Grow organically with SEO and content
Compound free traffic with SEO, content, and earned press.
3 steps to get you moving, each with a resource worth your time and more waiting underneath
Think of this as a friendly starting line, not the last word. Each step gives you the gist, then a resource worth your time from founders who've been there. There's always more underneath, more questions and more resources, whenever you feel like digging in.
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1
SEO for D2C brands
Free traffic that compounds while you sleep.
I just launched my Shopify store. Where do I even start with SEO?The gist Start with the boring stuff before touching content: get Search Console verified, submit your sitemap, check that product and collection pages are actually indexed, and audit page speed, Shopify's default theme is fine but bloated apps will tank your Core Web Vitals faster than anything else. Nail the on-page basics (unique title tags, real product descriptions instead of the manufacturer's copy-paste) before you pay a ₹40-50k/month 'SEO expert' to tell you the same thing. Budget 3-4 months before Search Console shows anything worth screenshotting, SEO is not a launch-week channel.
SEO Starter Guide: The Basics developers.google.com Straight from the source that actually runs the ranking algorithm, Google's own explanation of what makes a site eligible to rank, rewritten to be genuinely beginner-friendly. Skip the paraphrased blog posts and read the original. -
2
Content & social media
Show up daily so the ad has somewhere to land.
Should I be on Instagram, YouTube Shorts, and Pinterest, or just pick one? Where do I actually put my limited time?The gist Don't spread yourself across five platforms on day one - pick the one where your customer is already searching for what you sell, and go deep. Instagram Reels is the default for most Indian D2C brands because discovery and checkout live in one app; YouTube Shorts is worth the extra lift once you have real product-education content to show; Pinterest is the sleeper pick for anyone in home, fashion or beauty because most top searches there are unbranded and nobody's fighting you for it. Run one platform properly for 90 days before you add a second - a strong Instagram with 3 reels a week beats three mediocre feeds.
A Pinterest Strategy for Growing an Ecommerce Brand practicalecommerce.com The most underrated platform pick for Indian home, fashion and beauty brands - this explains why unbranded, high-intent Pinterest search traffic converts differently (and often better) than social discovery, and how to set up shoppable pins without an agency. -
3
PR & earned media
Get written about without a PR retainer.
How do I get press coverage for my D2C brand without hiring a PR agency?The gist Most early-stage founders don't need a ₹1.5-2.5L/month retainer, they need one good story and a shortlist of 10-15 journalists who actually cover their category, pitched directly and personally. Build the story around a real hook (a customer, a founder journey, a hard number), not a product-launch email, and send it yourself before you ever call an agency. Agencies earn their fee once you have a repeatable news cadence, funding, expansion, category leadership, to sustain; before that, founder-led outreach beats a retainer on ROI every time.
PR Fundamentals for Early-Stage Founders bvp.com A top-tier VC's field guide to PR written for founders with zero media experience, it treats journalist relationships as a long game, not a press-release blast, which is exactly the mindset shift most first-time founders need.
