(Entry was posted by Sam Ford on this post in the Dumb SEO Questions community on Facebook, 09/10/2020).

Which comes first, build the website or learn SEO?

Im going to make a website with science fiction stories, should I make the site first or is it recommended that I learn the basics of SEO?

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YOUR ANSWERS

Selected answers from the Dumb SEO Questions Facebook & G+ community.

Danilo Q Rosales Jr: That was my mistake in the past. Building a website then learning SEO. You can make better websites if you know the principles behind SERPs
Sam Ford: Will read up on SERPs
Sam Ford: Considering my site would be story based are images still necessary?
Michael Martinez: Make the site first. My first personal domain grew to over 50, 000 visits per month before I ever heard of search engine optimization. It was a science fiction fan site.

You can fix any normal problem later when you`re ready to start optimizing for search. Start by building the kind of site you would want to visit every day and tell your friends about.
Sam Ford: Nice to hear there`s a fellow science fiction fan on here
Michael Martinez: Sam Ford Probably more than you think. But online fandom has been crapped on by the commercial sites and Google accelerated that process.

While there is an argument to be made for learning SEO first, I`d like to see more people return to creating trulâ€¦See More
Sam Mah: Learn the basic SEO first, then build your site. Trust me; this is the best method.

A lot of stuff like user persona and speed should apply during the design stage and you should not overlook them.