If you have a startup, you know that at least half the battle on your road to success is getting people to stumble across your business. Nowadays, most of that stumbling upon is done online—and that means you need search engine optimization for your startup.

On its surface, this sounds simple. Figure out the keywords for your niche, insert them into your content, and BAM—success!

Except, not quite. SEO is pretty complex, and the rules and strategies are constantly changing. Staying on top of everything often requires special training, tools, and a team of professionals keeping everything in line.

This makes SEO for startups difficult. You are working on a limited budget and with a limited staff. Luckily, there are some cost-effective SEO hacks to get you started.

Lay a Foundation of Cornerstone Content

Cornerstone content is a term that refers to content that is always relevant, rich with keywords, and comprehensive. The ideas within should not be tied to trends or current events, allowing them to read evergreen and they should cover the topic in full, establishing you as an authority in the eyes of readers and the search engine algorithms.

Embrace Free Tools

This cost-effective SEO tip is pretty great since it is 100 percent free. Many SEO tools offer a free version, either as a trial product or as a lite version of the real thing. Will these be as helpful as paying for one of the top tools? No, but the idea isn’t to stick with free versions forever; you just need to start driving traffic to your site and get off the ground.

Make Sure Your Content Is Original

This is essential SEO strategy for startups. Original content always matters, especially as a startup—you need to stand out, not mimic. However, search engines penalize content that is too similar to others. On top of that, it can get you in big trouble. Avoid unoriginal text and let your company shine through authentic content.

Keywords, Keywords, Keywords!

Ultimately, if there is one thing you can do to drive content to your site, it is to incorporate relevant, high-search keywords, especially long-tail keywords. Without these, Google won’t so much as look at you. While this does mean doing your research, or using the right free tools, the effort is certain to pay off.

Need help with SEO in Atlanta? SEO Guru is here to help. From local SEO in Cumming to getting a national audience, we can help your startup do it all.