This document aims to alleviate the difficulties faced by Korean users learning Framer due to the lack of Korean resources, by translating content from the official blog into Korean and adding practical information. We hope it serves as a small help to those using Framer.

Why Startups Need an SEO Strategy

While there are countless SEO guides available online, most are tailored for e-commerce (shopping malls) or location-based services (e.g., Toronto wedding photographers). Startup websites typically prioritize user acquisition or sales leads. Use this guide focused on startup goals to create an SEO strategy that suits your company.

When SEO May Not Be Suitable

SEO is not always the answer, and there are cases where it may not be appropriate.

• When you need automated solutions for signups/sales: SEO requires high-quality content and ongoing investment, rather than simple tricks. For the goals pursued, it may be challenging to justify the effort put into search engines compared to other competitive areas.
  
  

• When quick results are necessary: SEO is an asset built over months and years, requiring continuous investment and careful monitoring. If quick conversions are the goal, paid acquisitions might be more effective.

Why Is SEO Important?

A good website should lead visitors to conversions such as signing up, purchases, or reservations. To maximize results, increasing traffic is crucial. Some visitors arrive via links or by directly typing the URL, but 30-70% come through searches.

Search traffic generally falls into two categories:

1. Branded search: Visitors who directly search for a company name like “Framer.”

2. Non-branded search: Visitors searching for broader terms (e.g., "how to create a custom site"). Note that higher rankings in non-branded search results can increase traffic and conversion rates.

What Can You Expect?

Visitor behavior can be categorized through acquisition channels. However, even with state-of-the-art analytics tools, tracking is often incomplete due to browser privacy and security enhancements. Using Google Analytics → Acquisition → All Traffic → Channels, you can see analysis results like this:

The SEO activity to focus on here is Organic Search (non-branded). Depending on your company's type, you can develop different strategies and expectations.

• Startups (e.g., Series A~B stage): Investing about 20% of a small marketing team’s efforts in SEO and content creation can lead to non-branded search traffic growing to match branded search over time. With excellent SEO execution, you can expect 1.5 to 2 times more visitors.
  
  

• Large companies (e.g., 1-800-FLOWERS): With a dedicated SEO team, non-branded search traffic can outpace branded search by tenfold, significantly increasing visitor numbers. In this case, SEO can be more than a marketing channel; it can become a core business driver.

How Does SEO Work?

SEO is the process of achieving a high ranking in search results. The higher the ranking, the higher the click-through rate, while lower rankings receive little traffic. Focus on the following key factors to improve rankings:

1. Backlinks

In the early internet days, many search engines existed, but a trillion-dollar company emerged with the PageRank service, revolutionizing search ranking markets.

Their logic was to count how many links from other pages pointed to a specific page. If multiple pages linked to the same page, it was deemed valuable and useful. This system made search results much more relevant and trustworthy. Since controlling links from other websites is nearly impossible, it’s difficult to manipulate. Even today, backlinks remain a crucial factor in SEO ranking.

2. Authority

Domain Authority reflects the importance of all pages within a domain. Links from high-authority domains (e.g., Apple.com) offer much more valuable backlinks than those from low-authority sites.

3. Keywords

Keywords are words or phrases that match user search queries on a page. By using specific phrases (e.g., “California minivan camping”), searches can become more targeted. SEO typically prioritizes keywords through a hierarchy, from broad terms to specific phrases.

4. Crawlers

Search engines use crawlers (or spiders) to scan pages, index content, and track links and keywords. They discover new sites through links or sitemaps (a list of pages provided by a site owner).

5. Scoring & Penalties

Search engines rank pages to display in search results. While backlinks are the most important factor, several other variables exist.

• Penalties: Pages may face penalties based on keyword stuffing, page loading speed, lack of mobile optimization, duplicate content, etc.

• Engagement: Google evaluates how long visitors stay on a page. If users quickly leave a page, its ranking may drop. Tools like Google Analytics can track such engagement.

The Framework of an Effective SEO Strategy

To develop an effective SEO strategy, focus on these three key areas, plan your approach, and execute systematically.

1. Use a professional site builder with advanced SEO capabilities like Framer

2. Create high-quality content tailored to your target audience

3. Secure backlinks from authoritative sites

Trade-offs Startups Should Consider

1. Content Quality

Producing high-quality content is challenging, especially without professional staff. Bulk content creators, interns, or AI tools can help, but low-quality content can negatively affect brand image. It is important to choose an approach that aligns with brand goals and maintain consistency.

2. Clarifying Target Audience

Clear customer positioning simplifies keyword research and backlink analysis. Defining and verifying your target audience is essential, as well as focusing on relevant keywords and partnerships with that audience.

3. Brand vs. Experimentation

To find effective methods, frequent experiments and measuring results are advisable. However, excessive experimentation can reduce quality. Therefore, it is recommended to set clear guidelines for experiments, assign approval responsibilities, and establish minimum quality standards to limit exposure to low-quality experiments.

Conclusion

For startups, SEO is not a magical weapon for rapid growth. However, with continuous investment, it can become the most sustainable and cost-effective customer acquisition channel. Use this guide to develop the right SEO strategy for your company and achieve your goals.

If you encounter issues or need further assistance, please contact the Framer support team through the support page.

This article is a translated and adapted version of Framer’s official blog ‘SEO strategy for startups’ content.