Getting Started in SEO for New Businesses

Starting a new business?

First up – kudos to you.  It takes guts to go on your own.  But staying ahead of the game will take more than blood, sweat and tears which is why this article is a must-read for all new business owners.

Search engine optimisation (SEO) will determine your online visibility – and for a new business, being found online is critical to establishing a reputation and gaining traction among your target customers.

Don’t believe anyone who says that SEO is too expensive, too competitive or that it takes too long to get results.  It’s none of these things.  Trust me.  For a business to grow using online channels, SEO is a non-negotiable and here’s what you need to do.

Three Top SEO Tips for New Businesses

1. Get Cracking

Everyone is competing for online visibility.  The higher up they are in the search engine results, the more organic traffic they’ll attract.   And if a business is ranked highly, they’re getting their SEO right which means you can’t waste time getting going on yours.

You should factor SEO in to your budget right from the outset so that you’re not forced to play costly catch-up down the line.  SEO is not a luxury, but a necessity and if you want to be competitive, you need a long-game strategy.

SEO isn’t something you do for instant results.  It takes time to build momentum and presence, so the sooner you start, the greater your chances of sustainable SEO success.

2. Plan Your Strategy Carefully

You’ve put a lot of thought and careful planning into your start-up and you should take the same thorough approach with your SEO strategy.

These are some of the elements to focus on:

• Careful keyword research
• Competitor research
• Solid website structure and navigation
• Link-building

Once you’ve got a roadmap and set your objectives, make sure you find time to evaluate your SEO performance against your KPIs, troubleshoot when necessary and continually make improvements and updates to keep things fresh, relevant and discoverable online.

3. Combine Organic SEO With Paid Advertising

SEO is a long-term strategy, with results building up over time.  But given those results can account for up to 80% of your website traffic, it’s well worth the wait and the effort.

But there are opportunities for instant gains too.

Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising puts your website on top of the search results (provided the ad is eye-catching, well-written and relevant to your target audience of course).  And while you do pay every time someone clicks on the ad, it does get your new business in front of users fast.

PPC is a great option for start-ups because it elevates your business or product ahead of the competition and drives traffic to your site.

And for the BEST results, combine the two!

According to Smart Insights, 68% of all trackable website traffic comes from a combination of the two tactics.  Both offer unique benefits and both are necessary for successful online marketing and when they’re in tandem, you’ll see better results in the search engine pages and your return on investment will improve.

Some Final Thoughts on Getting Started in SEO for Your New Business

Given that the people are nearly 70% more likely to click on a website in the first five spots in the search engine pages, you don’t want to be anywhere else!   So don’t make your start-up play catch-up, get going on your SEO at the outset and be seen where it counts – at the top of the rankings.

You can either take charge of your SEO yourself or outsource it to a digital marketing specialist – but either way, it’s truly worthwhile taking time doing thorough research and planning to get the fundamentals right. Our free SEO Starter Kit will set you off in the right direction.

If you’re keen on going the DIY SEO route, you can give yourself a head start with The SEO School.   Implement all the key essentials of SEO on your actual website as you progress through the various modules of this online, self-managed and very easy-to-follow course and see the impact SEO makes on the success of your new business.

Karen Dauncey

Karen Dauncey has been working in SEO since 2003. She specialises in helping businesses get found online through Google using Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) She is the founder and creator of The SEO School an online SEO Course to help teach business owners how to do their own SEO. She regularly delivers educational programs for both Local, State and Federal Government and is an advisor for the ASBAS Digital Solutions Program. Karen’s passion and commitment to help small business owners get found online is the driving force behind her online school, making SEO advice accessible to all with free resources and online courses.

Karen's wealth of SEO knowledge and practical digital marketing experience comes from running her own SEO and Google Ads agency, Blue Cherry Online Marketing since 2008. Karen has optimised over 1000 websites, managed millions of dollars' worth of spend on Google Ads and has a solid understanding of the constantly shifting industry of digital marketing and SEO. This gives her a unique advantage when it comes to being able to recommend the right online marketing strategies for your business. This gives her a unique advantage when it comes to being able to recommend the right online marketing strategies for your business. She was recently recognised as an SEO Expert for the popular course creation platform, Kajabi as well as appearing on ABC Radio
for her expert opinion on the ACCC's investigation into search engines.

Karen has attended search engine conferences in London, Stockholm, Adelaide and Sydney, and was also invited to attend a pilot Business Coaching Course at Google’s Head Office. She has a Diploma in Marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing in the UK.

She is also the co-owner of the Digital Experts Directory, an online directory for female serviced-based businesses to promote their business (with a great backlink for SEO).

To keep up to date with the latest in SEO, join her Facebook group The SEO School Community or follow her on Facebook or LinkedIn.