Nursing your startup through it’s infancy can be grueling, hard work. It’s easy to put some things to the side and handle later; some things you need to push to the side and deal with later. But SEO is not one of them. It is the most important form of marketing for your startup’s website, as all other forms of marketing contribute to it in some shape or form.
Here are some things to consider before you put SEO on the back burner and possibly burn your marketing to the ground:
Who Will See You?
You can share your site on all your social networks. You can have your staff share your site on various social media platforms. But your organization doesn’t have enough in personal relationships to create a viral following in the beginning. Without utilizing SEO marketing tools, you will miss out on important methods that will bring the people to your corner of the internet. If it’s just an overwhelming task, check out this SEO analyzer tool. It will grade your site and give your recommendations on how to improve your presence. Nothing better than real, actionable advice you can use!
What Do People Do When They Land On My Page?
It’s common to wonder just how long people spend on your website. You really need to know if you are doing something that keeps them interested and how to keep them on your site as long as possible. The reality is, people are fickle. You have just a matter of seconds to entice them to sticking around. We recommend you check out Google Analytics and review where people are coming from and what are they doing. If you see that Wednesdays are the days in which people really linger and look around, that’s the day you want to be sure that big announcements or important information can be seen. If you see the trend that more people visit your site in the summer, then it’s time to figure out how to entice them back in the winter. Without utilizing SEO, you can’t know what people are doing and how to improve.
I Use Keywords, Are They Working?
We talk a lot about keywords, pretty much all the time. Keywords are vital in optimizing your SEO because it’s what helps solidify who you are. But it’s not as simple as just plugging a view keywords and you are the SEO guru. You have to look at your density and whether or not you have over-optimized. Yes, believe it or not you can overdo it with your keywords. You can also be using the wrong keywords, or even the right ones in the wrong way. A keyword analysis can be helpful for you to learn your way and improve your SEO presence.
Page Indexing, Am I Doing It Right?
Google now indexes pages automatically depending on the meta tags associated with your page. So there really isn’t much to do unless you aren’t using meta tags. Most of your meta tags should be marked as “index”. “No-Index” means that page won’t be indexed. Typically, you only do that for large databases, private pages, or pages that are very transitory. Without indexed pages, your site won’t be found very well.
Am I Limited With Desktop Optimization?
The short answer is, yes. With most people using smartphones and using those phones to access web pages, you need mobile optimization. Imagine that eventually, desktop optimization will become obsolete with increased uses of tablets, iPads, and mobile phones. In April 2015, Google updated their algorithm to penalize sites that didn’t have a mobile-friendly version. A good place to start for mobile optimization is with using a responsive theme. If you’re not sure where your website stands, use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test tool to determine if the bots see a mobile version of your website.
You Could Lose ROI.
Investing in your startup and then ignoring SEO marketing entirely, can be as dangerous as shooting yourself in the foot. You are missing out on connecting with your target audience which could turn into income for your business. Does it cost money for SEO marketing? Absolutely! Some of it you can do yourself if you have the extra time. But if not, make the investment. Get a reputable marketer who knows SEO well – such as Caseo – and set them loose. Do keep tabs on what they are doing, it helps you to understand what is happening even if you don’t have the time to do it yourself. With a professional on board, you can watch; activity on your site increase, business increase, and reach a broader target audience as you grow.
SEO Marketing may not be the easiest thing to take on but it is incredibly important to build your business with it. All startups in this day and age have to have an online presence to be successful. The best thing you can do is educate yourself on marketing options, stay up to date on current trends that help your business, and build a community with your online presence.
