SEO Tips To Give Your Startup A Big Boost

There is one thing that most startups have in common: a tight budget for just about everything. Sure, there are startups that are lucky enough to have bigger-than-usual capital, but most companies that are just finding its feet don’t have that. And, more often than not, startup budgets don’t always make search engine optimization a priority.

Then again, it would be wrong to assume that a successful SEO strategy is only possible with a sizable budget. Sure, search engine optimization still requires dollars to run, but SEO is more of a time investment that will certainly benefit startups the most. Even with a limited budget, SEO is still quite useful if you want to establish the authority of your startup. On top of building traffic for your website, SEO is also great for promoting awareness of your brand. With SEO, startups can reach a wider audience and eventually generate interest in their business.

Here are some SEO tips that can give startups a big boost.

Take advantage of free SEO tools.

A good chunk of the budget for SEO goes to paid SEO tools, the features and functionalities of which are so advanced companies with big SEO budgets are more than willing to pay top dollar for them.

Some of these top SEO tools, however, have free versions which are quite useful too. The free version of SEMRush, for example, still allows you to perform domain and keyword analytics as well as manage one project.

Then there are the totally free ones, like Google Analytics, Keyword Hero, and Answer the Public, among many others.

While it’s true that they may not be as comprehensive as paid ones, these free tools can still prove to be useful for small companies that are only starting out.

Create a blog and fill it with great content.

To be clear, all websites can use excellent content, but it’s imperative for startups to come up with them from the very beginning, and the best place for them would be a blog within your website.

Blogging has proven to be a useful tool for getting people to your website. It’s an indispensable tool for introducing your brand to the world and building exposure for your company.

Some startups may have second thoughts about blogging because they simply have no idea what to write about, or if someone is actually interested enough to read them. If you’re one of them, then here’s an idea: Produce content that allows you to show off your expertise in whatever field in which you’re building your product. Surely, you have a firm grasp of what your product or service is all about, so create content that is relevant to the industry to which your startup belongs.

Your content could come in the form of a well-written blog post, although the popularity of video nowadays would make it an excellent choice for content as well. You can also create infographics since they are more visually appealing, as well as easier to digest.

And when your startup does have a blog with excellent content, do make it a point to update it regularly. Search engines, after all, reward websites that are frequently updated. And when the content is done in-house, posting on your startup’s blog on a regular basis is one of the best ways of boosting your SEO without spending a lot of money.

Optimize for mobile.

In a world where mobile users far outnumber desktop users, with the gap widening with each passing day, it would appear to be unwise for a website not to optimize for mobile, especially one for a startup.

With Google already acknowledging how important mobile is as a ranking signal, it has absolutely become critical to optimize your site for mobile platforms. Add to that the fact that more and more people are consuming content through their smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices, and there’s absolutely no reason for anyone—especially a startup—to delay becoming mobile-friendly.

Sure, optimizing for mobile might entail some expense which could be a little too much for a startup, but it will all be worth it in the long run. Mobile, after all, in the future, and that future is already here. However, if implementing full-on mobile optimization right now is still a bit difficult, you can start with simple things like optimizing images and boosting site speed so your website performs better on mobile.

Use social media.

Social media (most of it anyway) is free, hence, it’s a popular way for startups to establish and grow a following, which can ultimately translate to higher traffic and conversion rates. So if your startup still doesn’t have accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other major social media networks, there’s no better time to create one than now, and learn some Social Media: Dos and Don’ts to help drive brand awareness.

Startups typically have a limited budget for SEO, but don’t let that stop you from optimizing your website. With the competition across all industries getting tighter by the day, even a startup cannot afford to put their website development and optimization on hold.

The tips above are by no means the only things you can do to boost your startup’s SEO aside from hiring the right SEO agency, but they should be good enough places to start.