Search Engine Optimization isn’t an easy business, but you’ve particularly got a challenge if you’re a startup. With the constantly increasing competition in the online space, standing out has become imperative. Which is why most entrepreneurs look for shortcuts and techniques to give their website the search ranking glory they want. However, these techniques can hurt the website’s authenticity in the long run. Which is why these simple SEO tips for startups can help them grow their business the right way.

But before we dive into that, here are some statistics that hammer the point why good SEO is so important for any startup:

• Google processes over 2 trillion searches per year (SEL)
• Almost 93% of B2B buyers use search to begin the buying process (HubSpot)
• SEO leads have a 14.6% close rate – outbound has a 1.7% close rate (imFORZA)
• Search is the #1 driver of traffic to content sites, beating social media by more than 300% (imFORZA)

While most entrepreneurs like to dive into challenges headfirst, it is important to take a step back and get a clear understanding of the bigger picture. Towards that, here are some handy SEO tips that can help startups grow their business.

Build a strong strategy

A marketing strategy needs a goal towards which effort is put. More often than not, because of the excitement of a new business, or lack of knowledge, startups don’t put enough thought and settle for basic things. For instance, they buy a domain name without much thought, build a website, push publish and then let that website exist as real estate.

Every element of your website is essential. Careful thought and research can not only help your overall SEO efforts but also help you with networking effectively and improve word of mouth—two approaches that startups rely heavily upon.

So, before you start you need to zero in on the objective that you want your SEO strategy to accomplish. Is it to:

• Drive more leads and opportunities?
• Drive more revenue and boost the bottom line?
• Drive more traffic and build brand awareness?

Once you have your objectives clear, you then need to highlight your target audience that you’re trying to attract the website. Consider the following factors to get started with building your “ideal” audience:

• Age
• Gender
• Location
• Industry
• Personality
• Attitudes
• Behavior

After this, list the pain points, the concerns of your target audience. Ones that you plan to solve:

• What issues do they have?
• What conversations are they having?
• Is anybody providing any solutions?

These SEO tips will help you understand your customers and will also give you an idea of what kind of content to create to engage them and get their business.

Do a thorough keyword and query research

To attract the right visitors, you’ll need to know what keywords and queries they are using when they conduct their searches. This is where identifying their pain points help. Consider the language they use, the specific phrases and words involved.

Take these notes and put together a list of keywords, queries, and phrases they might use when searching. Go a step further and look at variously related phrases and then start looking at how much search volume and competition those keywords and phrases have. There are a bunch of keyword research tools that can help you do that. Some of them include:

• SEMRush
• Moz’s Keyword Explorer
• Google Keyword Planner
• Google Trends

While most of them offer free plans, getting a premium account will help you get a lot more from them.

Once you have a list and their search volume in place, prioritize them based on high volume and low competition. You’ll also want to know the kind of content is ranking for those keywords and queries. Some of the search queries you can look at include:

• Informational: This is where the visitor is looking for specific information—it could be about a product, service or a concept.
• Navigational: This is where a user is searching for a brand or a website. It could be about searching for a business or to learn more about it.
• Transactional: This is where the reader is willing to take an action. It could be about making a purchase, signing up for a course, downloading information, or more.

Once you have the keywords and queries in place and an understanding of your target audience, you’ll get an idea of what kind of content they might be looking for. This will help you form a content strategy where you can use those keywords and queries to boost your SEO.

Create a killer content strategy

Among all the SEO tips, content is the single most crucial element to build your website. You’ve probably heard this so many times that you don’t even know what it means anymore, right?

Content is anything that communicates your message to the audience. It comes in many forms such as:

• Blog posts
• Articles
• Whitepapers
• Video
• Infographics
• Podcasts
• eBooks

Creating and distributing content is an essential part of any SEO strategy. But it is important to do it with a clear goal. Many startups create massive amounts of content thinking the more the content, the more the chances people will land on their page. This is a myth and what it does is create a lot of content that doesn’t serve any purpose.

When you create content, it should have a next step for the reader—a clear call to action. Is it to make a purchase or download something, or sign up for a newsletter? Consider the next step and put it into your content so the reader knows what you want them to do next.

Make it mobile friendly

Most of the content is being consumed on people’s smartphones. Which is why Google made mobile friendliness a ranking factor in its algorithm. What this means is that mobile-friendly websites get higher preference compared to the ones that are not optimized for mobile. Therefore, mobile optimization is one of the SEO tips you must put on priority if you want your SEO to perform.

To optimize on mobile for SEO performance, focus on:

• Responsive design
• Speed
• Viewports
• The spacing of buttons and links
• Not using popups or ads

If you’re not sure how well your website is performing from a mobile standpoint, you can use Google’s Mobile Friendliness Test tool to see what Google thinks of your website. Every time you update or modify your website, make sure it is done for the mobile too.

Be patient

These SEO tips are not a sprint, it is a marathon. It is more than a onetime effort and it isn’t something that will yield quick and continual results. SEO is a long-term business strategy that is focused on your business goals while staying flexible with the changes that take place in the industry.

If you create an SEO strategy that is a series of quick fixes with no solid foundation, then it isn’t going to deliver the results you’re after. Focus on developing a strategy that is tailored to your business goals and the concerns of your target audience. Doing this will ensure that you are doing all you can do build a successful business and provide great, relevant and valuable experience for your users.