The Startup Blog - good PR and Google
by Startacus Admin
Last week Lauren addressed the all important issue of finding your business niche. This week Lauren returns and highlights how to attract that niche, google and good PR!
"Start-up diary week 7"
As I’m an internet based business, the biggest challenge I have to get my business up and running is to get customers visiting my website (or traffic, to use the more internet-y term, but I don’t like that term. To me, ‘customers’ is more appropriate). However, I’ve decided to invest minimal time and money in the normal SEO work you’d expect with a start-up. Here I explain why.
The benefit of being on the first page of a Google search result is obvious. Relevant, targeted customers will visit your website. However, there is no shortcut to achieving this and
there is no easy way of ranking that highly. Some companies may choose an aggressive strategy but it costs a lot of money. Try and do it cheaper (e.g. bulk buying backlinks) and Google is likely to look on that unfavourably.
However, Google is not the only method that customers are using to find what they are looking for on the web. Customers are interested in recommendations from friends, peers and respected authorities. So for me, good PR for my site is a much better investment.
How do you get good PR? Well, you could get lucky. Sara Blakeley, the founder of Spanx, got perhaps the luckiest break any business could. Oprah called her and told her she was endorsing her products. How about that for good fortune? However, I don’t think you can rely on this sort of luck. You need to start small. That is certainly my approach anyway.
I spoke last week about how I’d narrowed down my target market to new mums and baby showers. 
From all my research into this group, what I’ve discovered is that there is a wonderful, tight knit group of mum bloggers out there. There are some fantastic, funny and entertaining blogs written from the point of view of new mum to other mums, they are part of blogging networks and active on social networks like Twitter. They often do product reviews, and it is this group that I’m looking at investing my time and my marketing budget. These bloggers individually may draw in a small audience but that audience is very specific and perfectly fits my demographic. In starting small, what I’m aiming to do is to use my marketing budget intelligently and see how far I can stretch those pounds and pennies by focusing as closely as I can on promoting my business to my target customer. It makes far more sense to me to do this than, for example, to pay for hundreds of backlinks on websites which are irrelevant to my customers.
Of course, I’m not ignoring Google. That would be foolish. But this approach will allow me to slowly build up the word on Giftizzi to a relevant audience (organic growth, to use the fashionable term), and that is exactly what Google likes and rewards well.
About the author: Lauren is an entrepreneur and author of www.theglitteringeyesbrigade.com – a blog about her journey in starting her own business
If you like what you see here on Startacus and want to get involved yourself, why not become a member of our growing community by joining for free here!
Subscribe to our newsletter
If you would like to receive our startup themed newsletter, full of the latest startup opportunities, events, news, stories, tips and advice, then sign up here.
London startup Soldo, is aiming to streamline the entire business expense cycle –from payment to reconciliation.
Don’t worry if your business died. You just got a step closer to entrepreneurial heaven says Richard Myers, Commercial Director at Transmit Start-Ups.
SupplyCompass, a design-to-delivery sourcing platform that provides an efficient and sustainable solution for global supply chains, agrees a £1.5m seed fund deal.
Apprenticeship startup WhiteHat raises $16m Series A led by Index Ventures and prepares to expand its alternative to university.
How can women effectively challenge gender bias in the workplace? Hayley Mackenzie from Boiler Guide, shares here thoughts and experience.
The app that's aiming to help us to take the first step in reversing climate change...
The startup that's providing Nursing Home residents with additional meaningful social interactions provided by local people!
Some easy and inexpensive ways to make your start-up more secure.
The vidiCREW app is on a mission to show your wedding through the eyes of your loved ones. How does it work?
The Startup Leadership Program continues to grow, inviting applications for its 9th London cohort to join the six-month program.
Published on: 30th July 2013
If you would like to enable commenting via your Startacus account, please enable Disqus functionality in your Account Settings.
- Startup Leadership Program invites applications for its 9th London cohort 12th Jul 2019 The Startup Leadership Program continues to grow, inviting applications for its 9th London cohort to join the six-month program.
- Latest Zinc Company Builder Programme to transform the quality of later life 9th Jul 2019 Do you want to build a new purpose-driven startup with support from a world-class network of experts?
- HealthTech startups sought for Greater Manchester Future of Health Challenge 4th Jul 2019 The Greater Manchester Future of Health Challenge is on the hunt for innovative healthtech startups and scaleups...
- Seedrs FMCG Accelerator Programme to help 10 UK-based FMCG businesses 3rd Jul 2019 Seedrs have launched their first FMCG Accelerator Programme dedicated to helping up to 10 UK-based FMCG businesses raise capital.
