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Brand, web & content

What is SEO and do I even need it as an early-stage startup?

SEO is making your site show up when people search for what you solve, free, compounding traffic over time. It's worth it if your customers actively search for a solution; it's a slow bet, not a launch tactic. If you need customers this month, do outreach; if you're building a moat for next year, start SEO now.

Go deeper

2 resources, 2 link-checked.

📄 Article
✓ Link checked Free Beginner

Ahrefs' official, regularly-updated SEO fundamentals guide, a canonical primary source, not blogspam, covering the five things that actually matter.

SEO Basics: Beginner's Guide to SEO Success

From Ahrefs by Joshua Hardwick (Ahrefs) 30 min read

  • The five pillars: keyword research, content, on-page, links, technical
  • Set up site structure, URLs and Search Console early
  • Track organic traffic and rankings to know what's working
Open ahrefs.com →
📄 Article
✓ Link checked Free Intermediate

The definitive beginner walkthrough of finding and prioritising keywords, from the tool most SEOs actually use, authoritative and practical.

Keyword Research: The Beginner's Guide by Ahrefs

From Ahrefs by Sam Oh (Ahrefs) 25 min read

  • Start from customer problems, then find real search terms
  • Prioritise low-competition, high-intent keywords first
  • Match search intent, give searchers what they came for
Open ahrefs.com →

Terms in this answer

Search Engine Optimization Moat

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