Optimizing your website for search engines is a challenge for any business, especially for startups that need to make a big splash quickly and gain momentum before their funding runs dry. It’s tempting to take shortcuts to achieve quick wins, but Google is notorious for a fairly brutal history.

Here are some examples of Google penalizing websites for poor quality

This comprehensive guide will provide startups with effective SEO strategies that deliver long-lasting results and explore how automation can take your search strategy to the next level.

Here’s a sneak peek at what we’ll cover:

• The unique challenges of SEO for startups
• Understanding what search engines prioritize
• Creating an SEO-friendly website
• Crafting high-quality SEO content
• Automating your startup’s SEO strategy P.S. Looking for SEO advice specifically for the COVID-19 era? Check out our article: 13 SEO Strategies for SMBs During COVID-19.

Startup SEO vs. Regular SEO: What’s the Difference?

The truth is, there’s no difference (except for the scale). Whether you’re a fledgling startup, a financial giant, or a small online store, Google’s main goal is to connect users with the most relevant content for their search queries. Search engines have the same expectations for startups as they do for established brands.

The real difference lies in the scale of the challenge. Startups often lack the vast resources of larger companies but strive for rapid growth and aim to compete with industry leaders.

This often translates to implementing enterprise-level SEO on a shoestring budget, which requires making some compromises. However, Google doesn’t compromise when it comes to search optimization. It’s crucial to nail the fundamentals from the start. The silver lining is that by getting the basics right early on, you can build a sustainable SEO strategy that won’t drain your budget later.

Decoding Search Engine Priorities

Remember, search engines don’t play favorites, regardless of your business type or marketing goals. They operate on their own set of rules, and when it comes to SEO, their top priority is rewarding websites that offer the following:

• Accessibility: Your pages need to be accessible to search engines before they can be ranked.
• Quality content: This means offering relevant, original, and helpful content that provides the answers users are searching for.
• Exceptional user experience (UX): Your website should be an extension of the search experience, and Google expects a seamless and positive UX.
• Engagement: High-quality content and excellent UX should encourage users to stay on your website and engage with your content, which is a key indicator for search engines.
• Optimization: Implementing all the necessary optimization techniques makes it easier for search engines and users to understand your pages.

In essence, your focus should be on crafting exceptional content and user experiences while also addressing technical SEO elements.

How Search Engines Evaluate Websites

Phrases like “quality content” and “great UX” can seem subjective. So how do search engines measure these qualities using objective data?

According to According to Andrey Lipattsev, a senior strategist at Google, the top three ranking factors are content, links, and RankBrain.

Keywords

Google’s algorithm has evolved significantly in how it utilizes keywords to connect relevant content with search queries. Gone are the days of simply matching keywords on your page to search terms. Google’s machine learning algorithms can now decipher the topical relevance of your content and match it to the intent behind user searches.

Links

While Google’s core algorithm consists of hundreds of ranking factors, links remain a crucial element. When your content earns backlinks from reputable sources, it signals to Google that your content is engaging and high-quality. It’s worth emphasizing that the quality of these links holds more weight than the quantity.

UX Signals

Google analyzes various UX signals to evaluate the user experience on your website. This includes factors like page loading speed, mobile-friendliness, secure encryption, content placement, and website navigation.

Engagement Signals

Metrics like bounce rates, average time on page, and the number of pages visited per session provide insights into user engagement – and Google pays close attention to these as well. If a user clicks through to your website only to quickly return to the search results and choose another listing (“pogo-sticking”), it suggests your content didn’t meet their needs.

Location

Example: Lyft and Uber competing in search results for “get a ride in Manchester"

The importance of location in your SEO strategy depends on your startup’s niche. Businesses like Airbnb prioritize appearing in local searches, while companies like Uber, Skyscanner, and Deliveroo rely heavily on location data to connect with customers. Location is a crucial relevance factor, especially for location-based searches.

Building an SEO-Friendly Website: A Step-by-Step Guide for Startups

It might be tempting to cobble together a website and opt for the cheapest hosting available, but this approach can hinder your growth potential. As discussed, user experience and engagement are vital components of a successful search marketing strategy, which highlights the need for an SEO-friendly website.

Here are five key areas to consider:

#1: Hosting

Your goal as a startup is to grow rapidly and sustainably, and choosing the wrong hosting package can be a major roadblock. Page loading times have become a direct ranking factor – a change implemented in July 2018 – and the quality of your hosting service plays a significant role in this.

Here’s a glimpse at Bluehost’s hosting plans – remember, cheaper isn’t always better.

Your hosting package will also dictate the number of visitors your website can handle simultaneously and the amount of data that can be transferred. If your startup outgrows its hosting plan, users won’t be able to access your website.

Consider factors like uptime records, security measures, and additional performance features offered by the hosting provider (e.g., web cache, CDN).

#2: Code

The efficiency of your website’s code impacts everything from search engine accessibility to page loading speed and mobile experience.

Clean and streamlined code is essential. This is crucial if you’re using WordPress themes or other CMS platforms known for their bulky code. Despite its size, WordPress offers a structured template system that simplifies page creation and allows for content creation in a visual interface.

If you’re building a website from scratch, create reusable templates for new pages and key elements to avoid repetitive coding. Familiarize yourself with dynamic web pages to efficiently edit elements like your website’s header in a centralized location instead of making changes on individual pages.

#3: Design

Search engines might not perceive the visual aspects of your website’s design, but they can interpret the navigational structure and layout of your pages if you use proper markup. UX signals also play a role here, directly influencing engagement signals.

Source: Google Developers offers valuable mobile optimization tips

While user experience is currently a direct ranking factor for mobile pages, this doesn’t mean it won’t impact your desktop rankings indirectly. High bounce rates and slow loading times on any device send negative signals to Google.

#4: Content

Content is what drives users to search engines in the first place. Creating content that fulfills their search intent is paramount to your SEO success. We’ll delve deeper into this in the next section.

#5: On-Page Optimization

On-page optimization is a well-covered topic, so we won’t dive too deep here. The key takeaway is to ensure every page you publish is properly optimized. Countless guides are available on this subject, and once mastered, it becomes the most straightforward aspect of your SEO strategy.

Here’s a checklist of essential on-page optimization elements:

• Page URL: Keep it descriptive, readable, and include your primary keyword if it fits naturally. In most cases, it should resemble your page title without any stop words (e.g., _www.yoursite.com/your-page-URL_).
• Page Titles: These act as titles for search engines and appear as blue clickable links in search results. Ensure they’re descriptive, readable, and include your primary keyword strategically.

Visual Example: A page title highlighted in red as it appears in Google Search

• Headings: Structure your content logically and use appropriate heading tags (h1, h2, h3, etc.) to separate sections.
• Content: Focus on creating unique, informative, and focused content that addresses a single topic comprehensively.
• Keywords: Incorporate keywords naturally in your page title and headings. Use synonyms, variations, and related terms throughout the body of your content to avoid keyword stuffing.
• Visuals: Break up walls of text with relevant images. Remember to optimize these images for search engines (compress file sizes, use descriptive alt text with keywords and subject matter).
• Internal Links: Link to other relevant pages within your website naturally within your content.
• Mobile Optimization: Websites optimized for mobile devices perform better in search results.
• Structured Data: Implement structured data markup to provide search engines with structured information about your content (e.g., marking up sections as articles, reviews, addresses, etc.)

Prioritize building an SEO-friendly website from the get-go to save yourself time and resources later. Getting these five essentials right will set you up for success and require only minor adjustments as your startup grows.

Crafting Exceptional SEO Content for Startups

Example: Trending news stories from Google Trends

Creating high-quality content consistently is a significant challenge for businesses, especially those with limited resources. It requires striking a balance between quality and quantity. Your aim should be to produce content that ticks all the boxes:

• Value-Driven: Your content should provide unique value that your audience can’t find elsewhere.
• Linkworthy: Earning backlinks from authoritative websites is a strong indicator of quality content – and Google recognizes this.
• Shareable: Great content naturally encourages sharing. Make it easy for readers to share your content on social media and other platforms.
• Diverse: Don’t limit yourself to blog posts. Experiment with videos, images, and multimedia content to expand your reach and engagement.
• Visually Appealing: Even your blog posts should be visually engaging to keep readers hooked and encourage sharing.
• Optimized: Always optimize your content for search engines to maximize visibility.
• Actionable: Links, shares, and high search rankings are meaningless unless your content converts readers into customers.

The good news is that startups often have an edge when it comes to content creation. They tend to be inherently innovative and have a deep understanding of their target audience. Leverage this advantage to produce compelling and relatable content.

Example: Airbnb’s commitment to transforming travel experiences – and how it delivered on its promise.

Analyze the content strategies of successful startups like Airbnb, Uber, and Skillshare. Airbnb positioned itself as a platform for unique travel experiences with locals, Uber offered an affordable and convenient alternative to traditional taxis, and Skillshare created a niche as a free learning exchange. They all effectively addressed their audience’s pain points in unique ways and maintained a friendly and approachable tone, even software startups like IFTTT and Slack.

Automating Your Startup’s SEO Strategy: A Game-Changer

Apollo Insights is an automation platform that can handle hundreds of technical SEO tasks regularly.

Sustainable and rapid growth is paramount for startups. However, SEO is an ongoing process that requires patience, and shortcuts often lead to more harm than good. Fortunately, automation is rapidly advancing, enabling businesses to automate repetitive SEO tasks and free up valuable time and resources for other priorities.

While automation won’t magically catapult you to top rankings overnight, it can significantly streamline your workflow. By automating repetitive tasks, you and your team can dedicate more time and effort to strategic initiatives.

Let’s explore some SEO tasks that startups should consider automating:

• SEO Reporting and Audits: Automate your SEO reports and audits to receive regular updates on your technical SEO performance.
• Keyword Research and Backlink Monitoring: Eliminate the need to manually track keyword rankings or monitor your backlink profile.
• Notifications: Set up alerts to receive instant notifications for issues like broken links, slow loading times, or high bounce rates. This allows you to address potential problems before they negatively affect your rankings.
• Lead Generation: Utilize multi-step forms to segment your email lists and automate email responses.
• Social Sharing: Leverage social media automation tools to amplify your content’s reach.
• Performance Reporting: Automate performance reports for your content to understand what resonates most with your audience and identify areas for improvement.
• Optimization Tasks: Automate tasks like image resizing, URL formatting, page creation, CTA integration, and countless other repetitive optimization tasks.

If you find yourself performing the same task repeatedly (e.g., writing alt text), explore ways to automate it. While you can’t automate every aspect of SEO, automation can save time, reduce human error, and optimize your workflow.

By embracing automation, you free up valuable resources to focus on tasks that demand a human touch – such as creating high-quality content and making strategic decisions. This is crucial for startups looking to achieve enterprise-level SEO on a limited budget.