table

Founded by Barry Schwartz, who is also the founder of Search Engine Land, Search Engine Round Table is the go-to site for any Google related updates.

This site offers daily updates and Barry is always keeping an eye on the outspoken Googlers like John Mueller or Garry Ilyes. So you won’t miss any new confirmations or updates from Google.

He is also quick on detecting any noises or complain from webmasters that may be implying that Google is up to something, be it another algorithm update, or just them testing something new on the search result page.

Check out the amount of updates we got in just one single day

If you need a site for a quick follow up on the SEO industry over your cup of morning coffee, Search Engine Round Table can be a perfect fit.

8. DeepCrawl

The folks at DeepCrawl provides web crawler services and also in depth SEO guides and handy Google updates on their blogs.

John Mueller from Google often hosts something called Google Webmasters Hangouts, where he, as a representative from Google, will be answering webmaster’s questions directly via a video conference.

Anyone can apply to join the webmasters hangouts which is hosted roughly 4 times per month.

At the DeepCrawl community tab, you can see a section called Hangout Notes. There you can have access to written notes of each hangout session.

That’s really handy for a quick catch up, especially considering you don’t have to go through the whole usually hour long video conference itself.

Weekly Roundup Newsletter

Now, are you more of a newsletter person? If so, let’s take a break from all the blogs and look at some SEO newsletters worthy of signing up for.

9. Marie Haynes

I absolutely love Marie Haynes’ weekly newsletter, aptly named Search News You Can Use

You got a wide coverage on everything Google and SEO on that newsletter. They do have a paid version which includes even more content, but I personally think the free “light” version is nicely packed with the important news and I can always picked up other news from other sources.

The straight up no bullshit format is refreshing and easy on the eye. Just facts no fluff.

Oh, and like DeepCrawl, the Marie Haynes website also offers a roundup note from Google Webmasters Hangouts here

10. Nick Leroy

Nick Leroy calls his weekly newsletter SEOForLunch because it “keeps you up to date with SEO industry updates over your lunch break once a week.”

Nick’s newsletter is shorter than Mary’s but packed in more personality. One major issue or news of the week will be highlighted in the newsletter accompanied by Nick’s Take where he chimes in with some industry wisdom.

Nick will also point you to a few articles spread throughout the web from different agencies and SEOs that he thinks is worth reading over your lunch sandwich or salad, whichever you prefer.

11. Kevin Indig

The techbound newsletter from Kevin Indig gives you a nice view into the SEO industry as a whole. He places focus on identifying and picking up future trends that could very well be a game changer if you become an early adopter.

Like the other two newsletters, Kevin also dedicated a part of his newsletter for suggestions on blog posts and articles that he finds intriguing and are worth a read. He calls it 5 pieces of the week

Kevin also has guest editor for his newsletter once in a while. This week, he had Britney Muller from Moz sharing something a little different, a podcast and a couple of books that challenge you to think differently.

Which I personally think is refreshing and brings a nice twist from your usual news updates.

Local SEO

Now, back to blogs. If you’re a local business owner and you’re looking at SEO to market your establishment, local SEO is what you’re looking for.

12. Blumenthals

Mike Blumenthals is your straight up local SEO guy. No bullshit, no fillers, no fluff.

Mike will not back off from calling out bullshit when he sees one.

Mike often explores uncharted topics and is kind of a pioneer in local SEO techniques. Tune in to his blog for the latest news will never be wrong.

His blogs are easy on the eye with clear subheadings, and nice screenshots to show you more clarity when necessary. Every sentence is there for a reason and he makes sure everything is clear by adding in a small footnote session under each blog post.

Gotta love this guy.

13. Bright Local

BrightLocal is kind of like the three Search Engine XXX sites. A good mix of informational pieces, latest news updates and guides, but laser focused on local SEO.

The team at BrightLocal has a tab called resources, it’s a dragon’s cave of local SEO statistics. From Niche Review Sites by Business Category to Top 50 Local Citation Sites for USA, UK, Canada, and Australia, they can come in handy for anyone looking for some juicy ways to amp up their local SEO effort.

BrightLocal’s resource tab can be immensely useful for anyone looking for useful local SEO data.

They also frequently run surveys where the results are then posted on their research page. Want to have a peek on what others are doing to up their local SEO? That’s a great place to start.

The team publishes around 3 blog posts a week, that can be plenty enough to feed any local SEO curious souls.

Technical SEO guides

14. SEMrush

SEO, checked. SEM, checked. PPC, checked. Content Marketing, checked. The SEMrush blog Is. Packed.

They have an industry news section where they give readers a weekly wrap-up of the big news in the industry. They also have a weekly wisdom series where they invite professional SEOs and marketers to share some brain juice with us viewers, and I say viewers because they have this series in a video format but no videos are complete without a transcript right? They have that too, right under the videos complete with screenshots and subheadings.

Mikhail Alfon sharing some micro influencer strategy to boost your business on the latest Weekly Wisdom show.

I’m sounding a little bit excited here, but hear me out, they are also featuring contents in 6 languages. SIX. That’s English, French, Spanish, Italian, Portugese and Dutch.

All in all, an impressive blog with content focusing on the technical part of SEO that can be useful for you.

15. Go Fish Digital

Looking for some blogs that quotes Google patents and have snippets of raw codes accompanying their content? Go Fish Digital is what you’re looking for.

These guys really know their stuff.

Most of the posts on their blog is compact and went off with impact. They offer insights on SEO issues from a technical perspective while pointing you to the necessary tools to handle the problems with a nudge towards the right direction.

They also provide a professional perspective on some legal issues like “What Does Article 11 or “The Link Tax” Mean for SEO in the EU”. That some advice that you can’t easily get , and these guys are giving it out for free. Gotta respect that.

16. Distilled

Distilled’s blog offers a variety of wonderful blog posts on different aspects of technical SEO. From how to check your site speed to choosing the correct metric for reporting your link building efforts.

Their contents are not terribly long, but considering the technical aspect of their topics, having a shorter and more focused content definitely fits better.

They also have a glossary page which offers short explanation on SEO terms, which is perfect for SEO beginners.

Distilled’s glossary page, where you can find the explanations for most of the SEO terms.

If you’re up for some paid-content, check out their Distilled-U where they have classes on different SEO topics to explore, albeit behind a paywall.

Patents analysis

17. SEO by the sea

Bill Slawski runs the unique blog called SEO by the sea. He specialises in analyzing Google patents.

Now, Google regularly patent some unique technology that they may or may not employ for their most popular tool, Google search.

By delving into their patented technologies, you’re given a glimpse into what kind of technique the search giant is using or plans to use in the future. A lot of these patented technologies are inter-connected, so you can get a pretty good guess on the inner workings of search by nitpicking on the pages and pages long patents.

Mr. Slawski makes that easier for folks like us. He scrutinize and analyse the patents, and pick out stuff that are important and lay it out in an easy to digest manner.

If you’re curious about the behind the scenes of Google search, and also want to have a better understanding on why Google search runs the way it is, check out SEO by the sea for some eye-opening lessons.

Conclusion…

Thanks for reaching the end of the post and I hope you’ve found some blogs that are your cup of tea and have them bookmarked for a casual scroll.

And since you’re already here, don’t forget to check out our blog too. Our team works really hard to pump out content every week.

Here’s a few of our best blog posts to get you started.

Google’s Title and Meta Descriptions Length (Updated 2019)
9 Simple Steps To Increase Your Domain Authority
HTTP vs HTTPS: The Difference And Everything You Need To Know
Inbound Marketing vs Outbound Marketing – Which Is More Effective?

And if you have a personal favourite blog, please leave a comment below so I can go check them out too!

Oh, oh and we also launched our SEO Quiz, if you want to take on a quest and see how much SEO you know, try out our quiz!

Updated: 18 April 2024

About Lo Jia Thong

A polyglot plummeted into the deep blue world of SEO and inbound marketing armed with a burning passion on letters and a fascination on how thing rolls in the world wide web.

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