The need for SEO services is increasing globally, and even more so in the Philippines, to the point where most businesses consider it a priority to include SEO Services in their digital marketing plan. In 2019, the country ranked first in the world’s internet usage index, which could signify a variety of things for many people, but for businesses, it represents an opportunity.
You already know three things if you’re interested in SEO for startups: First and foremost, all of your clients are online. Second, your competitors are present as well. Third, SEO is critical for reaching your target audience, and a strong SEO plan may help you stay ahead of the competition.
So, how can you get a competitive advantage? How might SEO help your startup get more traffic? What steps must you take to convert that traffic into revenue?
Let’s get this party started.
Define Your SEO Goals
So, what exactly is SEO and why do you require it?
As a startup, you must understand where you are and where you want to go. Once you’ve decided where you want to go, SEO can help you get there. Initially, the purpose of SEO is to boost your website’s visibility on search engine results pages.
Assume you own a retail store that mostly sells footwear. Consider how many eCommerce Shopify websites exist in the Philippines that sell the same things. If there are 200 popular eCommerce sites, that isn’t the only thing you’re up against; you’re up against hundreds upon thousands of potential search results. You want to be the first result when a user searches for white sneakers or white sneakers for men. It’s evident that the user’s objective is to buy new sneakers, and you want to be the first thing they see when they hit the search button.
Here are the five most important SEO objectives for your eCommerce website:
- Increase Traffic,
- Leads, and
- Ecommerce Sales
- Branding
- Enhance Client Relationships
- Increase your industry authority.
Because there is so much more you can achieve with SEO, you may come up with a different goal. For example, you could strive for greater expense management or more website referrals; in any case, make sure your goals are measurable, reasonable, and explicit.
Have A Solid SEO Strategy For Your Startup
Before you begin adopting any SEO method, make sure you have a sound SEO Strategy in place. It’s normal that as a startup, you’ll be preoccupied with managing your business operations, from ensuring that your items are ready to ensuring cash flow. There will be parts of the business that require your attention, and your digital marketing plan may go to the bottom of your priority list. This should not be happening.
Manage your SEO starting approach as soon as possible. SEO is a continuous and ever-changing process, therefore it’s critical to establish the appropriate foundation early on to avoid future blunders.
Ensure That Your Website Is Responsive
Your website is the vessel that will transport your company’s internet presence. It will represent your company to customers as well as search engines. This means that your website should appeal to both groups.
If you’re wondering, “How can I get visitors to my website?” The solution is straightforward: cater to both your target demographic and Google’s expectations. Google controls 86.02 percent of the global search engine industry; we’ll discuss its ranking components in this post.
Let’s begin by ensuring that you have a responsive web design. Why is responsive web design important? A responsive website is one that can accommodate any user on any platform on which it is viewed. So it doesn’t matter if a person tries to access your website from a desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphone; the website will still function well and look great on every device. A adaptable website is essential for maintaining client engagement.
The more at ease a user feels with your website, the easier it is for them to find and obtain what they are looking for. As a result, people will want to stay and explore your website more. This implies more sales, more delighted consumers, and a higher likelihood that Google will move your website up in the ranks.
Google uses time on page as one of its ranking variables. The longer a visitor remains on your page and browses your website, the more Google will take this as an indication that your website provides content that searchers will find useful.
Web development is already blooming in the Philippines. It’s safe to assume that the Philippines is already one of the world’s primary outsourcing centres for web design services.
Increase Website Speed
Websites that take too long to load will be left in the dust. We currently live in a fast-paced world, and as a result, both consumers and Google will expect your website to be quick.
Page speed is one of the most fundamental, yet critical, characteristics of a high-performing website. If your page takes a second longer to load than a visitor (and possible buyer) is prepared to wait, you risk losing that lead.
It is worth noting that a 100-millisecond delay in load time might tip the scale, resulting in a 7% decline in conversion rates. The ideal load speed is three seconds or less; any longer and you risk losing visitors. Always do an SEO audit or use Page Speed Insights to verify the speed of your website.
Pro tip: Be mindful of the files you utilise and upload, as file sizes can impact loading speed. Reduce image sizes, investigate file compression, and experiment with other file formats.
Have A Mobile-Friendly Website
It is predicted that the Philippines will have 44.3 million smartphone users by 2020, therefore optimising your website for a device that a person would be using regularly throughout the day will benefit your business. This means that your site should be redesigned to look excellent on a mobile device while still loading rapidly.
Google said that mobile-first indexing will be enabled for all websites beginning in September 2020. When it comes to indexing and ranking, it’s safe to suggest that Google may favour mobile over desktop. So, if you’re a web developer or intend to hire one, be sure to design your website with mobile in mind. You may notice issues such as bloating, in which files and animation operate smoothly on the desktop but load differently on mobile devices. Prepare for and be careful of such situations.
Create A Link Building Strategy
There are many criteria that Google considers when ranking a website, but there are three crucial ranking factors that you should constantly consider in order to increase traffic to your website:
Links
Don’t ignore the quality of links that connect you to other reliable websites. It is critical to ensure that your website is relevant and valuable enough for other websites in related industries to link to it.
Content
The quality of content is critical because it is the fuel that will power your website down whichever path you select, whether it’s a title and meta description, CTA, pillar page content, or blog article. To ensure the success of a digital marketing campaign, the content strategy should be designed and created in such a way that it corresponds with the target audience and goals.
BERT
Search engines utilise machine learning to understand what a user truly means when they make a search. Following RankBrain, Google released Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers, abbreviated as BERT. According to Google, BERT has near-human understanding capabilities and can assist computers in understanding language in a manner similar to how people do.
What is the significance of adhering to these standards? It’s a checklist for ensuring that a website is working optimally. Link building is an important part of website SEO because it enhances domain authority. The greater your domain authority, the more likely Google will recommend your page to users.
Smart Keyword Research
To attract the correct people and bring quality traffic to your website, you must first choose the appropriate keywords. Consider Google to be the assistant who connects you with the right customer. How can you assist Google in connecting you with the appropriate user? It’s done by identifying the right keywords that consumers are typing into Google searches and strategically sprinkling them across the content of your website.
Keywords can help you with:
- Increasing website traffic
- converting visitors into customers
- Using different stages of your buyer’s journey to guide them through the sales funnel
- Content creation and optimization based on customer behaviour
SEO experts employ a more complex method, but the essentials remain the same:
Landing Pages
Determine which pages require optimization. These are the ones you want folks to go to. The homepage, about us page, and products or services page are just a few examples. List the keywords that best characterise each page in the eyes of your customers. Sort the keywords according to the topic.
Determining The Search Terms
First, define the most prevalent search phrases so that you can develop your own strategy. Using keywords to target the most prevalent terms with big search volumes isn’t necessarily the best way to proceed. You should investigate your results and devise a strategy based on your product, target audience, and marketing funnel. Look for the most widely used terms first, such as the brand and product name, and then make variations to broaden the range.
Keyword Research Tools
On the market, there are hundreds of keyword research tools. Google Adwords Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, and SEMRush are the most trustworthy. Ubersuggest is another service we recommend.
Choosing the correct collection of keywords is critical to maximising your SEO efforts.
Optimized Content
Content Optimization Content is what will bring customers to your website. Now that consumers have more time on their hands to browse through various online information, you must ensure that your content is both interesting and search engine optimised.
On-page SEO is the management and creation of content that is primarily found on your startup website. This will necessitate a well-planned content strategy that will necessitate study, analysis, time, and work. However, it will all be worthwhile.
As a startup, this is an excellent opportunity to get off to a good start. Your goal is to grow as quickly as possible so that you can compete with larger websites. Content is the core of your SEO strategy. Research what would work best for your business, look at what your competitors are doing, and, if feasible, engage with a content marketing firm to ensure that you’re on the right track.
After you’ve done your keyword research, you’ll find it easy to create content around those terms. You also have a good sense of what people are looking for, so you know what they find interesting.
On-Page SEO Optimization For Startups
It is critical to optimise each page of your website. There are other articles that go into greater detail on the process. The following are the fundamentals of on-page optimization:
- Keywords.Keywords are at the heart of everything. Every component of your website with content should have the right keywords. It is critical to emphasise appropriate because you want to avoid keyword stuffing.
- URL.URLs for pages should be brief but descriptive, and they should always include your primary keyword. The title of the page is frequently the same as the URL of that page. For example, www.nameofwebsite.com/title-page-url
- Titles. When a user enters a search query, search engines display these titles. Make sure it contains the important keywords, is simple to comprehend, and accurately defines the content of the page it represents.
- Headings.It’s critical to split the page’s content with header tags (H1, H2, etc.).
- Content. Optimize your material so that it is simple to grasp, one-of-a-kind, and particular.
- Images. Check that your photographs include alt-tags that contain keywords related to the content.
- Internal Linking. When you have the possibility, link to other related pages on your website.
- Structured Data. Make sure to include schema markup in your HTML to optimise the way your page appears in the SERPs.
SEO is one of the most significant variables in the success of your eCommerce site. However, it is not magic, so don’t expect to see results right away. It necessitates data analysis, competitive analysis, and A/B testing. It will all be worth it if you find what works for your company because SEO is a long-term plan.
Whether you’re employing local SEO marketing to target the local market or you’re a local business looking to expand globally, implementing SEO as a startup allows you to create the correct foundations early on. This is why you must determine whether to do it yourself or employ an SEO company.
There will be a number of obstacles to conquer in the future. The silver lining is that your startup can prosper even in an unpredictable economy. Make the most of the digital space. If you require professional guidance or SEO services, our team is always here to give you with SEO tips for startups and help you design the ideal approach for your company. If you want to learn more in-depth search engine optimization tactics, SEO training offered by our in-house SEO professionals is an excellent place to start.