SEO Guide for Startups: Maximize Growth With These 9 Steps

There's a lot to learn about SEO for startups - but don't let it deter you from getting started. In spite of what you might think, startups have many advantages when it comes to SEO. Startups can publish faster and be more responsive thanks to lean processes.

This comprehensive blog will walk you through everything you need to know about optimizing your startup's SEO strategy.

We'll talk about why startups need SEO, how to do SEO for startups, and tips from entrepreneurs and SEO professionals.

How SEO will benefit startups in 2025

SEO drives business growth

Marketing and SEO are useless if they don't generate revenue for your company.

Sales are the primary goal of marketing. You should be able to rank high on Google for your most desired keywords, such as money-generating keywords.

Although it won't be easy, especially if your website is new, once you earn those top spots, you can expect sales to flow in.

For example, the keyword "printed song lyrics" (and its variations) receives 4,600 searches per month.

Google's search engine results pages (SERPs) list Chatterbox Walls, Song Lyric Prints, Thoughtful Keepsake, Moonshine Prints, and The Bespoke Foil Company.

Custom song lyrics prints are available from all of these businesses. Keyword research tools estimate that a top spot for this keyword could generate 4,600 clicks.

SEO has compounding benefits

As long as you've earned a rank, keeping it there is (generally) manageable, making SEO cost-effective or sometimes free.

SEO is a compounding benefit: your efforts pay off for months, maybe even years after you've begun.

For this example, we're using PPC as an example of how SEO and PPC can be used together.

The keyword research tool Semrush estimates ad clicks for the keyword above (printed song lyrics) at $0.65/click (see CPC below).

For the keyword "printed song lyrics," you would pay $0.65 per click to your website if you only used PPC.

According to Semrush, there are 4,600 monthly searches, so $0.65 x 4600 equals $2,990/month or $35,880/year to get the same click opportunity.

Although SEO isn't free because it requires time to implement, it may prove profitable in the long run due to its compounding benefits.

SEO helps you understand your target audience

Researching keywords, which we'll discuss later, helps you understand what your target audience is searching for and how you can best serve them.

I used AlsoAsked to find questions related to "paper anniversary gifts" in the screenshot below.

As an example, businesses selling printed lyrics might promote the product as a paper anniversary gift.

You can use AlsoAsked to find out what people are typing into Google (think of these as keywords).

You might rank if you answer these questions on your website, but there's more. By knowing what people are searching for, you can serve them before they come to Google.

You can repurpose content for other platforms; maybe you have a mailing list or a social media following to take answers from your target audience.

Content repurposing isn't done enough by startups.

HubSpot surveyed 300+ US web strategists and SEOs, and found that smaller websites (assuming smaller businesses) repurpose content onto social media only 24% to 51% of the time.

SEO increases your brand visibility

You will undoubtedly increase brand visibility if you do your research and create SEO-friendly content. You will start appearing for your audience when they need you most.

We helped one startup increase the number of clicks on its website from five per month to 9,574. Through their blog, products, and pages designed to educate or convert, we earn a lot of traffic.

Below are screenshots showing the differences.

In this brand's case, SEO has helped it reach qualified traffic.

HubSpot's web strategy survey found that "Sales, leads, and conversion rates" (33%) and "Total monthly visitors" (32%), were the most important metrics to assess a website's performance.

As long as you get clicks from the right audiences, sales depend in some degree on monthly visitors.

The importance of AI overviews and AI-powered search engines for SEO

You hear a lot about how SEO is dead and that you need to focus on AI instead. AI mentions, however, are part of SEO

As you can see in the screenshot below, Gaia Learning, a startup, ranks number one organically and within AI overviews. They're featured in four places right at the top of Google because of the great content steered by SEO.

The same content helps Gaia Learning earn mentions from AI tools like ChatGPT, see below.

I don't think AI is going anywhere in the near future, so it's probably best not to focus too much on exposure through AI tools and overviews.

HubSpot surveyed 300+ US-based web strategists and SEOs about the impact of AI overviews on site traffic. Since AI overviews were introduced, respondents reported getting more traffic (41%), or the same amount (42%).

Currently, AI overviews are not very important; users scroll to organic listings instead.

If you'd like to know how your brand performs in AI-powered search engines, you can use Hubspot's AI Search Grader.

Here is an overview you can get by entering four fields: company name, location, product or service, and company type.

You can unlock in-depth insights into your brand's prominence by clicking the orange button, providing your email address.

The tool gathers data, including perceived strengths and weaknesses. Consider using this data to inspire content that addresses weaknesses.

The Best Way to Do SEO for Startups

Step 1: Set up Google Search Console

The startups we work with often set up Google Analytics but do not know about Google Search Console (GSC).

Our favorite SEO tool is Google Search Console, which is completely free. A website's SEO strategy is the ultimate source of truth and is better for keyword research than any paid tool. Your site's analytics tell you so much.

Despite the fact that we could write a whole article on the benefits of GSC, we will focus on the major benefits for startups: when you launch a new business, you don't know what people are searching for online.

As soon as you upload content to the site, it will begin to appear in Google and get impressions and clicks. GSC will display this data.

It won't matter if you don't rank for the keywords you want, you'll still be able to see what pages are ranking for. The keywords to optimize will depend on what a page ranks for.

The screenshot below is from GSC. In the table below, you can see which queries this site ranks for. There have been 442 clicks, but 26,329 impressions for the keyword "best touring bikes.". The page is in position four.

As long as the keyword is good for business, you should optimize the page for it.

Even if your website isn't ranking for anything yet, set up GSC anyway. One, you want to gather the data as early as possible, and two, you can do so much more with this free tool.

• Check inlinks

• Monitor crawl errors

• Submit sitemaps

• Identify page experience and core web vitals

• Request indexing for updated content

• Monitor click-through rates (CTR)

Step 2: Do keyword research

There are hundreds of pages of search results when you type a burning question into Google.

Nevertheless, most people do not make it past the first page, so getting closer to the top of SERP rankings is essential for brands looking to reach new customers.

Identifying relevant keywords and publishing content around them is the first step to ranking in Google. You can identify keywords related to your company's niche with tools like Ahrefs or Semrush.

We admit that both of these tools are expensive. Keywords Everywhere has a larger keyword database than cheaper alternatives, but if budget is an issue, it is one of the best options out there.

It's great to use Google Keyword Planner if you want free tools.

You'll need to sign up and create an ad, but you can pause it and still use the keyword planner.Below is a screenshot of Google Keyword Planner and the results for one keyword.

Flavio Amiel, who runs Audienz, says to aim for topical authority when choosing keywords. To do this, you need to provide detailed information on the topics that your potential customers are searching for."

In a subsequent SEO campaign, after you've finished a sprint for topical coverage, you can assess the results and then cover another topic.

“And remember that positive results don’t always mean conversions. Amiel says they include everything from growth in support requests to customers clicking ‘add to cart’ or the business receiving press coverage.

“Once brands have identified the keywords that brought in good results, they can scale their SEO campaigns around those keywords with more streamlined processes and improved editorial style.

“A serious startup doesn’t want to dominate this or that keyword; they want to build a brand,” says Amiel.

Step 3: Keep an eye on competitors

You can analyze competitor keywords and content with tools like Semrush and Ahrefs. Start-ups, especially those with smaller budgets, can benefit greatly from this tactic.

Check out your competitors' keywords to see what they've tried and tested.

Part of your strategy can be based on:

• Closing the gap.

• Getting your website next to competitors in the SERPs.

• Earning your fair share of clicks.

Your content can be inspired by your competitors' top-performing content.

You should be cautious with this strategy: just because your competitor uses it doesn't mean you should. Consider your audience, USPs, and values.

The content you publish on your website should feel totally authentic to your brand. It is never a good idea to do something just because a competitor has done it.

It's possible that your content strategy isn't quite right if you keep referring to content as "content" and "SEO content."

Content should be optimized and feel good enough to be shared via other channels (e.g., email or social media).

Once you've completed your keyword research and competitor research, you should have plenty of keywords and content ideas to choose from. To improve your ranking, you can optimize your website's pages.

 Step 4: Optimize your website structure

Ensure your website's URLs are short, descriptive, and SEO-friendly. There is one primary keyword on every page. Generally, the URL contains this primary keyword.

Besides URLs, website structure also involves folders, subfolders, and how they are linked together.

There is a great demonstration of an ecommerce website on Ahrefs.

Your website hierarchy is key to navigation that is easy to follow for both users and search engine bots.

Your website structure should be optimized across your site, including your blog.

While hierarchy is often a problem for startups, we find that the blog is one of the most neglected areas. Organize your blog as you would your products and services, categorizing its contents accordingly.

Step 5: Implement on-page SEO

There are guides that tell you to use keywords a certain number of times per article or word count, but that's not how we do it. When it comes to on-page SEO it's best to:

1. Make sure you do your research on keywords.

2. Adapt them to your search intent and use them strategically.

3. Create excellent content.

Creating great content is the key to on-page SEO, but there are a few rules to follow. Use your primary keyword, for example, in:

• Title tags

• URLs

• Headers

• Naturally throughout your article

Step 6: Create high-quality that matches search intent

We discussed using keywords strategically and based on search intent above. There's an example of how considering search intent changed everything for a startup later on.

Let's begin by defining search intent. When searching on Google, search intent takes into account what users are looking for. The best way to serve the searcher is to understand the intent behind the search.

You can discover the intent behind a keyword by typing it into Google and seeing what comes up. According to Google's data about your users, whatever Google prioritizes in the search results is likely what your users want.

Here’s an example. Take a look at the screenshot below. We have provided the search results for "what is search intent." This search returns informative blog posts. That's what you'd create if you wanted to rank for that keyword.

Now that you know what search intent is, you want to write content that is of the highest quality on Google. You will be able to rank in those top spots if you do this.

It's your job to solve your readers' problems, answer their questions, and provide valuable insights or products and services just when they need it.

Step 7: Utilize internal linking

Internal linking is our favorite SEO tactic of them all. It is easy to use, which means it is also easy to mess up, but it is also incredibly powerful.

Internal linking refers to adding links between related pages within your website. Navigation and helpfulness should be your primary drivers.

For example, if you have a service page, linking to related case studies would be helpful. You can show your web users that you are able to do what you say you can, which might build trust and increase conversions.

Whenever possible, use descriptive anchor text to link pages together. Instead of linking to an article with the text "read this," it would be better to link with the article title or a keyword you want that page to rank for. The linking-from page must make sense within the context of the link.

Step 8: Build backlinks from reputable sites

When it comes to backlinks, you shouldn't start until you've:

• Optimized your website hierarchy.

• Publish a reasonable number of pages (10 - 50, depending on the site).

Avoid cutting corners and rushing the backlinking process. It's a marathon, not a sprint - one of the slowest SEO tactics.

First, do everything for free:

• Add your URL to your social media profiles.

• List your site in relevant directories, as long as they're relevant and genuinely useful.

• Get in touch with journalists (there's an example and tip later).

• Make brilliant content that ranks on page one and earns links naturally.

• Get links from your network in exchange for content or expert insights.

Step 9: Continuously monitor and optimize SEO performance

SEO is rarely a one-and-done marketing strategy. For insights into what you should do next, you must monitor and optimize SEO performance.

Google Analytics and Google Search Console can help with this. Other SEO tools might also be of interest to you.

Expert Startup SEO Tips

Tip 1: Consider search intent

SEO consultant Sonia Urquilla, who works with coaches, provided this tip.

Urquilla transformed an underperforming website into a page one rank by considering search intent, and her client's site appears in AI overviews as well.

Here’s what Urquilla said: "My client, a career clarity coach, had been consistently posting weekly blogs, working with a copywriter, and even hired web designers to revamp her website and create new landing pages.

Despite all her efforts, she was not seeing results - her organic traffic was just five visitors per month, and her blogs weren't ranking for her target keywords, getting zero organic traffic, and some weren't even indexed.

In the early stages of our collaboration, I identified an opportunity to target keywords specific to her audience's needs.

We focused on the transformation she provides rather than broad, highly competitive terms like 'career coach.' Her keyword strategy was adjusted to focus on terms like "career clarity coach" and "career clarity."

Within four weeks, she ranked on the first page of Google.

She received qualified organic traffic, resulting in newsletter sign-ups, masterclass registrations, and consultation calls from people who genuinely wanted her services."

"For startups, focusing on relevant keywords can be a game-changer. It ensures that your content meets the needs and answers the questions of your dream clients," Urquilla continues.

"I see a lot of startups and clients targeting trending but irrelevant keywords, resulting in unqualified traffic and low conversions. Avoiding this is essential."

Tip 2: Use landing pages to educate your audience

Refinery Group Senior SEO Account Director Courtney Garner made an excellent point about startups with new products.

She said, “Startups often need to gain brand recognition and introduce a new product to a market that may not know the product exists.”

Garner continues, “I previously worked with a company that offers zero percent interest financing for car repairs. There are very few searches for "car repair finance" because most people don't know you can finance repairs on a car.

By targeting local landing pages optimized for searches about local car repairs, our SEO strategy introduced potential customers to this new solution at precisely the right time.

In parallel, we launched a PPC campaign to deliver ads directly to these users.

We were able to capture the attention of potential customers looking for what they needed but introducing them to a solution they were unaware existed.

The campaign drove a 654% increase in credit applications in the first 60 days in the first 60 days of the campaign."

Tip 3: Build trust

For brands to be successful, they must not only appear in search results, but also produce accurate, helpful content that keeps readers and customers coming back for more.

HubSpot surveyed web analytics pros, and 39% said trustworthiness was the most important factor.

Credibility in SEO is built through backlinks (when another website links to your content citing you as an authority).

Backlinks determine your ranking, but gaining backlinks is notoriously difficult since it often involves cold-emailing other publications and has a low success rate.

“Once you start heading into the more commercial, competitive topics, you have no chance of ranking without backlinks,” says Sam Oh, the VP of Marketing at Ahrefs. “Backlinks still matter, and they’ll still matter for the foreseeable future.”

“Backlinks come from thought leadership and thought leadership can be won by continually publishing high-quality, accurate content that serves your readers.

“Basic information has already been answered, so add more depth to whatever questions you want to answer,” says Amiel. Make up your own imagery. Create your own community. Build a personal relationship with your clients. Understand your customer’s pain points well.”

His other tips include being succinct, offering actionable solutions, staying on topic, and never breaking the trust of your reader.

Backlinks that build trust must be built correctly, and the key word here is "trust." Focus on relevancy and quality, not domain authority.

When considering website performance, HubSpot's survey respondents (300+ web strategists and SEOs) rated domain authority as the least important metric. In addition to bounce rate, domain authority won only 10% of votes as a metric of website performance.

Tip 4: Check competitor backlink profiles

Ben Goodey is an SEO expert. He’s very active on LinkedIn and connects the wonderful SEO community with SEO experts through his podcast How the F*ck, where he interviews SEO pros and shares their incredible case studies.

Goodey consults on SEO for startups almost exclusively. Backlinking is Goodey's top tip on SEO for startups.

He says, "For six months this year, I worked with a startup in the HR tech space. I vastly underestimated the competitive headwinds we‘d face ranking content in this space — direct competitors had big brands, a five-plus-year head start, and budgets to pay the BEST writers and buy top-tier backlinks.

Based on estimates, they easily had a budget of $60,000/month, whereas we had about $10,000 to spend on content, which is reasonable, but even then, this was a difficult project.

The budget was expanded slightly and backlinks were built. As soon as new content was released, we would build several backlinks to the pages, and things started moving quickly. Using this strategy, traffic has increased by 20% each month for the past six months.

If your competitors are super strong, don't forget to build backlink authority. This is a lesson for everyone in 'startup' mode. This is what you need!"

There comes a time when you need to build links for many sites. Don't buy cheap and irrelevant backlinks. Relevancy is key. Link building can be cost-effective in a number of ways.

You can help your network create content so they can credit you, ask your customers to credit you with their success if they write articles, etc.

The next tip for startup SEO is to connect with journalists free of charge.

Tip 5: Connect with journalists

As the founder of HARO SEO, Sam Browne knows the value of pitching journalists.

Browne and his team built 20 high-quality backlinks to a new website for PenFriend using expert quotes from journalists.

Browne says, “Building high-quality links is a challenge for any business, let alone a startup with a brand new website.

Sites like Connectively and Featured help journalists find expert quotes for articles in some of the world's most respected publications. Expert quotes are tailored to meet the journalist's needs."

The HARO SEO team secured links in major publications such as Tech Bullion for PenFriend.

Qwoted and Help a B2B Writer are two other platforms. Journalists seeking specific insights can also be found using the hashtag #journorequest on X.

Tip 6: Meet your audience where they are

It's important to prioritize both what your customers want and where they want to find it when creating content.

One in four ages 18-54 prefer social media to search engines when searching for answers online according to a HubSpot survey of more than 600 adults.

57% of social media users use social apps' search function (79% of Gen Z and millennials).

In addition, 57% of consumers report using their phones when looking up a question on a search engine (and 80% for Gen Z).

Startups looking to grow their business through content should keep these figures in mind. In order to build credibility as a thought leader in the eyes of younger generations, it will be necessary to have an active social media presence and a mobile-friendly experience.

Tip 7: Utilize AI tools

Many brands, including startups, have changed their content because of artificial intelligence. More than half of 400 web analysts surveyed said they incorporate AI tools into their blogs.

In order to position their content for success in the coming year, brands should begin to understand how AI tools and search can help.

The use of artificial intelligence can help with all stages of content creation, from coming up with article ideas based on research-backed keywords to drafting the articles, writing headlines, and creating social media captions.

The impact of artificial intelligence on search remains to be seen, but 75% of web analysts believe it would positively impact their blogs.

Amiel suggests the following AI use cases to startups:

Brainstorm blog topics using generative AI tools such as ChatGPT.

Create first drafts of SEO content briefs using tools like Swiftbrief.

Create meta titles and meta descriptions.

“Most AI tools are not mature enough to fully trust them to write content,” says Amiel. “You can experiment with different approaches to make some of your work easier, more efficient, and/or more creative.”

One thing is clear: Content is vital to growing a business, whether it comes from generative AI or a journalist.

Delivering relevant, trustworthy content while meeting your audience where they are is a recipe for success.

Start Up Your SEO Strategy

You should start SEO as soon as possible if you want to rank on Google.

It's true: SEO takes time, so the sooner you start, the sooner you'll see results.

It's important to remember that your SEO strategy will involve much more than just optimizing your website. As you learn more about your audience, you'll be able to share insights with other areas of marketing and sales. It's even better when your hard work pays off.

Getting started today will benefit you in the future.