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Once you’ve launched your startup, your startup website design is live and ready, you’ve added some keywords, posted a few blogs, and according to everything you’ve read about SEO, you’ve done all you had to do. So what is Google waiting for? Why is nothing happening? Where’s the traffic?
Well, Google shmoogle.
Unfortunately, Google won’t rank you simply because you exist. It doesn’t care how innovative your product is or how many hours you’ve spent working on the site. It cares for your startup website design, meaning trust, how people interact with it, and too many startups forget that.
There’s no point in flooding your site with content or obsessing over the perfect homepage copy. What you need to do is to make your website look legit, to both users and to Google. That means authority, credibility, and a few specific signals that most new companies overlook.
You might be thinking that the last thing this world needs is another article on basic SEO. And we agree, so that’s not what this is. What you’ll find here is what actually matters to Google when it decides whether to show your business to the Internet or bury it on the 5th page.
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Before we dive into detail, let’s take a quick view of What and Why; just so you know what ot expect:
Factor | Why is this important? |
Site Speed/Structure | UX is a high-ranking factor |
Img Optimization | Unoptimized images slow site speed + need SEO |
Helpful Content | Google favors useful content |
SSL (HTTPS) + Legal Pages | HTTP sites have a disadvantage in rankings; add trust signals |
High-quality Backlinks | Builds domain authority |
Internal Linking (Inbound & Outbound) | Builds good structure/navigation throughout the site; easier to crawl through |
Author ID/Credentials | Trust and expertise signal |
But yeah, some startups seem to rank right away, others stay invisible for months.
Here’s how to be part of the first group.
Google needs to understand your site the moment it lands on it, so if your structure makes zero sense (messy menus, broken pages, long loading times), you’re in a pickle. If your site takes forever to load or is hard to navigate on phones and tablets, that’s a red flag. 50% of your audience wants your site to load in less than 2 seconds. After 3, they’ll go somewhere else.
Think of it this way – would a real person get annoyed trying to use your site? If they would, Google would, too.
When someone lands on your site, they subconsciously ask:
A professional design answers all of these questions at a glance. From font choices and color schemes to layout and spacing, every visual detail reflects how serious and credible your business appears. If anything looks off, it can create doubt, even if your product is exceptional.
Images usually tend to get slapped on a website, just so that it looks prettier and the ‘wall of text’ is disrupted a bit. And when it comes to good startup website design, that part is completely fine.
Here’s the part that tends to get forgotten/overlooked. The images should all be compressed and in WebP format. This is because WebP images are (usually) 25-35% smaller in size compared to the traditionally used JPEG and PNG, it has wide browser support (most popular browsers), plus just like PNG, they support transparency. This part is super important because images greatly affect website load speeds.
Once the file size has been optimized, you also need to add Alt Text to the image. Basically, you’re adding a keyword that will ‘describe’ the image (much like KW optimization).
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Pages full of keywords won’t impress Google. But content that helps people will. If someone lands on your site with a question, will they be able to find a useful answer in under 30 seconds? This is what Google likes to see.
Don’t write more – write better. Address real problems your audience is searching for and keep your answers clear, focused, and honest. If you write posts only to rank, you’re wasting your time.
Google takes security very seriously. If your site shows up as ‘Not secure’ in the browser bar, that’s a big problem. Google wants to see HTTPS, and it also looks for things like privacy policies, contact pages, and terms of service. You might think all of these are just legal checkboxes, but to Google, they’re signs that your site is legit.
A website that doesn’t show who’s behind it or makes it hard for users to get in touch looks shady (and it probably is). And Google doesn’t do shady.
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In short this means – no spam. Usually what startups do is they buy a bunch of ‘affordable’ backlinks to get a boost, but what you get is lots of links from websites that have absolutely nothing to do with what your website (e.g., PBNs, link farms, spammy directories, irrelevant language sites, etc.) is about, and the link usually has zero context around it but is instead unnaturaly/forcefully inserted. This almost always ends in penalties because Google is smarter than that.
Sure, you might get a quick spike in traffic. But Google is just testing you. Once the crawlers do a proper inspection, the rankings will drop. If you get a manual action penalty, then the traffic will drop to zero.
What actually works is getting organic, high-quality links from sites that already have authority. If you want to scale without getting manual penalties, white label link building is the answer. It’s a way to get trusted, high-quality (non-spammy), and contextual backlinks through vetted partners, and it builds a real backlink profile that Google trusts.
Google follows links to understand how your content is connected. If one page links to another in a logical way (say, a blog post linking to a product page or an FAQ), it helps Google figure out the structure of your site.
This also makes it easier for users to explore your content. Just don’t overthink it; make sure your pages are connected in a way that makes sense, and that’s it. No dead ends and no orphaned pages.
This is what many startups forget. Google is nosy and wants to know who’s behind the content on your site. Not just because it’s a credibility thing, but because it’s a ranking factor. Include author names, bios, and credentials on your articles to let visitors (and Google!) see that your content comes from real people with real expertise.
If it’s possible, use structured data (e.g., schema markup) to help Google link the author to their broader online identity.
Factor | What you need to do |
Site Speed + Structure | Fast load times, mobile-friendly, clean menus |
Image Optimization | Use WebP, compress, and add Alt Txt |
Helpful Content | Add Real value; avoid fluff/filler |
HTTPS + Legal Pages | SSL for HTTPS; add contact, about us, privacy policy, TOS |
Quality Backlinks | White-hat backlinks, avoid spammy sites |
Internal Linking | Link pages logically; avoid dead ends |
Author Identity | Add author bio, credentials, Schema Markup |
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If you think Google is your friend and it wants to rank you, you’re sorely mistaken. Think of it as a bouncer at the world’s most exclusive club. If your startup website design doesn’t meet a bunch of standards, you’re not getting in, no matter how many times you say please.
But the good news, it’s always watching, so if you do make any changes, it will notice. And you don’t even need to have a PhD in search algorithms to make it like you – just show you’re a legit business people can trust.
So, the next thing on your to-do list should be to get yourself a nice cup of coffee and then audit your startup website design using the above-mentioned 7 points and track of which of the changes will Google notice first.
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If you found this post useful you might like to read these post about Graphic Design Inspiration.
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