Have you ever created a startup in three days? Alexandra Askot did. The art director at MRM Worldwide, a digital advertising agency in Manhattan, rode the StartupBus this week
with about 30 entrepreneurs from Boston to Austin on her way to South by Southwest (SXSW). Her team created the company Yeah Super, which promotes one local company daily by offering a t-shirt and
feature profile on its Web site.
In three days, Askot's team created the company name and LLC, strategy, two mobile apps, and Web site. The group also set up a mailing list, distribution
method, company bank account, and ecommerce site. A video and pitch followed, so the group could present it to judges once they arrive in San Antonio, Texas. The company also experienced going public
through a virtual stock option and trading game on Facebook. "The experience has
been awesome," Askot said.
Creating and setting up the company is two-thirds of the challenge. Yeah Super co-founders now need to start a marketing strategy so prospective consumers can find
it.
SEO tips from aimClear Founder Marty Weintraub include thinking about SEO even before naming a
company. Make sure search engine bots can crawl the site by optimizing it with appropriate keywords on and off the page, as well as in social media profiles. And publish unique and current content
to serve readers better. This will remove barriers.
Reliable SEO Founder David Harry says one of the advantages of starting from scratch is the ability to do things accurately. Getting site
architecture and usability in place will benefit SEO and more. Much of the battle is won before it begins, whether it's on-site SEO, "socializing" the site, or creating logical paths and
conversion-driven funnels.
The biggest problem, Harry says, is that new sites are at a disadvantage -- but they can make up for that by being better. "One of the more common mistakes for a startup is in the research," he says. "Formal keyword
research and targeting is paramount for any kind of ongoing programming and is more often than not an afterthought for most startups. Resources are finite and must be allotted wisely."
Harry
says it is important to also consider tracking and reporting. Correcting systemic issues on the fly is a poor use of resources. Benchmarking and key performance indicators are also often overlooked.
Analytics are of little use without clear and defined goals, he says. Setting the primary and secondary conversion points as well as ways to track them will be essential in order to enable quick
changes.
Paid-search campaign tips from Havas Digital Global Director Rob Griffin point to a focus on quality content, relevance and landing page testing. These are the tricks to driving cost
efficiency so they can compete with bigger competitors with bigger budgets.
Kenshoo CMO Aaron Goldman says to begin by defining goals. Ask yourself whether you're trying to generate
demand, create awareness, grow market share, or gain bottom-line direct ROI. Goldman says to choose the proper key performance indicators. Depending on the goals, choose the right KPIs to manage your
campaigns. For awareness, focus on impression share and average position. For direct ROI, focus on cost per click, conversion rates and average order values. And test everything.
There
are so many variables involved in paid search. You never know which one will be the key to success -- so you have to tweak them all, Goldman said.