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Day 2: How I Found My First SEO Keyword (Beginner Guide Using Free Tools)

Before you read this — this is part of my ongoing SEO journey. In my previous posts, I shared: Why I started this blog And how I set it up on Day 1  Now this is Day 2 — keyword research This is where SEO actually begins. What is a Keyword (Simple Explanation) A keyword is what someone types into Google. Example: “how to start SEO blog in India” When you write a blog post targeting that keyword, you’re telling Google: “This page answers that search” If Google agrees → your post appears in search results.  Step 1  Finding Trends Using Google Trends I started with a broad idea:  “SEO for beginners” Then I used Google Trends What I checked: Is the topic growing or dying? Is interest stable or increasing?  A rising or stable graph = good  Falling graph = avoid Important thing I did: I changed location to India  Because I want traffic from India Most beginners skip this — but it matters a lot. Goldmine section: Related T...
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Day 1: How I Set Up My SEO Blog (Step-by-Step + Mistakes & Fixes)

Before you read this — this is a continuation of my journey.

In my first post, I shared why I started this blog and the biggest problem I faced — my blog not getting indexed on Google.

 If you haven’t read that yet, start here:

https://myrealseolearningdiary.blogspot.com/2026/03/why-i-started-this-blog-complete.html

This post is Day 1 — exactly how I set up my blog, the mistakes I made, and what I fixed. 

Most “how to start a blog” tutorials show a perfect setup.

No errors. No confusion. No mistakes. That’s not how it worked for me.

I made mistakes, fixed them, and learned something at every step.

This post is a complete Day 1 breakdown of how I set up my SEO blog — including every error and how I fixed it.

If you're starting your blog, this will save you hours.

Step 1 — Designing My Blog Header

The header is the first thing visitors see.

I wanted something simple and clean — something that actually feels like an SEO blog.

What I did:

  • Chose a dark navy background with a grid pattern
  • Uploaded it directly to Blogger

No tools. No Canva. No overthinking.

How to upload header in Blogger:

  • Layout → Header → Edit
  • Choose file
  • Select your image
  • Click “Instead of title and description”
  • Save

 Important:
If you don’t select that option, your title shows twice.

Step 2 — Choosing the Right Theme

This is where I almost made a mistake.

I was about to choose a dark theme (Neon). It looked great.

But here’s the problem:

  • Dark themes reduce readability
  • Long articles become hard to read
  • Visitors leave faster

That affects SEO.

So I chose Contempo — simple, clean, fast.

 Lesson:

For SEO, simple design beats fancy design

Step 3 — Blogger Settings Most Beginners Miss

These settings directly affect whether Google can find your blog.

 Setting 1 — Enable Search Visibility

  • Go to Settings → Privacy
  • Turn ON “Visible to search engines”

 If this is OFF:
Google will NEVER index your blog.

Setting 2 — Add Blog Description

  • Settings → Description

Write a clear one-line summary.

 Example:
“A beginner’s real journey learning SEO from scratch with real data and experiments.”

 Setting 3 — Enable Meta Descriptions

  • Settings → Meta tags
  • Enable search description

Without this:
Google writes random descriptions for your posts.

 Step 4 — Connecting to Google Search Console

This is the most important step.

Without it, you have no idea what’s happening on Google.

Steps:

  1. Go to search.google.com/search-console
  2. Add property → URL prefix
  3. Enter your blog URL
  4. Click Continue
  5. Verification happens automatically (Blogger advantage)

Now your blog is connected

 Step 5 — “URL is Not on Google” Error

This scared me at first.

After checking my post, I saw:

 “URL is not on Google”

But here’s the truth:

This is completely normal for new blogs.

It just means Google hasn’t indexed it yet.

What I did:

  • Opened URL Inspection
  • Pasted my blog post link
  • Clicked Request Indexing

That’s it.

Now Google will:

  • Crawl your page
  • Decide whether to index it

 Usually takes 3–7 days

 Step 6 — Submitting Sitemap

A sitemap helps Google discover ALL your pages.

 Blogger already creates one automatically.

Steps:

  • Go to Search Console → Sitemaps
  • Enter: sitemap.xml
  • Click Submit

 Done.

The Most Important Lesson from Day 1

When I saw errors, I had two options:

  • Wait and panic
  • Or keep moving

I chose to keep moving.

 SEO always has waiting time

Google takes time to:

  • Crawl
  • Index
  • Rank

So while Google works…

 You should keep creating

 Day 1 Status

  • Blog created 
  • Design set 
  • Search Console connected 
  • Indexing requested 
  • Sitemap submitted 

 What’s Next

Next step:

 Finding my first low-competition keyword using free tools

I’ll document everything — step by step.

 Final Note

If you're starting your blog right now:

 You don’t need perfection.. You need action

Every mistake I made is here — so you don’t repeat it.

 Let’s build this from scratch — together.

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Day 2: How I Found My First SEO Keyword (Beginner Guide Using Free Tools)

Before you read this — this is part of my ongoing SEO journey. In my previous posts, I shared: Why I started this blog And how I set it up on Day 1  Now this is Day 2 — keyword research This is where SEO actually begins. What is a Keyword (Simple Explanation) A keyword is what someone types into Google. Example: “how to start SEO blog in India” When you write a blog post targeting that keyword, you’re telling Google: “This page answers that search” If Google agrees → your post appears in search results.  Step 1  Finding Trends Using Google Trends I started with a broad idea:  “SEO for beginners” Then I used Google Trends What I checked: Is the topic growing or dying? Is interest stable or increasing?  A rising or stable graph = good  Falling graph = avoid Important thing I did: I changed location to India  Because I want traffic from India Most beginners skip this — but it matters a lot. Goldmine section: Related T...
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