As a startup owner, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with the amount of information out there. But you can cut through the noise by avoiding these common SEO misconceptions.
SEO is just about keywords
SEO is much more than just keywords. In fact, that’s just a small part of SEO. Yes, it’s important to use the right keywords in your content so that you can rank well for those terms, but this is only one piece of the puzzle. To rank highly in search engines and keep your website performing well over time, you need to be building off what’s already working on your site instead of changing things up all the time (or getting stuck in a keyword trap).
In addition to improving user experience by creating great content and making sure search engines understand what each page is about, you also want to build links into your site externally through guest blogging or other promotional opportunities like press mentions or social media shares. Then finally there are analytics—a vital aspect for monitoring progress and identifying areas where improvements can be made.
I don’t care about SEO, my product is the best on the market
You may think that SEO is only important for startups, because they’re new to the market and want to get found by customers. The problem is that even if you already have a loyal customer base, those customers might not be aware of all the great things you offer. If they don’t know about them, it’s unlikely they’ll purchase them (or recommend your business). So SEO can help you reach new leads who may not have heard of your product yet—and convert them into paying customers!
In addition to generating more traffic and leads, SEO can also help keep existing customers happy. If one of your products has been discontinued or isn’t selling well anymore, having an easy way for people to find information about similar products will encourage them either (a) choose another product from your company or (b) buy other products from another company entirely (and hopefully come back later).
SEO is expensive
It’s not.
SEO is a long-term investment, not an expense. You won’t see any results for at least three to six months, so don’t just throw money at it hoping for immediate returns. If you want your website to be found by people searching online, it needs good content and links from other websites that can send traffic back to your site—and those things take time and effort to build up. So don’t worry about the number of euros you spend on SEO; instead, focus on getting quality results that will give your company value over time (like more sales or leads).
In addition, there are many other factors outside of just paying someone else who knows what they’re doing. For example, an agency might have access to expensive tools only available through them which they can use to track how customers interact with their sites more accurately than you could without those tools…however these tools come with a cost built into the price they charge their clients each month/quarter, etc., so unless I had access too I wouldn’t be able to tell much difference between using one versus another provider based solely on reports alone.
I can outsource SEO to an agency
If you’re new to SEO or have a small budget, it’s tempting to outsource SEO to an agency. After all, they’ve got the best people (or so they say) and they can get you results fast. The problem with this is that you’re giving away your company’s marketing strategy—and any changes you want to make in the future—to someone who isn’t invested in your success. This means if anything goes wrong, there will be no one on staff who knows how it got that way and can fix it without waiting for outside help.
The most important thing about doing your own SEO is knowing what not to do: don’t spend money where there are no guarantees of improvement; don’t do something just because everyone else does it; and don’t buy into hype over real data analysis.
Only traffic from search engines matters
You can’t ignore other channels, because they can be used to drive traffic to your site. This is especially true for social media and email.
If you have a large following on Twitter or Facebook and send out messages about your business regularly, people are likely to click through from there (especially if you include links).
Similarly, if you have a newsletter that people subscribe to regularly (and those readers are interested in what you’re doing), sending them updates about new content or changes on your site is one way of getting more people over there.
It’s too competitive to rank for anything
You probably have a few keywords in mind that you think would be perfect for your website. But is it really worth the effort to rank for them?
Many newbies to SEO think that trying to rank for any keyword, let alone one with any actual traffic potential, is a fool’s errand. The truth, however is that there are many ways to rank for a keyword:
- It’s not just about the search engine; it’s about the user! If someone searches for “SEO services London” on Google and clicks on your listing instead of another one because it offers more relevant content or an easier-to-navigate site design, then you won’t need as much SEO work as if they clicked on the top result because there was nothing distinguishing yours from theirs.
- It’s not just about the keyword; it’s about everything else around it! When users see your adverts in their social media feeds or emails they’re far more likely to click through and visit your site than when they simply stumble upon your homepage during an ordinary web search session. Search engines do take this into account when ranking sites (which means promoting those who advertise). However, this isn’t something most people know how to do yet – so while it may seem like common sense now after reading this post…it wasn’t always so obvious before!
I have enough links already, no need to build more
If you are a startup owner, chances are you have thought about building links to your website. You may have even purchased a link or two (or twenty) in the past but were disappointed when it didn’t help your organic search rankings. Building links is not as simple as simply purchasing them from a service provider, however. The key to successful SEO is to build trust within your industry, which can only be done by having other sites link back to yours.
Link building should never be taken lightly; however, it is critical for any startup that wants its website to rank well in Google’s search results.
Don’t let these misconceptions stop you from optimizing your startup’s website
- You don’t have to be a technical expert to use SEO or content marketing. If you’re a non-technical person, that’s fine! There are plenty of tools available that can help walk you through the process step-by-step.
- Startups can rank at the top of Google search results for highly competitive terms like “lawyer” or “law firm.” Yes, this is possible—but only if you’re consistent with optimizing your website and using other methods beyond just SEO tactics (e.g., PR).
Conclusion
As you can see, there are many misconceptions about SEO. It’s true that it can be a complex process and requires a lot of work, but if you keep an open mind and don’t listen to the myths floating around out there, then you’ll be on your way to ranking in no time!
