5 Reasons Why SEO is Important for Startups
Learn how to scale up your startup business with SEO
Should I spend money on SEO? Is it essential?
What if it’s just another method to squeeze thousands of dollars from startup founders? I’m sure that my product is good enough and can attract customers who really need it.
You’re asking right questions. But there’s just one problem… We’re living in the digital era.
The number of active internet users in the world has risen dramatically since 2 000 — from 413 million to 4.57 billion. And many of them do an online search before making a purchase decision.
Amazing, isn’t it?
So, it’s better to stop questioning if SEO is important for startups and learn more about how it can help you to scale up your business.
Let me walk you through it and cover 5 reasons why it’s beneficial for your company.
Attracting relevant customers
Quantity or quality?
If you’re planning to do search engine optimization, then the latter should prevail. Some websites might have thousands of visitors, but quite often these people are not the ones who are ready to buy their products or services.
This is why it’s recommended to choose keywords wisely, create a blog and regularly produce ‘thick’ posts, bringing some value to your customers, motivating them to come back and buy.
Professionals confirm this. A well-planned and organized content marketing strategy can lead to 2,000% lift in blog traffic and 40% boost in revenue. Google has the same opinion by ranking higher online platforms with thorough information and correct link building.
So, what’s my point?
Write. Write. Write.
To beat competitors, your pieces should be long, at least 800 words. Google likes it. Build a list of relevant keywords addressing your customers’ pain points and integrate them into the posts. Don’t duplicate headlines, create one-keyword-focused articles, and add your expertise, data, visuals, or infographics. It will help you forget about cold calling and attract the clients you want.
Building a good perception
Would you like to make customers happy?
I’m sure that the answer is ‘Yes,’ because it can increase their return rate and boost your sales. Be sure that search engine optimization (SEO) can help you with that by significantly improving user experience.
The latest statistics show that 88% of people shopping online would never go back to a website if it left them disappointed. But that’s not all… Over 40% of online buyers share with friends their negative digital experience.
Sound disastrous? Yes.
So, it’s crucial to start thinking about search engine optimization to make sure your website is user-friendly. Begin by checking headlines, keywords, meta descriptions, site design, and content quality.
You can be sure that a fast, well-structured, mobile-optimized digital platform with useful, regularly-updated, keyword-based content will encourage its visitors to stay longer. As a result, it will minimize the bounce rate, boost page views, and make the customers happy as they are quickly finding the right services or products as well as relevant answers to their questions.
Spending money wisely
Have a limited budget? Not a problem.
SEO is quite affordable for startups counting every penny. While it usually takes 6–12 months to see some significant results, the result is worth the investment. If you’re thinking of running paid online ads, that’s OK. But before making a final decision, I advise you to check out some search engine statistics. You might be surprised…
Per dollar spent, the paid option drives 3x fewer leads than high-quality, SEO-friendly pieces. Apart from that, organic efforts on average costs 62% less than outbound marketing. But wait, there’s more…70–80% of users prefer to skip paid ads as they seem unreliable.
I know what you’re thinking…
No, I don’t argue that startups should rely only on organic searches. Many marketing specialists usually combine these two options for attracting potential customers with high-quality content and encouraging them to return. There is no need to spend thousands of dollars on driving paid traffic to your website, if there is nothing valuable posted there. It might lead to a high bounce rate and low search engine rankings.
Enhancing business reputation
What does a startup taking its first steps need?
The answer is credibility. This factor encourages potential customers to purchase your products or services and convince them that the quality you provide is good enough.
This is why a website needs to be ranked high on Google. People trust the search engine, which helps them to find what they need.
Just imagine that 93% of online experiences start with a search engine, and 75% of users never check the second page of SERP. Some SEO statistics also show that the top 3 Google search results get 75% of all clicks.
Is that something you’d like for your business?
Then watch online SEO tutorials on how to optimize your website or find an affordable SEO expert who can help you build a list of relevant keywords; improve titles, backlinks, and meta-descriptions; and brainstorm breathtaking topics to address your customers’ pain points. Just try it, and you will definitely get some positive results that will boost your sales.
Winning industry competition
Dreaming of bypassing your competitors?
Then SEO is exactly what you need. Just imagine that two companies are offering almost identical products or services at comparable prices. But one of them has a well-structured, optimized website, while the other doesn’t pay attention to its digital platform at all. Which of them will get more customers and earn more?
I think the answer is quite clear…
You know that 80% of consumers do some local searching on Google before making a purchase? And if your website is not SEO-friendly for these types of online queries, then it’s easy to lose the battle and miss four out of five possible clients. Apart from that, SEO can be an excellent tool to break into new markets by adding relevant keywords.
Sound good?
So, stop thinking that a website is something static. It’s an organism that needs to be continuously optimized and updated to drive regularly high-quality leads. Consider SEO as a unique opportunity to scale up your business without making significant investments and changing your products.
Be brave and do SEO.
