Rand wrote a good post over at SEOmoz about startups lack of using (or understanding) SEO. I saw a list of blog post that provided startup marketing advice and I was hoping to see a post from Startup Hustle (because I wanted a link from Rand), but I do talk about SEO so I did not meet the requirement. Rands overall point was that SEO is basically free and a little keyword research goes a long way.
Let me just be clear on this point - not one of those posts has the word “SEO” in it, nor makes any clear reference to getting traffic from search engines. I’m forced to ask myself - are these people idiots? Are they being coy? Or have they really never experienced the built-in marketing channel that comes from ranking at the top of the engines for a relevant keyword phrase?
Uhh, Rand wasn’t holding much back. Since I work with many startups I can shed some light on the issue. The reason startups don’t focus on SEO is the majority don’t have a web marketing background and those that do aren’t well versed in SEO. So they spend their time only doing what they know and/or working on the product.
Let’s imagine you’ve just dreamed up some brilliant new web startup company that’s going to change the world and fill this great unfulfilled need. Now, if only there were some way to figure out if other people were interested in solving the same problem. If only we had access to some sort of a repository of human queries that would tell us how popular and worthwhile our idea might be… Gee, that would be great…
For f**k’s sake, people - get a clue.
While I see the point here and totally agree, the use of Google’s Keyword Tool (as suggested) might not be the best idea. Just yesterday I used the tool and it told me there was maximum ad competition (full green bar) for a keyword that had zero ads. Just make sure you do a full round of research before making a decision based on keyword analysis.
Going through the rest of the list just seems cruel - clearly, there’s no SEO savvy here, not even the basic recognition that keyword targeting might be worthwhile. So much for the theory that startups already know their stuff on search engine optimization. Why? I don’t know, but I suspect that it’s because of the general attitude these communities tend to have about SEO.
Above, Rand was referring to a list of Y Combinator companies and did a quick SEO audit. He is correct about the overall negative feeling surrounding SEO in the startup community. While many use the technique, others believe it is not an ethical means of marketing.
