If you’re a startup founder, you know that while you can be doing everything right, if customers can’t find you online, your business will not survive.
That’s where search engine optimization (SEO) comes in. It holds the key to getting your business found in search engines.
Let’s start with a quick definition from the experts at Moz.
What is SEO?
SEO stands for search engine optimization, which is a set of practices designed to improve the appearance and positioning of web pages in organic search results. Because organic search is the most prominent way for people to discover and access online content, a good SEO strategy is essential for improving the quality and quantity of traffic to your website.
Whether you’re planning on doing SEO yourself or getting ready to hire an SEO agency, there are some fundamental elements of SEO you need to master so you can make good decisions with your time and money.
Below, you will find 7 simple SEO skills you can use to give your content and your startup a fighting chance.
1. Understand How To Do Keyword Research
When customers search for a certain product online, they use a specific combination of keywords to narrow down the search results and find what they need. Through market research, you can identify the unique keywords that your target customers use to search for similar businesses.
You can then use these keywords throughout your website’s content to ensure that search engines find your website relevant and rank you at the top of the result pages. The next time an interested customer goes online, they will be more likely to choose the top results, which means more visibility for your startup.
Consequently, this will drive up your potential sales and, finally your profits. However, the key here is to have your marketing team dig deep beyond the basic keywords until they find the right ones.
2. Know How To Create High-Quality Content
Customers appreciate meaningful content. No one likes to waste their time going through a website offering nothing beyond a product list. While this might work for big, established companies with other outlets for customer engagement, it’s not the same with startups like yours.
Having a website is an invaluable opportunity to attract both existing and new customers if you use the space to share interesting topics that they’d want to read.
It’s a given that the main purpose of your website is to sell your product, but there’s no need to make it that obvious. You can provide your customers with daily beauty tips and hacks if you’re in the beauty industry. Gaining your customer’s trust is the only way your website will gain traction and be boosted to the top of the search pages.
3. Be Able To Build Partnerships
As a new startup, especially if you don’t have the relevant experience, you can feel quite lost when enhancing your online presence. Your best bet is to find other, more experienced companies that can help make your marketing efforts more cost-effective.
As explained by the experts of Authority Builders, you need a trusted partner to link your page with powerful blogs and authority websites. You will be handing over the hassle of researching and connecting with those niche websites to people who know what they are doing.
In addition, it’s a great way to allocate your limited budget towards a foolproof method guaranteed to give results.
4. Know How To Make Some Noise on Social Media
When used right, social media can play an integral role in determining your online presence. Follow your target audience and determine their responses on social media platforms. If your target audience is mainly teens obsessed with creating TikTok videos, be nimble and find ways to meet them there.
Let your marketing specialists redirect their focus and create content your teen audience will find compelling enough to look up your brand and eventually become avid customers.
5. Know How To Steal Your Competitors’ Moves
Look at your successful competitors’ websites and try to figure out their secret sauce. What kind of content they are creating, their SEO strategies, and who they work with can all give you an idea of your next move.
At the least, you will develop an actionable item or two that can improve your SEO and make your website more visible.
Remember, it’s important to understand that there’s a thin line between being inspired and copying. Try to stick with the former to avoid being the subject of bad propaganda or, worse yet, a lawsuit.
6. Be Able To Create Interactive Content
Interactive content is website content that your website visitors can interact with beyond simply watching or reading. In exchange for interacting with the content, the site visitors receive real-time value in the form of hyper-relevant information.
Examples of interactive include:
- Calculators
- Quizzes
- Assessments
- Recommendations
- Polls
SEO benefits are:
- Increase conversion rate
- Better audience segmentation
- Decrease bounce rate
- More shares & backlinks
7. Understand How To Develop Your Online Reputation
Not only will capturing your customers’ reviews help you improve your product and quality of service, but it’s also one of the simplest ways to improve your online visibility. Most people like to read product reviews before they finalize their online purchases.
By having your customers review your product on the most popular review sites like Yelp and TripAdvisor, you will make way for them to take the lead and improve your visibility organically.
Want to make collecting reviews easier? Try one of these reputation management tools.
Over To You
Maximizing your startup’s online visibility can seem tricky at first. However, when you learn the game’s rules, you can create a customized plan that fits your needs.
Use the above tips to put you on the right path and inspire you to look for more elaborate ways to improve your visibility.
Be patient, and remember that building a lasting brand will not come easy.
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