If you’re an entrepreneur, you should be aware of how important SEO can be to kickstart and successfully run a startup business. Yet still, a lot of founders tend to ignore this low-costing, high-value marketing tool. Search Engine Optimization is one of the most powerful tools you can use to elevate your startup without killing the budget. In this post, we discuss some of the reasons why SEO matters for every startup along with some FAQs.
1. You will learn about customer behavior
SEO provides you a tremendous amount of data. Not just on how well your site is doing, but on customer behavior too. The more SEO research you do, the more data you’ll get on your potential customer base and their needs and wants. When a startup is new, it usually doesn’t have much knowledge of its audience. With SEO, you accumulate that data little by little. This data can be beneficial for you even years after launching your startup.
A lot of good SEO tools have free trial versions. Using these, you can learn about the keywords your audience is searching for and modify your campaign based on those. These SEO tools can significantly help you in boosting your business.
2. More traffic and conversions
It can prove a monumental challenge for startups to get high levels of traffic in the beginning. SEO can help you do that which will further boost conversions and hence revenue. Sure, social media marketing is essential too. But given how you may have a limited budget, it’s advisable to build your organic traffic through SEO first. Keep other marketing tactics on the backburner and stay updated with Google’s updates and algorithms to focus on SEO. It has been proven that organic traffic which you get from a Google search is better and converts far more than other forms of marketing.
3. It’s basically free!
The tools needed to conduct an SEO analysis like Google Analytics and Search console are free along with SEO itself. It’s all about time v money. In a startup, you usually do have time but money is a concern. So you can go through these tools and learn how to do SEO for your business yourself. Google Search Console will show you what users search for and how they land there. Broken links will be identified as well. Google Analytics will show you what users are doing on your site.
If you still feel that you do not have time to need professional help, you can always hire an SEO specialist.
4. Make informed decisions
In addition to helping a founder understand customer behavior, the same information can be used to shape other important startup decisions. Business strategies using this information can lead to successful launch and growth stages if they are applied to a founder’s overall business strategy.
By figuring out the consumer, you can figure out how to convert them. Using specific Sales Funnels tailored to those particular users, you can vertically integrate those into your site and content. Say your target audience is 20-year-old females who live in this region. Then you can create content tailored to that audience.
Other business decisions can also be informed by SEO data. When you have a keyword that performs well, you can create other keywords based on it that aren’t as popular. It is possible that there are other long-tail keywords that can drive more conversions for you.
5. Enhance consumer value and trust
With SEO, startups can build customer relationships with minimal effort. Having a business appear fairly high on a search results page builds trust with customers. After that, the company can proceed to build trust and credibility, which are necessary for a brand reliant on digital channels for conversions.
Whether they sign up for your newsletter or wish to receive alerts about discounts, when they see your search results in Google, it automatically creates a sense of trust between you and the consumer.
6. Long term clients
Paying for advertisements yields quick, but expensive, results. Search engine optimization allows businesses to deliver the content visitors want. SEO will build an audience over time, rather than having traffic drop when an ad ends.
Content that is better and more popular over time will have a stronger SEO, since other sites will link to you and Google will reward you for providing quality information, not spam. Google constantly updates its algorithms, which will affect your business in one way or another. It’s a constant process to stay up to date with the latest search engine updates. That’s why you should be aware of the latest SEO marketing trends.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is startup SEO different from regular SEO?
There is no difference (aside from the scale of the challenge). No matter how big or small your company is – whether you’re a startup, a major financial institution, or the smallest online retailer – Google wants to make sure you get relevant results for your search queries. Search engines look for the same things from startups as they do from other kinds of businesses.
The size of the challenge is what makes a difference for most startups. Your company isn’t large, but you strive to grow rapidly and be competitive with the biggest names in your business sector.
Most startups cannot afford enterprise SEO, so they have to make some sacrifices. In search engine optimization, Google won’t accept compromises, so you need to get the basics right. You will be able to put together a self-sustaining SEO strategy that won’t eat away at your budget if you get these right as soon as possible.
What are search engines looking for?
The type of business you have or your marketing objectives don’t matter to Google. When it comes to search engines, it’s all about rewarding top rankings to pages that provide the following information:
- Accessibility: Your pages need to be accessible before search engines can rank them.
- Great user experience (UX): Your website is an extension of your overall search experience, and Google is looking for great UX on your site.
- Quality content: Content that is relevant, unique, and useful to provide users with answers to their queries.
- Engagement: Good content and a great user experience should keep users on your site and engaged, which is precisely what search engines are looking for.
- Optimization: Optimizing pages so they are easy to understand by search engines and users.
Search engines and users want to see good content and great experiences along with the technical optimization essentials – that’s what you should strive for.
Conclusion
Startups benefit from SEO. The establishment of a digital presence is crucial for any startup, no matter what industry they are in. With SEO, you can gain awareness, brand equity, and traction. Search engine optimization tools provide businesses with easy access to data about their audience. Additionally, you can build a customer base and inspire consumer trust with search engine optimization.
The best way to build a brand for startups and established companies without a lot of money to spend on advertising is through search engine optimization.
