I've been asked about SEO recently (barely know anything about it myself) - this person was wondering how you can get your ranking up in specific countries other than your own.

 

I'm not sure this is actually possible, but said I'd find out. Can anyone advise? Also, if anyone has any very basic beginners resources about SEO they could link to, that would be great

It is possible but it depends on many factors.

 

1) If you want to rank for some non-english speaking contry, you will need their language on you site.
2) Domain extension is important, for example you can't rank in Australia with co.uk domain, insted you will need .com or eaven better .com.au domain extension.

3) Adjust ON page to targeted country or city, put it in Titles, Meta description...

4) Social media marketing

I will address the other part of your post, about resources for learning SEO. I found that blogs are the most useful. Check out Moz and webinars on Coursera. There are also many other blogs that can be really helpful, but you need to start with something. If you're creating in WordPress, their support in this matter is great - check out SEO plugin Yoast.

Dr.Iggy - Thanks, that's helpful.

cwvps - Thank you for the advice. I've come across a few blog posts, will have to look for some more. I'll check out Coursera. Moz is good, I read their beginners guide to SEO shortly after writing the original post, it was very useful.