Why is an SEO strategy necessary for a start-up?
When building a business online, one should plan how this business will be found in the online ecosystem by its potential customers. Franz Enzenhofer describes a three-part plan for getting your business found as SEO. (Enzenhofer, 2017) The plan consists of:
- the business of getting found
- the business of getting found online
- all business activities that contribute to the goal of getting found online
If a user wants to find a page, then what they do is a query. If we want to get found for a query a user searches, we need a page that wants to be found for that particular user query. For this to happen, we need to cross a two-step process:
- make a hypothesis about what the users might search for
- create targeted pages for these searches
This process is called “Targeting” or “Keyword Research,” and the query is now called a “Targeted Search Intent Phrase,” the phrase we want a specific page to be found for. (Enzenhofer, 2017) No matter how anyone does it, the goal should remain the same: to target a specific user query and its intent and create a “targeted” page for that user query and the intention behind it. (Enzenhofer, 2017) If we have a page that targets this query, then we will get found by the user.
Enzenhofer implies a keyword as the textual representation of this intent. This is why we should not target the “keywords” but the search intent behind them. One search intent, one page targeted at one dominant targeted phrase plus slight variations. (Enzenhofer, 2017)
Why is all the above important? Because Keyword research is also considered the art and science of uncovering which keyword phrases your prospects are likely to use at Google or other search engines. (What is a Keyword Analysis? What is Keyword Research?, χ.χ.) Today, technology makes it obvious that Search language shifts constantly, new keywords are being formed all the time, and an audience’s needs develop and grow. (Keyword Research, χ.χ.) However, all sources agree that to achieve the best results in getting found, it is essential to optimize a website’s content and backlinks for the most relevant keywords. (‘Keyword Research’, 2022)
For the first phase of the style guide development, the author creates an SEO mini-strategy to help artists utilize proper and targeted keywords on their content, aiming to reach relevant audiences and meet the customers’ needs through their queries. This will be achieved by finding out which keywords relate to the business and are most used and rank high on the Google page.
For people who create content, an SEO strategy can help maintain the same outline while designing the website's content and drive more into creating content that matters, content that people are searching for. (How to Create an SEO Strategy for 2022 [Template Included], χ.χ.) To do so, the author needs to discover the customers’ needs, which will eventually become search queries and be reflected textually in keywords or phrases. By building coherent and organized content, the possibilities of ranking well on Google increase, leading to users’ seeing content. So, higher ranking drives more website traffic, allowing more organic growth and increasing the possibility of promoting products/services online. (‘Importance of Keyword Research in Digital Marketing and SEO,’ 2022)
