Google's Top SEO Tips for Startups

A few tips from Google posted by MarketingProfs.com:

Google's Top SEO Tips for Startups
Published on August 31, 2012    

As SEO credibility goes, it doesn't get much better than Google's Developer Programs Tech Lead Maile Ohye. In a 10-minute video, she adopts the role of a consultant to deliver all the advice she'd give to a startup whose website has no more than 50 pages of primary content, and a desire to rank for a handful of keywords.

Here are a few highlights of Ohye's tutorial. If your startup business seeks to quickly rank, consider taking these steps:

• Decide if you want visitors to see the www or non-www version of your domain. Major companies like Google and Facebook tend to use the former, but it's up to you.
• Verify ownership of your site in Webmaster Tools. Also sign up for email forwarding, so Google can alert you to potential problems.
• Perform a background check on your domain. If spammers previously owned your domain, it won't rank well.
• Include analytics code. Whether you use Google Analytics or another provider, it's good to start collecting data, even if you're not ready to use it.
• Use strategy in your site design. You'll get different types of visitors—customers, investors, press. Your site should offer an excellent experience to each persona.
• Define your conversion. Make a relevant conversion possible on every page; don't force users to make extra clicks.
• Be smart about your copy. Use keywords in your text that people normally use to find information about your product or service.
• Check on your ranking. Ideally, you'll rank number one for your company name. But also examine how you rank for other terms.
• Play to authentic strengths. If your CEO likes to tweet, if an engineer is on Google+, or if a salesperson enjoys Facebook—encourage their ongoing activity.

The Po!nt: Go to the source. If you want your startup's website to rank well on Google, why not start with Google's own advice?