SEO for Startups: 10-Step Blueprint for Growing Organic Traffic

SEO (search motor optimization) is the process of making your tract much easy accessible and understandable for some hunt engines and users.

So your contented tin look connected the archetypal leafage of hunt engines similar Google.

It’s a large solution for startups who are connected a choky budget. And privation to make much integrated (i.e., escaped traffic).

Use this usher to explicate the benefits of SEO to management. And commencement generating integrated postulation by creating optimized content.

Why SEO Is a Good Investment for Startups


It Can Generate Higher Returns astatine Lower Costs Over Time

SEO mostly works retired to beryllium much cost-effective successful the agelong tally than different marketing channels.

Because it usually yields exponential results implicit time.

Meaning it continues to make postulation and leads without recurring costs. Unlike paid advertising, which stops driving results arsenic soon arsenic you halt spending.

Here’s an example:

The Semrush website ranks for implicit 610K keywords successful the U.S. Which collectively drives astir 4.8 cardinal monthly visitors done integrated search, according to the Organic Research tool.

It’d outgo astir $7.5 cardinal per period to get the aforesaid postulation done pay-per-click (PPC) ads. 

Further reading: The ROI of SEO: How to Measure SEO ROI (with Formulas)

It Targets People Already Searching for Your Product oregon Service

Your people assemblage is already searching for the solution you offer.

So usage SEO to fertile higher than your competitors connected applicable hunt motor results pages (SERPs).

Let’s accidental you tally a favored marque that sells canine chews. Most radical who are looking to bargain a caller favored chew volition hunt for thing similar “best favored chews” connected Google.

Optimizing your contented utilizing SEO tin assistance your leafage amusement up connected leafage 1 for that search.

Like rival brands Tibetan Dog Chew and Rover do:

It Can Build Trust With Your Potential Customers

When users repeatedly spot your website oregon contented successful apical hunt results, they go acquainted with your brand.

This repeated vulnerability makes you look much authoritative and credible. Even if you’re a caller company. 

Eventually, this visibility and authorization tin construe into spot and sales.

How to Do Effective SEO for Startups successful 10 Steps

Here’s a step-by-step SEO startup usher to physique a coagulated SEO strategy. Use it to kickstart your integrated postulation summation from hunt engines.

1. Get Buy-In From Leadership

The archetypal measurement successful doing SEO for startups is showing your enactment squad however SEO tin lend to wide concern objectives (e.g., expanding gross and improving customer acquisition).

Doing truthful volition assistance you unafraid the fund and resources you need. To efficaciously execute your SEO strategy.

One mode to exemplify the worth of SEO is by explaining the relation of SEO astatine the antithetic stages of the content selling funnel.

Explain however SEO contented that ranks good tin bash the following: 

• Attract caller visitors astatine the apical of the funnel utilizing wide informational articles
• Generate and nurture leads astatine the mediate of the funnel with much specific, problem-solving content
• Convert them into customers astatine the bottommost of the funnel with lawsuit studies that showcase your merchandise solving their problems

Another mode to exemplify the benefits of SEO is by presenting data, examples, oregon lawsuit studies that item palmy SEO campaigns.

Even amended if the lawsuit studies are of your nonstop competitors.

Emphasize that SEO is simply a semipermanent investment. And it tin instrumentality clip to spot important results.

This transparency builds spot and manages expectations.

2. Define Your SEO Goals

Once you get support from management, outline your SEO goals.

Set small, achievable SEO goals that align with your concern objectives. Taking your fund and resources into consideration.

Here are immoderate examples of realistic SEO goals for a startup website:

• Get an further 500 monthly visitors from integrated hunt successful six months
• Generate 10 caller leads per period from integrated hunt successful 3 months
• Achieve apical 3 rankings for 50 people keywords successful a year
• Increase integrated postulation by 25% successful six months
• Earn backlinks from 10 high-authority sites successful 3 months

And truthful on.

Avoid overly ambitious goals astatine this point. SEO for startups takes clip to nutrient results, truthful mounting a large extremity and not achieving it whitethorn demotivate your squad and wounded your bottommost line.

Prioritize goals that straight lend to your bottommost enactment objectives. For example, leads and conversions.

This way, you guarantee your SEO efforts are driving concern growth.

Further reading: How to Align Business and SEO Goals for Long-Term Success

3. Figure Out What Resources You’ll Need

You’ll request 2 main types of resources to execute your SEO strategy:

1. People who are skilled astatine SEO and contented creation
2. A bully tech stack (i.e., tools) that helps you execute SEO tasks

Having radical who are skilled astatine SEO mightiness mean gathering an in-house SEO team. If you already person squad members with contented selling and SEO experience, this makes sense.

Or it could mean hiring an SEO agency oregon freelancers who tin assistance you deed the crushed running. That way, you don’t request to stroke your fund hiring a full caller team.

As your concern scales oregon fund increases, adhd much in-house squad members. Who volition turn with your institution and make contented that amended aligns with your goals.

For your tech stack, you request the following:

• A content absorption strategy (CMS) to people and negociate your contented (e.g., WordPress)
• A implicit SEO toolkit to behaviour keyword research, analyse competitors, and way SEO results (e.g., Semrush SEO Toolkit)
• Website analytics tools that volition assistance you recognize and optimize lawsuit travel (e.g., Google Analytics and Google Search Console)

4. Make Sure Your Website Is SEO-Friendly


An SEO-friendly website is simply a tract with pages that hunt engines tin easy crawl (i.e., scan) and scale (i.e., recognize and store).

In different words, Google tin lone fertile your pages if it tin crawl and index them. 

Start with optimizing your website architecture.

Here’s how:

• Keep your tract operation flat, meaning users starting connected the homepage should beryllium capable to entree immoderate leafage connected the tract with a maximum of 3 to 4 clicks
• Group topically related contented together and signifier groups successful a logical hierarchy
• Make links to your astir important pages easily disposable connected your homepage

Here’s an illustration of SEO-friendly tract structure:

And usage plugins similar Yoast, Smush, and Really Simple SSL to bash the following:

• Create a Sitemap to assistance hunt engines easy crawl and scale your pages
• Create a Robots.txt file to power which pages hunt engines tin crawl
• Optimize leafage load speed to amended idiosyncratic acquisition and hunt rankings
• Ensure mobile-friendliness to assistance users browse your tract connected mobile devices
• Use HTTPS to summation the information of your website data
• Fix breached links to support a creaseless idiosyncratic experience

5. Conduct Keyword Research

Keyword research is the process of identifying and analyzing queries your people assemblage uses successful hunt engines.

Doing truthful volition assistance you recognize what your imaginable customers are searching for. And make contented that answers (and ranks for) their queries.

Which brings those imaginable customers to your site.

Here’s however to bash it.

Find Relevant Keywords (That Are Easy to Rank For)

Relevant keywords are related to your brand, goals, oregon products. Ranking for these keywords should lend to your brand’s goals successful immoderate way.

For example, if you tally a look site, ranking good for a keyword similar “best cooky recipe” volition summation tract traffic. Which could lend to your extremity of expanding integrated traffic.

But ranking good for “top cookies adjacent me”won’t bash thing for you. People who onshore connected your tract volition rapidly recognize you don’t merchantability cookies and leave.

Quickly find the best keywords to people for your startup utilizing Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool.

First, participate a keyword related to your marque successful the hunt bar. Add your website. And deed “Search.”

The instrumentality volition make a database of related keywords. Along with the pursuing metrics to instrumentality enactment of:

• Search volume: The estimated fig of searches a keyword gets per month
• Keyword trouble (KD%): How casual oregon hard it is to fertile connected leafage 1 of Google for a keyword
• Personal keyword trouble (PKD%): How casual oregon hard it is for your website specifically to fertile connected the archetypal leafage for a keyword

You privation to find keywords that person decent hunt volumes for your manufacture oregon niche. And are casual to fertile for, with KD oregon PKD scores little than 29%.

As you tin spot below, the archetypal fewer keywords connected the generated database are precise competitive.

Meaning they are hard to fertile for, arsenic indicated by their precocious KD and PKD scores.

Filter retired competitory keywords utilizing the pursuing filters:

• Set the “KD %” filter’s “To” tract to “29”
• Set the “Volume” filter’s “From” tract to “100”

Now, we person a database of keywords that are casual to fertile for. But not each of them are relevant. 

For instance, you don’t request brand-specific keywords similar “infinite craft” and “taste of home.”

Filter them retired by clicking connected the “Exclude keywords” filter. And adding those marque names to the paper that appears.

Now you should person a database of relevant, easy-to-rank-for keywords.

Choose the astir due ones and adhd them to your keyword list.

Find Your Competitors’ Target Keywords

Your competitors’ people keywords tin supply insights into what works successful your industry. And uncover keyword opportunities you whitethorn person missed.

Use the Organic Research instrumentality to find retired which keywords are driving postulation to your competitors’ pages.

Enter a competitor’s domain into the tool. Choose a location, and click “Search.”

For this example, let’s usage “underarmour.com.”

Click the “Positions” tab. And scroll down to the “Organic Search Positions” table.

You tin spot that Under Armour’s website gets a batch of postulation from branded keywords. But if you’re a competing sports brand, it doesn’t marque consciousness to people those keywords. 

So exclude branded keywords utilizing “Advanced filters.” Like this:

Now you person a database of keywords that thrust postulation to your competitors’ apical pages.

Another mode to find retired what your competitors are ranking for is with Semrush's Keyword Gap tool.

The instrumentality tin analyse your domain and up to 4 competing sites. And archer you which keywords your competitors are ranking for but you aren’t.

Enter yours and your competitors’ websites into the tool. Select keyword benignant and location. And click “Compare.”

Scroll down to the keyword details array and click the “Missing” tab.

You’ll spot keywords your competitors people and fertile for. But you don’t.

Check retired the “Untapped” tab if you privation to find keywords astatine slightest 1 rival ranks for.

Prioritize low-competition keywords. And usage the “+” fastener beside each keyword to adhd them to your list.

Now you person a broad database of keywords to people connected your startup website.

6. Create Genuinely Useful SEO Content

Google perpetually stresses the value of high-quality, utile content. Because they privation to service contented that satisfies their users.

This is wherefore galore of the caller algorithm updates physique connected the helpful contented update. Which intelligibly says that Google prioritizes helpful, reliable, people-first content.

In different words, if you privation to scope your assemblage done Google, make contented that genuinely provides value. 

Here’s how:

Create Content Searchers Are Looking For

Identify search intent (i.e., the main intent down a user's search) to recognize what contented searchers privation to see.

Understanding hunt intent tin assistance you make contented that precisely answers users’ questions. Or helps them lick a circumstantial problem.

These are the 4 main types of hunt intent:

• Informational: Users question information. Example: “what is simply a canine bone”
• Navigational: Users privation to find a circumstantial site. Example: “petco login”
• Commercial: Users are researching products. Example: “best canine bones
• Transactional: Users mean to marque a purchase. Example: “buy canine bones”

To place hunt intent, look up the keyword and spot what contented is presently ranking.

For example, a speedy hunt of “pasta recipes” shows a database of pasta recipes with sauce. Not homemade pasta noodle recipes.

So you cognize radical searching for “pasta recipes” are astir apt looking for bully pesto oregon reddish condiment recipes. Not however to marque spaghetti noodles from scratch.

Address hunt intent by creating contented that aligns with what’s presently ranking. While inactive providing thing new, interesting, and invaluable for your readers.

You tin besides find hunt intent utilizing the Keyword Overview tool.

Search for a keyword utilizing the tool. To get invaluable keyword data, including hunt intent.

For example, “pasta recipes” has informational intent. So radical privation to larn more—not bargain a product.

Further reading: What Is Search Intent? A Complete Guide

Create Optimized, Quality Content

Quality content is valuable, authentic, well-researched, and actionable. That often comes successful the signifier of a blog post.

SEO contented for startups that answers searchers’ questions mostly ranks better. Because Google likes serving contented that satisfies searchers’ queries.

There are 2 ways to make prime content.

First, bash it manually.

You’ve done the research. You person your database of keywords and recognize hunt intent. All that’s near is to make contented your readers privation to see.

While writing, support the pursuing tips successful mind:

• Choose a rubric that sets readers’ expectations
• Use headers and images to interruption up your substance and marque your contented much scannable
• Use abbreviated sentences and paragraphs to springiness readers bite-sized chunks of information
• Include your people keywords successful your title, headers, and assemblage content
• Use superior sources of accusation (e.g., first-hand experience, archetypal research) to adhd authenticity
• Only mention reliable sources
• Create archetypal contented (i.e., nary plagiarism oregon duplicate content)

Use tools similar SEO Writing Assistant to amended readability and cheque the originality of your content. 

The instrumentality checks your contented arsenic you type. So that you instantly cognize if you request to usage much keywords, shorten oregon simplify your sentences, and more.

Second, use AI to make a moving draft. And past edit the output.

Tools similar ContentShake AI make contented wrong seconds.

Simply archer the instrumentality much astir your company. And the keywords you privation to target.

And it volition make a database of contented ideas for you.

From there, you tin either click connected “Generate article” beside 1 of the generated nonfiction ideas. Or click connected the “My ain idea” fastener to participate your ain keyword idea. And make an nonfiction from there.

Fill retired the “Create an article” signifier that appears with applicable and close information.

Then, cheque the boxes beside “Add an other SEO boost” and “Add applicable Unsplash images.” And click “Create article.”

The instrumentality volition make a afloat optimized nonfiction for you. With images, headers, and keywords sprinkled throughout.

Click “Go to editor” nether “Customize article.” To cheque your contented for inaccuracies and tone. And adhd unsocial insights and a quality touch.

When you’re done, click “Publish.” To nonstop your contented to your CMS.

Further reading: Quality Content: What It Is + 10 Actionable Tips for Success

7. Build Your Site’s Topical Authority


Topical authority tells you however credible and reliable your website contented is successful a circumstantial country oregon subject.

Building your topical authorization tin found your tract arsenic a reliable root successful the eyes of users and hunt engines.

Which tin pb to much backlinks (more connected this later), higher rankings, and accrued integrated traffic.

Check your site’s topical authorization utilizing the Keyword Overview tool.

Enter your people keyword oregon taxable into the tract provided. Along with your URL. And click “Search.”

The instrumentality volition archer you if you person precocious oregon debased topical authority. Along with your PKD people and imaginable presumption connected the SERP.

Build your site’s topical authorization by picking a fewer main topics you privation to specialize in. And make topic clusters (or contented clusters) astir those topics. 

A taxable clump is simply a acceptable of pages with a akin taxable oregon subject.

Each taxable clump includes the following: 

• Pillar page: A main leafage that provides a wide overview of the topic
• Cluster pages: Pages that screen the related subtopics successful detail
• Internal links: Hyperlinks from the pillar leafage to clusters. And from each clump to the pillar.

Here’s an illustration of a taxable clump connected the taxable of podcasting:

Use Semrush’s AI-powered Keyword Strategy Builder to find intimately related contented ideas. And make keyword groups for your taxable clusters.

Enter up to 5 effect keywords from your list. Select location. And click “Create list.”

You’ll spot ideas for pillar pages and subpages successful “Topical Overview.”

Scroll down to “Pages Details” to spot the pillar and subpage ideas. Along with their corresponding keyword metrics. Like “Intent,” “KD,” and “Volume.”

Click connected the arrow to the near of immoderate pillar leafage oregon subpage. To spot keywords you tin screen with 1 page.

Select the pillar leafage and subpage ideas you like. And click “Send keywords” > “Other keyword list” > “Apply” To export these ideas and keywords to your keyword list. 

Or “Send keywords” > “SEO Writing Assistant” > “Apply” to unfastened the SEO Writing Assistant. And commencement writing.

8. Keep Optimizing and Updating Your Content


After you people content, you request to support optimizing and updating it astatine regular intervals.

Why?

For 2 main reasons:

1. To amended a page’s ranking (if it’s not ranking successful apical hunt results)
2. To support a page’s ranking (if it’s already ranking successful apical hunt results)

Optimization is an ongoing process. Which involves optimizing on-page SEO elements and updating the content.

Optimize On-Page SEO Elements

On-page SEO is important for some caller and existing content. It helps hunt engines recognize your pages and fertile them for applicable queries.

Key on-page SEO elements see the following:

• URL: Make it descriptive and see applicable keywords erstwhile due (semrush.com/blog/seo-tips alternatively of semrush.com/blog/article-12345)
• Title: Keep it concise (50-60 characters) and usage your people keyword naturally
• Headings: Keep them descriptive and see keywords successful H1, H2, and H3 tags
• Meta description: Write successful progressive voice, support it little (~120 characters), and see your people keyword
• Content: Create high-quality, adjuvant contented and usage applicable keywords naturally
• Images: Use small-sized images and adhd descriptive alt text
• Internal links: Link to different applicable pages connected your site

Use Semrush's On Page SEO Checker to find optimization opportunities. And get actionable suggestions.

Once you configure the project, you’ll spot an overview of on-page SEO suggestions. And a database of apical pages to optimize. 

Click the “# ideas” fastener adjacent to a suggested URL to spot recommendations for that circumstantial page.

Hover your cursor implicit “Why should I bash this?” to recognize the value and interaction of that suggestion.

Or click connected “See elaborate analysis” to larn much astir a recommendation. 

Apply the suggested fixes to optimize the page. And perchance boost its rankings.

Regularly Update Your Content

Content show degrades connected a regular basis. Because of caller data, changes successful hunt intent, oregon different factors that impact contented performance.

Which is wherefore you should update your contented regularly.

For example, doing SEO for tech startups means doing a content audit astatine slightest erstwhile a quarter. Because accusation successful the tech manufacture changes and evolves truthful quickly. 

To commencement the contented updating process, find contented that needs updating—i.e., contented that utilized to fertile good but has mislaid immoderate positions—with the Organic Research tool.

Enter your domain into the tool. And deed “Search.”

You’ll get a dashboard with an overview of your tract performance.

Click connected the “Position Changes” tab to spot however your pages are performing.

Scroll down to the “All Position Changes” table. And usage the pursuing filters:

• Under the “Position changes” filter, prime “Declined” and “Lost”
• Set “Advanced filters” to “Include,” “Traffic Diff.,” “Greater than,” and “0”

Now you person a database of keywords you ranked for. And the leafage URLs that ranked for them.

Go done the list. And update the posts you privation to support by doing the following:

• Replacing outdated contented with the latest, astir applicable information
• Improving leafage acquisition (e.g., contented readability, ocular elements)
• Refining hunt intent alignment based connected changes successful hunt trends
• Consolidating pages that people the aforesaid keyword and cannibalize each other

Make updates a portion of your content calendar to enactment organized and consistent.

It tin look similar this:

9. Earn Quality Backlinks From High-Authority Sites

Backlinks are links from different websites to your site. An authoritative backlink comes from a reputable, high-quality, applicable site.

Google sees backlinks arsenic votes of confidence. When 1 tract links to another, it’s similar an endorsement of the tract being linked to.

And Google uses that information, successful part, to find hunt rankings. 

So, backlinks are important for SEO. Especially the ones that travel from reputable sources.

But however bash you gain backlinks?

There are galore nexus gathering methods. But 1 of the astir important for startup SEO is simply creating great contented that radical would emotion to share, recommend, and nexus to.

It could beryllium educational, funny, thought-provoking, oregon entertaining content. 

For example, Semrush’s State of Content Marketing Report has been getting backlinks since we published it.

Because the insights are archetypal and link-worthy.

As of the clip of publication, it has astir 4K backlinks from 900 referring domains. According to Backlink Analytics.

Other link gathering strategies include:

• Reaching retired to publishers oregon tract owners and asking them to nexus to your applicable leafage by email
• Identifying applicable articles that nexus to pages that don’t beryllium anymore and asking the steadfast to nexus to your leafage alternatively (also known arsenic broken nexus building)
• Finding websites that nexus to your competitors but not to you and asking them for a backlink
• Finding sites that mention your marque name without linking to your website and asking them if they tin adhd a backlink

Further reading: Link Building for SEO: A Guide to the Basics

10. Track Your SEO Results


Monitoring your startup’s SEO show helps you recognize what's working, what needs improvement, and what needs to beryllium discontinued.

So you tin allocate much fund to strategies that make business. And much importantly, halt burning currency connected unyielding activities.

Here are immoderate cardinal SEO KPIs you should see tracking:

• Organic traffic: Number of visitors from hunt engines
• Keyword rankings: Positions successful SERPs for your people keywords
• Conversions: Actions similar sign-ups oregon purchases 
• Bounce rate: How often visitors permission your tract quickly
• Backlinks: Number of links from high-quality sites
• Page load time: How accelerated (or slow) your pages load
• Click-through complaint (CTR): Percentage of users who click connected your pages aft seeing them successful hunt results

Constantly show your keyword rankings with Semrush'sPosition Tracking tool.

And marque definite your contented starts ranking wrong the apical 3 results for your people keyword’s hunt results page. And keeps that position.

Why?

Because the apical 3 Google hunt results get 54.4% of each clicks.

Which means astir of the important SEO metrics (like traffic, CTR, and conversions) straight beryllium connected your hunt ranking.

To commencement tracking your keyword positions, spell to the Position Tracking tool.

Enter your domain URL. And click “Set up tracking.”

Enter your determination successful the signifier that appears. And click “Continue To Keywords.”

Now, participate your people keywords (as galore arsenic you want). And click “Add keywords to campaign.”

Make definite to subscribe to play emails to enactment connected apical of however your website is ranking for important keywords.

When you’re done, deed “Start Tracking.”

You’ll beryllium taken to the “Landscape” report. Which gives you a speedy ocular overview of your tracking campaign’s progress. 

You’ll besides spot “Ranking Distribution” of your Top 3, Top 10, Top 20, and Top 100 keyword positions. Including immoderate changes crossed these groups.

Click the “Overview” tab adjacent to “Landscape.” And scroll down to the “Ranking Overview” section. 

Here, you’ll spot your rankings for idiosyncratic keywords. And changes successful their positions for the selected duration. 

Click the doorbell icon astatine the apical if you privation to get instant notifications astir important changes. 

For example, get an instant email alert erstwhile a keyword fertile drops from the apical 3 positions. So you tin instrumentality enactment to regain the position.

Further reading: How to Track Keywords: The Ultimate Guide

Grow Your Startup’s Traffic Organically connected a Budget


Effective startup SEO tin beryllium a game-changer for your company.

With the close strategies and tech stack, you tin consistently make traffic, leads, and sales. Even with a constricted budget.

Use Semrush’s all-in-one SEO toolkit to prevention clip and money. And summation entree to a azygous level that tin bash everything from keyword probe to information monitoring.

Start with a escaped plan.