I’m an ex-startup founder. I’ve also had the pleasure of being part of some remarkable startups programs like turn-8 pre accelerator in Dubai and Y-Combinator (the world’s most powerful startup incubator program) online startup school back in 2017 that offered both learning and direct mentorship with some of the most successful and smart startup founders. So I know a thing or two about SEO for startups and I'm sharing it all!

1. SEO for Startups
Tactics to win the SERPs with a small budget, no
authority and on the go!

2. Sara Taher
SEO Manager
Email: Saraseo86@gmail.com
Twitter: @SaraTaherSEO

3. "A startup is a company designed to grow fast.” ~ Paul Graham
(a) make something lots of people want, and (b) reach and serve all
those people.

4. ● Mindset
● Budget
● Lack of
Understanding
● Fast Growth
Working in a Startup is not for everyone!

5. Zero Budget, Zero Authority & on the Go!
SEO for my startup till I took it down in 2019

6. ● Technical
● On-Page
● Authority
● The Right Mindset
Main Pillars

7. ❏ Go for an aged domain
❏ Avoid custom websites and go for plug & play
CMS if that’s an option like WordPress.
❏ Buy an existing relevant website/blog
❏ If the website has a custom backend, build a
blog or a resource centre on a sub-folder on
WordPress to have more control.
Technical SEO for Startups
Tips & Basics

8. Aim to have a website that:
❏ Allows search engines to access and index all
important pages.
❏ GSC, GA, Sitemap, Robots.txt
❏ Is secure (SSL).
❏ Content is readable by search engines
(rendering)
❏ Doesn’t generate duplicate content.
❏ Has good Internal linking to build topical
authority and relevance.
Technical SEO for Startups
Tips & Basics

9. On-Page SEO for Startups

10. Rule #1 Don’t focus on search volume, please!
On-Page SEO for Startups
GSC Data
Ahrefs Data

11. How do you create a winning
content strategy for a startup?
● New website so no or very little existing content
● New product/service so cannot depend on
keyword research
● Sometimes there are no direct competitors

12. On-Page SEO for Startups
○ Know your customers (Pains & Gains)
○ Learn from alternative solutions
○ Use intel from paid ads
○ Then think of optimizing for keywords.
○ Test, test, test….

13. On-Page SEO for Startups
Best Stuff Nearby!
● Only competitors were Ecommerce websites.
● We didn’t want to target common category and product
keywords.
Example: Storeleaks

14. On-Page SEO for Startups
● where to buy gold in dubai
● where to buy abaya in dubai
● where to buy baby stuff
● where to buy shea butter in dubai
● where to buy bed sheets in dubai
● where to buy cheap plants in dubai
● where to buy dresses in dubai
● where to buy diamonds in dubai
Example: Storeleaks

15. On-Page SEO for Startups
Electric Vehicle Advantage
Electric cars are cheaper to operate and maintain, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and deliver better
performance
Scénario: Tesla Electric Cars

16. On-Page SEO for Startups
If you followed your usual content strategy process, this is the type of keywords and
therefore topics you’ll end up with:
● electric car
● best electric car
● cheap electric cars
● electric vehicles charging stations
● are electric cars worth it
● are electric car batteries recyclable
● are electric cars more expensive
● are electric cars the future
● are electric car charging stations free
● are electric cars cheaper than gas
● are electric cars reliable
Example: Tesla Electric Cars

17. On-Page SEO for Startups
With a content strategy tailored with a startup mindset, this is the kind of keywords you
can target:
● fastest accelerating car 2021 (Gain)
● fastest 0 60 car 2020 (Gain)
● fast affordable cars (Gain)
● car gas average cost (Pain)
● car gas bill per month (Pain)
● car gas cost per month (Pain)
● car gas efficiency (Pain)
● car gas expense calculator (Pain)
● best low maintenance cars (Gain)
● What kind of cars are zero emission? (Gain)
Example: Tesla Electric Cars

18. On-Page SEO for Startups
● Decide what CTA to include
● *Startup Mindset: You may want target a small segment of the
market & dominate it first and then move to other segments.
Keep in Mind

19. Authority for Startups
First, let’s re-define authority
There’s a misconception that
authority only means backlinks!

20. Authority for Startups
● Audit your company’s social profiles.
● Create profiles on relevant social media if needed.
● Make sure links are included with everypost, in about,
etc…
● Engagement and clicks matter….
● Join market relevant FB groups and post blog content.
● *Startup Mindset: Do things that don’t scale.
Social Signals

21. Authority for Startups
Creative Commons

22. Présentation
Sara Taher
THANK YOU