SEO for startups in under 10 minutes

TL;DR

Maile Ohye shares SEO essentials for startups in 10 minutes.

Transcript

Maile Ohye: Hi, I'm Maile Ohye. I'm a developer programs tech lead at Google. I've been at Google since 2005 working with our search and our webmaster tools teams. But if I were a consultant for your startup, here's all the advice I would give in under 10 minutes. This talk is aimed for companies who have their main content below about 50 pages.... Read More

Key Insights

• Maile Ohye provides SEO advice specifically tailored for startups with less than 50 pages of content, emphasizing the importance of efficient SEO practices.
• Startups should decide between using the 'www' or non-'www' version of their domain and implement a 301 redirect to signal permanence to search engines.
• It's crucial to verify site ownership in Google Webmaster Tools for receiving important notifications and maintaining site health.
• Performing a background check on your domain can prevent potential ranking issues if the domain was previously used for spam.
• Utilizing Google Analytics or similar tools is recommended to collect historical data, which is beneficial when hiring SEO professionals.
• Site design should cater to different personas, ensuring easy navigation and a focused experience with relevant content and conversion opportunities.
• Incorporating natural keywords in page content and ensuring each page has a unique topic, title, and meta description enhances search visibility.
• Avoiding shady SEO practices, focusing on page load time, and leveraging social media can help startups improve their online presence and ranking.

Questions & Answers

Q: Why is it important to choose between 'www' and non-'www' for your domain?

Choosing between 'www' and non-'www' is crucial for establishing a consistent domain identity. Implementing a 301 redirect from the non-preferred to the preferred version ensures search engines transfer indexing properties appropriately, maintaining search visibility and avoiding potential duplicate content issues.

Q: What is the significance of verifying site ownership in Google Webmaster Tools?

Verifying site ownership in Google Webmaster Tools is essential for receiving critical notifications from Google, such as alerts about potential hacking or malware issues. It also provides insights into how Google views your site, helping you address any crawling or indexing problems effectively.

Q: How can startups ensure their site design meets the needs of different personas?

Startups can cater to different personas by designing a user-friendly site with clear navigation and focused content. Understanding the needs of customers, investors, and the press is vital. Ensuring easy access to relevant information and conversion opportunities on every page enhances user experience and engagement.

Q: What role do keywords play in improving search visibility?

Keywords are essential for aligning site content with user search queries. By naturally incorporating relevant keywords into page content, startups can improve their search visibility. Each page should focus on a unique topic with a distinct title and meta description to enhance search engine indexing and ranking.

Q: Why should startups avoid hiring rogue SEO consultants?

Rogue SEO consultants often engage in unethical practices like link schemes, which can lead to penalties from search engines. Such tactics may offer short-term gains but can severely damage a site's reputation and ranking in the long run. It's crucial to focus on sustainable, ethical SEO practices.

Q: How can social media marketing benefit startups?

Social media marketing offers startups a way to diversify their traffic sources beyond search engines. By engaging with audiences on platforms where they are active, startups can build brand awareness and drive traffic to their site. It's important to connect social media efforts to conversion opportunities.

Q: What are potential pitfalls in SEO that startups should avoid?

Startups should avoid focusing too much on site aesthetics at the expense of indexable content. Engaging in link schemes, buying links for PageRank, and ignoring page load times are common pitfalls. Ensuring content is accessible and optimizing load times can prevent user drop-off and improve SEO performance.

Q: Why is page load time important for startups?

Page load time significantly impacts user experience and search ranking. Slow-loading pages can lead to higher bounce rates as users may abandon the site. Startups should aim for fast load times, ideally under two seconds, to retain visitors and meet user expectations, as recommended by studies on ecommerce sites.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Maile Ohye from Google provides a concise guide to SEO for startups, focusing on efficient practices for small websites. She advises on domain setup, verifying ownership, and utilizing Google Webmaster Tools for site health. The emphasis is on understanding the basics and avoiding common pitfalls in SEO.

• Startups should ensure their site is well-structured, with clear navigation and focused content. Ohye highlights the importance of using relevant keywords naturally and ensuring each page has a unique topic and title. She also stresses the significance of having a conversion point on every page to enhance user experience.

• Ohye warns against hiring unreliable SEO consultants and engaging in link schemes. She encourages startups to focus on social media marketing to diversify traffic sources and advises leveraging the strengths of team members in social media engagement. The ultimate goal is to provide a great product and generate buzz.