Our Operations Manager and SEO whiz Conor Doyle talks about Foundational SEO for Startups. We look at the three things that we believe you should focus on if you're just getting started with SEO for your business.

1. Foundational SEO for
Startups
with Conor Doyle
#SFGettingSmarter

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What we hope you can take
away from this:
1. Knowing what you should be focusing on in
order to build your business online.
2. From our experience, the easiest things you
can do or invest in right now to improve your
long game.
3. Why you don’t ever have to care about the
“scary algorithms” when you have
competitor intelligence at your fingertips.

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The biggest thing that small business owners forget
about…
All consumers are moving rapidly through a
multi-device, multi-channel journey.
If you’re lucky enough to capture them for a
moment in this journey, or be even more lucky
and have them remember you…
They need to be able to find you.
FAST

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What you need to provide
1. Your website (in position 1 on Google) the second
they search for you.
2. A user experience that is pleasant, simple and easy
3. Proof that others used your product or service, and
loved it

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It all starts with the name
• Business names targeted to keywords now work against you
• For searches like these, Google will keep things broad and
offer a variety of results
• The best brand name is a random string of characters that
until now, means nothing to Google or anyone on the planet

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What happens when you use a random brand name
with no prior meaning:
Youfoodz - Top 10 Results on Google
Youfoodz: You'll never eat frozen again. Fresh meals
delivered to your ...
https://youfoodz.com/
View Our Menu https://youfoodz.com/collections/all
Meal Plans https://youfoodz.com/collections/meal-plans
Stockists https://youfoodz.com/pages/stockists
Youfoodz Reviews - ProductReview.com.au https://www.productreview.com.au/p/youfoodz.html
Youfoodz - Home | Facebook https://www.facebook.com/youfoodz/
Youfoodz Reviews | Read Customer Service Reviews of
youfoodz.com
https://au.trustpilot.com/review/youfoodz.com
youfoodz: Deals, Coupons and Vouchers - OzBargain https://www.ozbargain.com.au/deals/youfoodz.com
Youfoodz Wholesale https://www.yfwholesale.com/
YouFoodz Stockist Locations | Ritchies Supermarkets https://www.ritchies.com.au/youfoodz-stockist-locations

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What happens when you attempt to target a
keyword:
Brisbane Plumbing And Gas - Top 10 Results on Google
Brisbane Plumbing and Gas - Reliable Plumbing Services https://www.brisbaneplumbinggas.com.au/
Brisbane Plumbing & Gas in Balmoral, Brisbane, QLD, Plumbing
...
https://www.truelocal.com.au/business/brisbane-plumbing-and-gas/balmoral
Plumbing & Gas Co: Brisbane Plumbers and Gas Fitters http://plumbingandgasco.com.au/
Brisbane Plumbing & Gas, Plumber - Word of Mouth https://www.wordofmouth.com.au/reviews/brisbane-plumbing-and-gas
Plumbers & Gas Fitters Brisbane https://www.waterwiseplumbing.com.au/
Brisbane Plumbing & Brisbane Gas Fitting - Blaze Plumbing &
Gas
http://blazeplumbingandgas.com.au/about-us/
59 Brisbane Plumbing And Gas jobs | Jora https://au.jora.com/Brisbane-Plumbing-And-Gas-jobs
55 Brisbane Plumbing and Gas jobs in Brisbane QLD | Jora https://au.jora.com/Brisbane-Plumbing-and-Gas-jobs-in-Brisbane-QLD
Plumbers & Gas Fitters in BRISBANE CBD, QLD - Yellow Pages https://www.yellowpages.com.au/find/plumbers-gas-fitters/brisbane-cbd-qld
Brisbane Plumbing and Gas Pty Ltd - Bulimba - Julia ... - Hipages https://www.homeimprovementpages.com.au/connect/smartstateplumbing/service/343346

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What happens when you attempt to target a
keyword:
https://www.brisbaneplumbinggas.com.au/
https://www.truelocal.com.au/business/brisbane-plumbing-and-gas/balmoral
http://plumbingandgasco.com.au/
https://www.wordofmouth.com.au/reviews/brisbane-plumbing-and-gas
https://www.waterwiseplumbing.com.au/
http://blazeplumbingandgas.com.au/about-us/
https://au.jora.com/Brisbane-Plumbing-And-Gas-jobs
https://au.jora.com/Brisbane-Plumbing-and-Gas-jobs-in-Brisbane-QLD
https://www.yellowpages.com.au/find/plumbers-gas-fitters/brisbane-cbd-qld
https://www.homeimprovementpages.com.au/connect/smartstateplumbing/ser
vice/343346
Correct Brand Site or Related
Competitor
Jobsite
Directory Listing

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How to own all 10 organic spots on
Google
• Website + sitelinks
• Your twitter feed (have to be posting frequently for it to work)
• Facebook Page
• YouTube Page
• LinkedIn Page
• Twitter Page
• 1-5 spots as directory listings (word of mouth, yellow pages,
truelocal, yelp, productreview, trustpilot)
• 1-2 spots as job site profiles (glassdoor, seek)
• 1 spot as your Wikipedia page (save this for once you’re bigger)

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Action points:
• Choose a brand name that is completely unique
• If you already have a brand name that isn’t unique, speak to an
SEO agency about other tactics to push your competition out of
Page 1 (difficulty level = hard mode)
• Create your website sooner rather than later, Google needs to
index it for weeks or months before it will show.
• Create your social media accounts.
• Submit your business and website to directory listings, and fill out
everything you possibly can.
• Create your job board profiles (optional)

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What you need to provide
1. Your website (in position 1 on Google) the second
they search for you.
2. A user experience that is pleasant, simple and easy
3. Proof that others used your product or service, and
loved it

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In a recent study from Forrester Research, a well-designed user interface could
raise your website’s conversion rate by up to a 200%, and a better UX design
could yield conversion rates up to 400%.
forbes.com

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Examples of user experiences that are pleasant, simple and easy to use

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Examples of user experiences that are pleasant, simple and easy to use

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Examples of user experiences that are pleasant, simple and easy to use
• Simple, clean navigation
• Strong and obvious CTA above the fold
• USP front and center
• Easy way to contact or ask a question

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Examples of user experiences that are pleasant, simple and easy to use
• Mega menu makes getting around the
site simple
• Putting together this order is a breeze
• No over complication, and more details
readily available if you need them

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Examples of user experiences that are pleasant, simple and easy to use
• FAQs separated by type of question,
“Product”, “Ordering”, etc.

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Examples of user experiences that are pleasant, simple and easy to use
• Queensland Building and Construction
Commission License Number in the logo
• Simple, clean navigation
• Strong and obvious CTA above the fold
• Phone numbers for days

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Examples of user experiences that are pleasant, simple and easy to use
• “On Time Guarantee”
• Further elaboration on USP, strong
proposition
• Breakdown of how it works
• Accreditations and suppliers

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Examples of user experiences that are pleasant, simple and easy to use
• Not stuck wondering about what
services they offer

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Examples of user experiences that are
pleasant, simple and easy to use
• Contact Form is detailed, but not too
detailed.
• Only thing we would avoid is making
providing an alternative number a
mandatory field

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An example of a user experience that needs work
• CTA is weak and generic – “QLD #1 doggy
daycare”
• So much non-utilized space
• Everything else squished in as a result –
makes it hard to read
• Chat function is offline, should it be
there if so?

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An example of a user experience that needs work
• Extremely content heavy,
ain’t nobody got time for
that

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An example of a user experience that needs work
• Not responsive, please don’t
make me pinch to zoom
• Had trouble tapping the
boxes in the form let alone
filling them out
• Most people would give up
straight away and look
elsewhere

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Action points:
• Speak to a professional about a website, just as you would for
anything else you really care about
• Be willing to invest $5,000+ on a site that looks great and is easy to
use, it will help you get more traffic and win repeat customers
• We recommend Wordpress for easy SEO - other CMS like
Squarespace and WIX make SEO very difficult in some ways
• Just like a chef who tries his own food before serving – you must
put yourself in the shoes of your user

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What you need to provide
1. Your website (in position 1 on Google) the second
they search for you.
2. A user experience that is pleasant, simple and easy
3. Proof that others used your product or service, and
loved it

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92% of consumers read online reviews and testimonials when considering a
purchase. 88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal
recommendations. 72% of them say positive reviews and testimonials make them
trust a business more.
bigcommerce.com

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When a consumer interacts with your review, three things happen.
• They are 58% more likely to convert
• They generate 62% more revenue per site visitor
• They buy 3% more per order
bigcommerce.com

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Examples of social proof leveraged well

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Do other people like YouFoodz?

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Do other people like Brisbane Plumbing and Gas?

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Action points:
• As an exercise, imagine you are a customer of your own business and
try and find some information online about what other people think
about the product or service.
• If the overarching sentiment is not positive, your customers will walk
away
• Do you collect feedback from your customers? This is the place to learn
about happy customers who you can encourage to share their
experience on Google and other platforms.
• Be careful though, Google & other platforms with review functionality
do a lot of work to ensure reviews are genuine and authentic
(never incentivise review posting).
https://www.accc.gov.au/business/advertising-promoting-your-
business/managing-online-reviews

33. #SFGettingSmarter
THANK YOU!
Conor Doyle
Operations & Business Development Manager
conor.doyle@searchfactory.com.au
Search Factory Brisbane
Lobby 2, Level 2 | 76 Skyring Tce, Newstead QLD 4006