Word of mouth and social buzz can be enough to catapult a startup into a new level of success. Not all great startup ideas or business concepts generate a buzz as it could be in a field the common person doesn’t view as interesting. Moving up the search engines for specific terms can boost business nearly immediately as potential customers are searching online rather than in phonebooks. The internet is full of bad advice when it comes to most topics and SEO is no different.
For every incredible internet marketer, someone out there posing as a marketer gives the competent ones a bad name. The following are some things to watch out for as well as some tips to making the most of a SEO internet marketing budget.
Don’t Take On The Big Guys Immediately
Anyone who knows a bit about SEO knows that large corporations target certain search terms with millions of dollars over the years. Targeting the less competitive terms in an industry can give a startup a hold on a smaller but important percentage of terms.
Backlink checkers are available online and while most are not free, seeing what terms the competition is targeting is important in developing a solid strategy to compete later down the road. Corner some exact terms via links in content or in directories as the broad terms will probably already be cornered with a large amount of money behind it.
Avoid Blackhat Techniques
There will be quite a large temptation to take part in some blackhat SEO as some of these tactics can deliver results quickly but be followed up by a penalty from Google. If outsourcing the SEO work, be sure to ask about the exact methodologies the contractor will use to help the startup’s SEO. Those companies who might be hesitant could be using blackhat techniques which could ultimately lead to Google deindexing a site if proper action isn’t taken. This is a death penalty to many sites as it can be difficult to get a site reindexed, depending on the amount of blackhat tactics used.
Some companies help sites recover from a penalty, so often times the same company who caused the penalty will offer to help the site recover for a fee.
SEO Isn’t Dead
Some marketing companies might try to tell a startup that SEO is dead. This could not be further from the truth but the fact that SEO changes constantly can lead to some companies avoiding it. The first page of Google is the most coveted position, especially for ultracompetitive terms like “personal injury lawyer” or “best 5G phone.” The difference between the first and second page can mean millions of dollars of lost business as some people do not venture past the first page if they find what they are looking for.
Content Can Make a Huge Difference
If content that a startup is producing is sharable and interesting, depending on the amount of shares and links garnered by the content, off-page SEO could be completed by this alone. There are SEO companies that will create content then pitch the content to sites to see if they will share. Other sites that have already shared will be contacted to give credit via a link. Hundreds or thousands of links can be built back to a startup website if publications like Huffington Post share the content. Content won’t solve all SEO problems but interesting content makes it much easier to build links to certain terms. It can be wise to hire a blog editor or writer, since consistent content helps drive traffic as well as boost SEO for a site.
A proper SEO strategy can boost sales and leads in a matter of weeks. Take advantage of this tool: One or two great SEO professionals can change the trajectory of a startup.
