Should startups invest in SEO?
Yes? No? Maybe? There is a surprising amount of SEO you can do on your own.
This week’s newsletter is sponsored by the Digital PR agency Search Intelligence, which uses PR methods to grow a link portfolio and North Star Inbound, which is a recommended agency for SEO and content strategy. See their case studies linked in the newsletter.
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Many early-stage companies are motivated to invest in SEO because they think they have to since SEO is “free.” I have discussed the free part before in other newsletters, but I want to focus on who should do SEO.
I meet many companies that want to do SEO and probably shouldn’t, but making an incorrect investment in a later-stage company will not be as painful as it might be for a resource-constrained company.
SEO needs PMF
Startups are also a bit different from later-stage companies because startups might not have product market fit, or even if they do, they might not have identified where the most significant chunk of users will be for that product.
[SPONSORED by Search Intelligence]
Digital PR link building tip:
Use advanced Google search operators to find Digital PR ideas that are most likely to be picked up by popular outlets.
Here is an example:
"site: publisher_domain intitle:revealed intitle:most"
This search will give you the articles that a publication wrote, which contain the words “revealed” and “most” in their title.
SEO is a long-term effort, and it’s much easier for a later-stage company to build for a future they can predict than for a fast-moving startup to forecast where it might be a year from now.
This advice comes from my experience helping startups build product-led SEO strategies, which I have seen them scrap when they are forced to pivot to a new product or customer.
The cost of SEO
SEO is, of course, not free, whether executed internally or by an agency. When hiring resources are tight, agencies can be an excellent investment because of their flexibility and experience. However, they can also be expensive and might not produce the deliverables that will inflect growth in the near term.
SEO work done with an agency will usually cost around $10k per month, with outliers on that continuum's less and more expensive end. While even a well-capitalized startup can afford $120k annually, should they spend that amount on a single channel that might not pay off soon?
SEO basics
Someone with minimal experience can do an incredible amount of basic SEO because there is a low risk of breaking anything. The most essential aspect of early SEO is choosing the keywords to integrate into the crucial parts of a page. If the wrong keywords are selected, the page won’t appear, and they can be adjusted later.
Choosing keywords is not a complex process; in most cases, it’s just the product/feature/problem the user seeks.
For example, the best keyword for a car insurance site will be “car insurance.” The need for synonyms, plurals, and phrase expansion is primarily obsolete because search engines can practically read minds (aka understand intent) when the wrong keyword is searched.
I am a strong proponent of the SEO function being led by a product manager. This PM does not need to have past SEO experience, nor do they need to be an SEO expert. As long as the PM can build a basic foundation of SEO best practices AND know when to call in an expert, this is all a startup needs.
Complexity requires expertise
While startups could undertake many complex decisions that would benefit from experienced SEO advice, in many cases, an early-stage startup is probably not making those decisions early on.
Choosing a CMS or the architecture of an entire website is an entirely different decision that should probably benefit from expert advice. Unless the startup is a media company where content will be the revenue driver, a CMS will not make or break the core product.
Redirects, mass content expansion, and page template layouts affecting tens of thousands of pages are complex decisions. Again, these are not usually issues for very early-stage startups. At that stage, even if a company were to have tens of thousands of pages, it might not matter to make significant changes because the traffic is unlikely to be meaningful.
Do your SEO on your own
Instead of investing in SEO early on with a full-time hire or agency, founders and early employees can make these decisions comfortably without concerns about long-term harm.
Choosing a domain name
Basic CMS
Folder structure
Content strategy
Keywords
Analytics
In short, if the decisions are two-way and can be reversed without painful repercussions, you skip the SEO agency. Choosing WordPress as a CMS vs. Wix might be an annoying decision to reverse, but it is reversible. Signing a five-year contract for a custom CMS is, for all intents and purposes, irreversible for a startup that thinks in months, not years.
When should you hire external help?
When a founder or PM’s time is better spent doing things they are more expert in and can leverage more for the business, they should explore having an outsider help.
Yes, relying on the outsider will be more expensive, but saving money is not a business KPI but an investment in business growth.
It’s not just a financial calculation, either. If you will have more enjoyment from paying someone else to do your work for you and can afford it without a second thought, do so.
I once was in an office of a company that was reluctant to hire outside help for SEO because of the cost, but at the same time, they were remodeling their front lobby for tens of thousands of dollars. I successfully argued that even if they couldn’t see the financial upside to hiring the agency I recommended, they could at least consider it the same way they approved the investment in their lobby for aesthetic purposes only.
However, when that investment decision is at the expense of another resource, you can’t necessarily afford it.
SEO isn’t always worth it
To underscore and clarify, SEO is a specialized marketing effort that, in many cases, should have expert guidance. However, the expense is sometimes not worth it when budgets are constrained. Much basic information is available on Google, Reddit, or YouTube, but as I highlighted above, this only applies to basic scenarios.
Complexity requires help
In complex scenarios, ALWAYS seek help because the cost of it going wrong is not worth the savings. On multiple occasions, I have seen startups think they saved money upfront, only to spend a lot more to fix their mistakes.
Much information is free, but interpreting that information for a complex scenario takes experience and a domain expert. The real challenge is knowing when to ask for help and when it’s overkill.
Please reach out if I can help you decide on when and how to invest in SEO.
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