Five Reasons to Invest Early in SEO

Oftentimes, when our SEO team at Stella Rising is introduced to emerging brands, they ask us: “Why should we invest in SEO now, before people hear about our brand? Shouldn’t we wait?” There are a few limited instances—such as when a brand is creating a category—when waiting makes sense; however, for the vast majority of brands, an early investment in SEO reaps compounding benefits. In this post, I highlight reasons to invest in SEO early—particularly if the brand website has not been built yet. The beginning is the time to establish the foundation for what will likely be one of your biggest revenue drivers: organic traffic.

WHY TO INVEST IN SEO EARLY ON IN A BRAND’S LIFE

1. Data Should Guide Product Development and Naming: All content and copy—from how products are named to the way items are described on a website—can significantly impact SEO performance over time. Product names, taxonomy, and URLs are harder to change later on and are best to set up correctly at the start. Our team can help develop keyword research, which supports the naming of products, copy production, taxonomy decisions, and more.
2. Save Money on Web Development: Hiring an SEO team after a site build almost guarantees that changes will be request of the dev team. Specifying pertinent SEO needs within the development partner scope of work can save brands thousands of dollars—and time! This workflow efficiency then materially impacts the number of additional tasks for the SEO team; SEO recommendations only impact your site once executed, so early implementation is key.
3. SEO Takes Time: SEO can take anywhere from six to 12 months to begin showing significant return on investment. Once the benefits of SEO actualize, however, organic traffic becomes the highest revenue-driving channel and the highest ROI marketing activity for many brands. Early investment = earlier benefits.
4. SEO Friendly vs. SEO Optimized: Virtually all development partners and theme developers create what they call “SEO Friendly” environments. With that said, there is a big difference between “SEO Optimized” and “SEO Friendly.” At Stella Rising, optimizing a new website is a three-month process that involves myriad best-in-class tools, over 100 hours of work, and a 30+ point checklist of optimization tasks.
5. SEO Helps to Understand Your Audience: What content will answer your consumers’ questions? An intelligent use of SEO reporting builds crucial insights into what your consumers are looking for. Then, our team can help make sure your brand website presents the content your consumers are craving, driving them to conversion.

At Stella Rising, we have vast experience in helping to launch brands, positioning them strategically, for long-term growth. Interested in how we can help accelerate your new brand through SEO, digital marketing, research, and best-in-class media? Connect with us.