# SEO for startups with no budget: what to do in-house

SEO for startups with no budget: find the problems buyers type, write one page per problem, ship free tools, check the basics and get read by AI search.

Canonical: https://ignura.com/blog/seo-for-startups-no-budget
Last updated: 2026-10-29
Author: Jawad Jalal

SEO for startups with no budget means picking the problems your buyers type into Google, writing one useful page for each, and making sure search engines can read those pages. You can do all of it in-house for $0, because Google [says plainly](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/do-i-need-seo) that appearing in its organic results costs nothing and that paying for ads doesn't change them.

What it does cost is time, and more of it than most founders expect. This post covers the work in the order we'd do it, and what to expect, and when.

## The short version

- Find terms by typing your buyers' problems into Google and noting what autocomplete and "People also ask" suggest.
- Write one page per problem. Answer the question in the first two sentences.
- Turn a calculator or checker your buyers need into a free tool. A tool can earn searches and links that a blog post often can't.
- Check the technical basics in Google Search Console, which is free.
- For AI search, the same basics apply. A small llms.txt file and markdown copies of key pages help other AI tools read you.
- Expect weeks before you can judge a change and months before search brings steady sign-ups.

## Pick terms from the problems your buyers type

Start with the problem, not your product name. Nobody searches for a startup they haven't heard of. They search for the thing that's wrong.

Write down five problems your best customers had before they found you, in their words. Then type each one into Google, logged out, and watch what autocomplete suggests as you type. Search it and read the "People also ask" box and the related searches at the bottom. Each one is a real phrase people use.

Google's [SEO starter guide](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/seo-starter-guide) makes the same point: think about the words a user might search for, and remember that people who know a topic well use different words from people who are new to it. Its example is "charcuterie" against "cheese board."

For each phrase, ask three questions:

1. Would someone searching this need what we sell, now or soon?
2. Can we write the best page on the internet for it, from what we know?
3. Are the current top results thin, old or written for someone else?

Keep the terms where all three answers are yes. A short list of five good terms beats a spreadsheet of five hundred.

If you sell to businesses, the problem phrases your first customers used on sales calls are often the best terms you'll find. Our guide on [how to get your first B2B customers](https://ignura.com/blog/how-to-get-first-b2b-customers) covers how to collect them while you sell by hand.

## One page per problem

Give each term its own page. Two pages that answer the same search compete with each other, and a single page that tries to answer five searches answers none of them well.

On each page:

- **Answer first.** The first two sentences should answer the search. Readers decide fast whether to stay.
- **Put the term in the title and the first line,** in the words people use, not your internal jargon.
- **Write from what you know.** Google's guide asks for content that's unique, up to date and "people-first," and says not to rehash what others already published.
- **Link the pages together.** A page about the problem should link to the page about your fix, and to related posts.
- **Keep it current.** Put a review date in your calendar and update facts when they change.

Length isn't the goal. The starter guide says there's no minimum or maximum word count for ranking. Write as long as the answer needs and stop.

## Free tools as SEO pages

A free tool is a page people search for, use and link to. Calculators, checkers, generators and templates work well because the search behind them is practical, like "activation rate calculator" or "cold email checker."

Pick a tool your buyers need just before they'd need you. Keep it small, free and in the browser, with no sign-up wall. Then explain the method on the page, with sources, so it's useful even to people who don't run it.

We do this on our own site. Our free [SERP preview tool](https://ignura.com/tools/serp-preview) shows how a title and meta description may look in Google, with pixel widths. Our [cold email checker](https://ignura.com/tools/cold-email-checker) runs rules-based checks on length, reading level and spam words, each with its source. Our [activation rate calculator](https://ignura.com/tools/activation-rate-calculator) works out the rate from two numbers and shows it next to published SaaS benchmarks. All three are free, run in the browser and store nothing.

You don't need an engineer for a first version. A spreadsheet published as a page, or a simple form with a few lines of code, is enough to test whether people search for it.

## The technical basics to check

Most new sites don't need a technical project. They need a one-hour check. Verify your site in [Google Search Console](https://search.google.com/search-console/about), which is free, then work through these:

- **Are you indexed?** Search `site:yourdomain.com`. If your pages show up, Google has found you. If not, check that nothing is blocking it.
- **Can Google crawl you?** Make sure robots.txt and your hosting or CDN allow it, and use the URL Inspection tool in Search Console to see a page as Google sees it.
- **Is the important text in the HTML?** Content that only appears after a click or inside an image is harder for search engines to read.
- **One URL per page.** If the same page lives at two addresses, redirect one to the other or set a canonical link.
- **Readable URLs and titles.** `/blog/signup-conversion-rate` says more than `/p/8812`. Each page needs its own title and meta description.
- **A sitemap.** Google's guide calls it optional. Most site builders make one for you, so submit it in Search Console.

The starter guide also lists things not to spend time on. Google doesn't use the meta keywords tag, and keyword stuffing is against its spam policies.

## Getting cited by AI search

Google says its AI features, AI Overviews and AI Mode, need nothing extra. Its guide to [AI features and your website](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ai-features) says a page must be indexed and eligible to show with a snippet, the same as normal search. It also says you don't need to create "AI text files" or special markup for those features.

So for Google, the work above is the work. Other AI tools and agents read the web differently, and there's a cheap, open proposal for them. [llms.txt](https://llmstxt.org/), proposed by Jeremy Howard in September 2024, is a markdown file at the root of your site with a one-line summary of who you are and links to your key pages. The same proposal suggests a clean markdown copy of each page at the same URL with `.md` added.

We've done both on ignura.com. Our [llms.txt](https://ignura.com/llms.txt) lists what we fix and links each page, and our homepage has a markdown copy. It's an hour of work, so it's worth doing, but treat it as a proposal, not a ranking factor.

What helps with every AI tool is the same as with search: clear answers near the top of the page, facts with sources, and pages that say plainly who you are and what you do.

## What to expect and when

Be honest with yourself about timing. Google's starter guide says some changes take effect in a few hours and others take several months, and that you should usually wait a few weeks before judging whether a change worked. Its AI features guide says crawling can take anywhere from several days to several months. And Google says no one can guarantee a top ranking.

In practice:

- **Week 1.** Search Console set up, basics checked, five terms picked.
- **Weeks 2 to 6.** One page or tool a week, each linked from the others.
- **From then on.** Check Search Console every week for impressions on your terms. Impressions usually show up before clicks.
- **After a few months.** Judge it on clicks and sign-ups from those pages, not on rankings for one term.

SEO won't fill the pipeline this month. If you need customers sooner, run something faster alongside it and let search build in the background.

## FAQ

### Can a startup do SEO with no budget?

Yes. Google says it costs nothing to appear in organic results, and a small team can do the research, writing and technical checks itself with free tools like Google Search Console.

### How long does SEO take for a startup?

Google says some changes show in hours and others take months, and suggests waiting a few weeks before judging a change. Plan for months before search brings steady sign-ups.

### What should a startup's first SEO pages be?

Pages that answer the problems your buyers search for, one problem per page, and one free tool your buyers need. Your homepage and product pages come next.

### Do I need llms.txt to show up in AI search?

Not for Google. Google says its AI features need no extra files or markup, and that an llms.txt file "will neither harm nor help your site's visibility or rankings in Google Search". llms.txt is an open proposal that other AI tools and agents can use, and it takes about an hour to add.

### Should I hire an SEO agency at pre-seed?

Usually not first. Do the basics in this post yourself. Bring in help when you know which searches turn into customers and need more pages than you can write. Our guide on [choosing a growth agency for startups](https://ignura.com/blog/growth-agency-for-startups) has the questions to ask.

## Nobody finds you on Google?

Ignura is [an AI-native agency that automates your GEO and SEO](https://ignura.com/). We write the pages your buyers search for, and keep them up. In a free 15-minute Growth Check, tell us what your buyers search for, and you leave with a free growth breakdown and strategy.

[Book your free Growth Check](https://ignura.com/book?utm_source=site&utm_medium=blog&utm_content=seo-for-startups-no-budget)

Book a 15-minute call about your website: https://ignura.com/book