Startup Corner
SEO and Social Media
February 22, 2009
Will O’Brien (will@hiscatalog.com)
Copyright © 2009 Will O'Brien
(willobrien.wordpress.com)

Overview
Web startups will struggle as we continue to face
challenging economic times. There are fewer sources of
capital and more risk is pushed onto the entrepreneur.
With limited resources for paid search and other costly
marketing techniques, an early stage internet company can
build organic traffic through SEO and social marketing.
This presentation gives best practices for these approaches.
2 Copyright © 2009 Will O'Brien
(willobrien.wordpress.com)

About The Author
Will O’Brien (will@hiscatalog.com)
Startup founder, casual filmmaker and general optimist
Blog: willobrien.wordpress.com; Twitter: @willobrien
Education: MIT Sloan MBA and Harvard University Computer Science
Work: Founder of His Catalog (hiscatalog.com)
• Eliminate the hassle of shopping
for men’s clothing
• Get recommendations based on
your personal preferences
• Read advice on what to wear
from real expert stylists
• Visually build outfits with clothes
from your favorite brands
hiscatalog.com
3 Copyright © 2009 Will O'Brien
(willobrien.wordpress.com)

SEO and Social Media
How To Build An Organic Following Online
Copyright © 2009 Will O'Brien
4
(willobrien.wordpress.com)

There Are 3 Sources Of Inbound Marketing; You
Have Greatest Control Over SEO And Social Media†
Slide Originally by HubSpot
†
5 Copyright © 2009 Will O'Brien
(willobrien.wordpress.com)

SEO 101 – Understand The Impact Of Being A Top
Organic Result (Golden Triangle Statistics)†
85% click on “natural” (unpaid) results
72% of searchers click on the first link of interest
25.5% read all listings first, then decide
Position 7-10 in natural listings = top 4 PPC slots on the right hand side
Data from Range Online Media
†
6 Copyright © 2009 Will O'Brien
(willobrien.wordpress.com)

Building SEO Strength Takes Time; Focus Your
Energies On The Key Drivers For SEO
Continuous generation of original content
Keyword-rich URLs (e.g., http://hiscatalog.com/style-advice/outfits/64-warm-weather-cocktail-party)
Unique page titles and descriptions
Sitemap
XML listing of all pages on your site
Don’t forget to sitemap your blog!
Links from sites with more PageRank than yours
Press coverage
Comment in other blogs and sites
Social media sites
7 Copyright © 2009 Will O'Brien
(willobrien.wordpress.com)

Take Advantage Of Social Media – Promote New
Content To Social Channels On A Regular Basis
8 Copyright © 2009 Will O'Brien
(willobrien.wordpress.com)

Lessons Learned From Building His Catalog :
Don’t Expect SEO to Be Automatic
Bake SEO into the DNA of your product .. Early
It takes a while for Google to index your site
Sitemaps and URL structure are critical
Allow users to share your content and promote your brand
Use tools like on content pages
Build buzz on Twitter and Facebook!
Tweet regular updates and follow tweeple in your industry
Build a Facebook product page and syndicate your blog
9 Copyright © 2009 Will O'Brien
(willobrien.wordpress.com)

Tools and Resources
Books
Website Grader
Webinars
SEO Starter Guide
Google Analytics Larry Weber, Marketing to the Social Web
Webmaster Tools
Email lists, forums, friends
10 Copyright © 2009 Will O'Brien
(willobrien.wordpress.com)