Starting a new business is challenging enough without having to work out the complexities of SEO (search engine optimisation). Yet for start-ups and solo entrepreneurs, SEO isn’t just an afterthought; it’s a key strategy for long-term growth.
If you’re on the fence about whether you need help with SEO, here’s why getting an SEO consultant on board early could be one of the smartest moves you make for your new venture.
People are searching for answers, not just brands
Whilst most people think that users are only searching for big brand names, research reveals a different story. Potential customers are actively searching for solutions to their problems, often describing exactly what they need.
Let’s say you’re running a gluten-free bakery as an example. While some people might search for brand name, there are a whole bunch of people who don’t know that you exist yet, so they are looking for “gluten-free bakery,” and other related things like:
- Coeliac-friendly pastries
- Gluten-intolerant catering
- Wheat-free breakfast options
- Allergy-conscious bakery.
These searches happen every day, and if you’re not showing up for them, your competitors may be capturing these customers instead. An SEO consultant helps you identify these search opportunities that you may otherwise miss, ensuring your new business appears when people are looking for what you’re offering.
Organic traffic (essentially free traffic) can be your best long-term investment
Unlike paid ads such as Google Ads, SEO delivers what’s essentially free traffic, once you’ve done the groundwork of course!
Whilst it’s true that SEO isn’t completely free, you’ll need to invest time into content creation and optimisation. But imagine this, instead of paying $5 or so every time someone clicks on your ad, those same people find you organically through search results (SEO). That’s essentially money saved in the long run.
This can be a significant advantage for start-ups with limited budgets. And if you don’t have a big wad of cash to spend on Google Ads, SEO traffic can provide:
- Sustainable visitor flow without ongoing ad spend
- Higher trust levels (users often trust organic results more than ads)
- Better long-term ROI as your rankings improve over time
And it’s not just Google to consider as a search engine anymore. People are using ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity to research businesses and products. An SEO consultant can help you advise you on what to do to show up in these AI tools as well.
Strategic goal setting and realistic timelines
One of the biggest mistakes start-ups make is expecting instant results in a month. Realistically, this isn’t achievable.
The goal is to get you more customers (and revenue!), but it doesn’t happen without first breaking down smaller goals. This is where an SEO consultant can help, setting goals and realistic timelines. They can really get into the weeds of breaking down your ultimate objective (more customers) into manageable micro-goals.
Instead of aiming vaguely for “just get me more traffic,” or “i want to show up in ChatGPT” your strategy might include:
- Research on the right keywords and when and how to track them.
- Where can you get quality backlinks and guest posts.
- Use tools like Ahrefs and SEMrush to measure what’s working.
- Get engagement from previous customers.
- Create social media content that supports your SEO efforts.
These elements all work together, it’s looking at the bigger picture, rather than chucking content up on your site and hoping it sticks (and ranks!).
Technical SEO foundations and red flags
You’ve just launched your startup’s shiny new website. It looks great from a design point of view, but an SEO consultant can spot the technical red flags that could be holding you back.
Common issues include:
- Slow page loading speeds
- Mobile responsiveness problems
- Poor site structure and navigation
- Missing or duplicate meta descriptions
- Broken internal links
- Inadequate site security (SSL certificates).
Depending on whether you’ve got a developer on your team or need to look at getting someone to help with this, the consultant can give you an idea of what kind of investment you’re looking at. The key is catching these things before they make a negative impact.
Content strategy that actually gets you customers
Most people think that they need more content and that more is better, but in fact this couldn’t be more far from the truth!
Rather than publishing 100 average blog posts, an SEO consultant helps you identify the few high-value pieces that will genuinely drive organic traffic to your start-up.
This starts with getting super clear on who you’re trying to reach. Instead of targeting “anyone who might buy our product,” you create a portfolio of what your ideal customers look like.
For example, Georgia. She’s 31, lives in Melbourne, has coeliac disease, and works in marketing. She’s always consuming content online, follows bakeries on social media because of her dietary needs, and often needs to organise catering for her team of 5-10 people. She’s looking for a reliable place she can trust for her gluten-free requirements.
This gives you a picture of who you are really talking to, and means the content can work harder for you.
Link building and digital PR
For start-ups, link building can be interesting. You’ve got a fresh site, nobody knows your brand, it’s tough out there. So you might begin with simple local citations and directory listings. As you grow, you can look at more sophisticated strategies, and might want to collaborate with other businesses, and maybe even get some media coverage.
An SEO consultant can help you with some of these items:
- Where are competitors getting links from.
- Link opportunities you never would have thought of.
- Journalists and bloggers to contact.
- Links that are even worth your time (or not!).
Now, this isn’t about spamming people or buying dodgy links (yes, it still happens!). It’s about building relationships and getting your business seen.
You’re ready to go global
Congrats! The business is trending up. Let’s say your gluten-free bakery is killing it in Sydney and you want to expand to the US. Suddenly, your SEO becomes more complicated. And not only that, it can become an even more powerful marketing tool.
You’ll quickly realise that you need to think about technical stuff like:
- What kind of folder, subfolders or subdomains do I need to use
- Setting up hreflang tags so people see the correct version of your site
- Country-specific languages
- Avoiding duplicate issues, are you confusing search engines with redirect issues?
But the real magic happens when you start looking at how people search for things in different countries vs your own. Australians might search for “biscuits,” but Americans are looking for “cookies.” We say “jumper,” they say “sweater.” We call it a “ute,” they call it a “pickup truck.”
It’s not just translation; there are other nuances. I.e. what we call a “bakery” might be a “patisserie” in France or a “panadería” in Mexico. And all the products are definitely going to be different. An SEO consultant who understands international markets can help you navigate all these differences, local search engines (Baidu, Yandex etc) and build local authority in your new business location.
