10 SEO Steps Every Entrepreneur Needs to Grow Their Online Presence

Launching a new venture takes more than passion—it demands visibility. In a digital-first world, showing up on search engines isn't just helpful—it's essential. This guide breaks down the most effective SEO steps entrepreneurs can follow to build an online presence that attracts, converts, and grows. Whether you're starting a blog, building a business, or trying to compete in your niche, these tactics are proven to deliver long-term digital marketing success.

1. Start with Strong Keyword Research Search engine optimization begins with understanding what your potential customers are actually searching for. Keyword research is the foundation of any effective digital marketing strategy—it drives everything from page content to blog topics to advertising campaigns. Start by identifying the core terms that reflect your business's products, services, or unique value proposition. Tools like Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, Moz, and SEMrush allow you to evaluate keyword volume, competitiveness, and user intent. For example, if you're launching a startup that offers consulting services, terms like "business growth strategy," "startup consulting," or "digital marketing help for entrepreneurs" might be valuable targets. More than just inserting high-volume keywords into your pages, keyword research helps shape how your site is structured and which audiences you're optimizing for. Focus on both short-tail (broad) and long-tail (specific) keywords. Long-tail keywords such as "how to build an SEO plan for my new business" may have lower search volume, but they attract highly targeted visitors more likely to convert. A data-driven approach to keyword targeting also shows PSP underwriters that your business is committed to legitimate and transparent marketing practices. By basing your site content around clearly defined, non-deceptive search terms that reflect the services you actually provide, you're building trust both with search engines and financial partners. This reduces the risk of misleading customers and improves the quality of traffic, which translates to fewer disputes, lower chargeback rates, and higher approval odds for merchant processing. In summary, strong keyword research isn’t just an SEO step—it’s a signal to both your customers and your compliance reviewers that your digital marketing strategy is built on relevance, clarity, and professionalism. 2. Optimize On-Page SEO Once you’ve identified the right keywords, the next step is implementing them strategically across your website’s content. On-page SEO refers to the optimization of individual web pages to help search engines understand the content and improve your rankings. For entrepreneurs, mastering this area ensures that potential customers—and underwriting teams—can clearly identify what your business does, what it offers, and how it adds value.

Start with the basics: include your target keywords in the title tag, meta description, header tags (H1, H2), and URL. But go beyond technical placement—context matters. Keywords should appear naturally within the content and be supported by related terms to help establish topic authority. Overstuffing or awkward phrasing not only harms user experience but can also appear manipulative to compliance teams evaluating content for misleading claims. Include internal links that guide users to related pages or resources. This helps with user engagement and reduces bounce rates—two factors search engines consider when ranking pages. It also demonstrates a cohesive site architecture that PSP underwriters look for when assessing whether your business is organized, transparent, and trustworthy. Image optimization is another important piece. Use descriptive file names and ALT text for every visual element, especially if your business is visually driven. These details not only improve accessibility and search visibility but also signal to reviewers that your marketing practices consider all users and regulatory standards. Finally, keep your content updated. Stale pages with outdated offers or broken links can raise red flags with both customers and PSPs. Active content maintenance signals that your business is real, attentive, and invested in a long-term digital presence.

In the eyes of compliance professionals, well-executed on-page SEO indicates operational maturity. It shows your website is built not just to attract clicks, but to inform, convert, and sustain legitimate customer relationships. 3. Create Compelling Content Regularly Search engines prioritize fresh, relevant content—and so do users. One of the most effective ways to drive organic traffic and build brand trust is through a consistent content strategy that aligns with your SEO goals. For entrepreneurs, publishing high-quality content on a regular basis is a practical way to demonstrate thought leadership, deliver value to potential clients, and solidify your business’s legitimacy.

Start by identifying common questions or pain points your target audience faces. Then create blog posts, guides, videos, or case studies that directly address those topics. For example, a startup offering marketing services could regularly publish articles on "SEO tips for new businesses" or "how to rank a website in a competitive niche." Each post becomes another opportunity to rank for long-tail keywords and provide meaningful value. From a compliance standpoint, this type of content helps validate your service offerings and brand positioning. PSP underwriters evaluating your business for merchant processing approval want to see that you're operating transparently and delivering real educational or commercial value—not simply setting up a front to process payments.

Consistency is also key. A blog with one or two posts looks like a placeholder. A blog that’s updated weekly or bi-weekly tells a very different story—it communicates that your business is active, engaged, and in it for the long haul. This regular publishing cadence reassures both consumers and financial partners that you’re invested in maintaining a credible digital presence.

Additionally, compelling content supports other marketing functions. It can be repurposed for email campaigns, cited in social media posts, or used in paid advertising funnels. It also helps improve dwell time and site interaction rates, which are positive signals to search engines and compliance reviewers alike.

In short, content creation isn’t just for SEO—it’s a visible, measurable expression of your business’s value and authenticity. Done right, it reinforces every aspect of your digital strategy and builds confidence in your brand from all angles. 4. Build High-Quality Backlinks Backlinks—links from other websites that point to your site—are one of the strongest indicators of authority in search engine algorithms. For entrepreneurs, especially those building a brand from the ground up, securing backlinks from reputable sources can dramatically increase both search visibility and brand credibility.

The key is to earn links from websites that are trustworthy and relevant to your industry. This can be done through guest blogging, digital PR, strategic partnerships, and by publishing valuable resources others naturally want to reference. Examples include in-depth guides, original research, or unique tools that offer measurable benefit to users in your niche.

When it comes to compliance, PSP underwriters often evaluate whether a merchant has a legitimate web presence backed by third-party credibility. A site that’s referenced across well-known industry blogs, online publications, or business directories is far less likely to be flagged as high-risk. Backlinks serve as a form of third-party validation that your business is established and trusted.

Avoid black-hat tactics like link farms or paid link schemes. These shortcuts may deliver short-term rankings but carry a high risk of penalties from search engines—and scrutiny from compliance teams. Instead, aim for organic growth. Reach out to thought leaders in your industry, engage in communities, and produce content that earns attention through quality and originality. You should also focus on building a diverse backlink profile. A natural mix of link types—such as brand mentions, image attributions, contextual links, and citations—creates a more trustworthy footprint. This signals that your business is active in multiple spheres and not reliant on manipulative SEO practices. High-quality backlinks not only drive referral traffic and improve rankings, but they also give your domain a stronger digital reputation. From the perspective of compliance underwriters, it’s another clear sign that your business is professional, reputable, and worthy of financial support. 5. Enhance Technical SEO While content and backlinks get most of the attention in SEO discussions, technical SEO is the foundation that supports everything else. Without a technically sound website, even the best content may never be discovered or indexed properly. For entrepreneurs, addressing technical SEO demonstrates not only a commitment to performance and user experience but also an understanding of what compliance professionals look for when evaluating a digital operation.

Begin with site speed. A slow-loading website frustrates users and leads to high bounce rates—both of which hurt your rankings. Tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix can help identify issues like uncompressed images, excessive scripts, or poor server response times. Prioritize fixes that reduce load times on both desktop and mobile.

Mobile responsiveness is no longer optional. With mobile-first indexing, Google prioritizes the mobile version of your site when determining rankings. Make sure your design adjusts smoothly across screen sizes and that buttons, forms, and menus function intuitively on phones and tablets.

Secure your site with HTTPS. An SSL certificate not only improves your credibility with users but also sends a positive signal to search engines and payment processors. Most PSPs require HTTPS as part of their underwriting criteria, as it protects customer data and reduces fraud risk.

Use clean, descriptive URLs and a logical site structure. Each page should be easily accessible within a few clicks from the homepage. Implementing a sitemap and robots.txt file helps search engines crawl your site efficiently, while also showing compliance underwriters that you’ve taken the time to build a transparent and organized digital platform.

Fix crawl errors and eliminate broken links. These not only degrade the user experience but also harm your SEO rankings. Regular site audits using tools like Screaming Frog or SEMrush help ensure your site remains error-free and optimized.

Technical SEO may operate behind the scenes, but it’s one of the clearest indicators that your business is built to last. For PSP underwriters reviewing your site, it reflects operational discipline, attention to detail, and a genuine commitment to maintaining a high-quality user experience.

6. Use Schema Markup Schema markup—also known as structured data—is a powerful yet often overlooked element of SEO. It helps search engines understand the content on your pages more precisely, enhancing how your listings appear in search results. For entrepreneurs looking to stand out and for PSP compliance teams reviewing your site, proper schema implementation is a sign of a sophisticated, compliant, and content-rich digital environment.

By embedding structured data into your HTML, you can enable rich snippets that display product ratings, service details, FAQs, business contact info, event dates, and more. These enhanced listings often achieve higher click-through rates because they provide more useful information directly within the search engine results page.

Types of schema most beneficial to startups and small businesses include:

• LocalBusiness Schema for those targeting regional audiences

• Product Schema for e-commerce or digital service offerings

• FAQ and How-To Schemas for informational blog posts and help content

• Organization and Website Schema to clearly define your brand and digital presence

  
  

From a compliance standpoint, structured data shows that your site has nothing to hide. It communicates business transparency, improves accessibility, and makes your online presence easier to audit. For example, if you're offering a specific service, schema markup can list it clearly alongside contact information, pricing, and company details—making it easier for both users and PSP reviewers to verify what your business does. It also strengthens your brand's reputation with search engines. Google, Bing, and other search platforms increasingly rely on structured data to populate knowledge panels and voice search responses. This future-proofs your visibility as search behaviors evolve.

To ensure accuracy, always validate your markup using Google's Rich Results Test or Schema.org guidelines. Implementing schema correctly—and avoiding spammy or misleading data—reinforces your credibility and demonstrates operational excellence.

In short, schema markup enhances visibility, supports SEO, and builds trust. It's not just a technical upgrade—it's a smart business decision that benefits both your marketing and your merchant relationships.

7. Monitor & Adjust SEO is not a one-and-done process. It’s a continuous cycle of implementation, analysis, and refinement. For entrepreneurs and small business owners, regularly monitoring your SEO performance ensures you're adapting to search engine updates, customer behavior shifts, and new competitive dynamics. Just as importantly, it shows PSP underwriters that your operation is actively maintained and responsive to risk signals.

Start with tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console. These platforms provide key insights such as keyword performance, traffic sources, user engagement, bounce rates, and technical issues. They help you determine which strategies are working—and where there’s room for improvement.

Track key performance indicators (KPIs) like organic traffic growth, average session duration, conversion rates, and ranking positions for your primary keywords. Set benchmarks and revisit them monthly to assess progress. Tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, and Moz can expand your view with competitive analysis and backlink tracking.

Monitoring performance isn't just about collecting data—it’s about making decisions. If your blog posts are attracting traffic but not converting, maybe your calls-to-action need improvement. If rankings drop suddenly, it could indicate a technical issue or a new Google algorithm update. Quick, informed adjustments not only protect your visibility but also signal to underwriters that your business takes operational health seriously.

From a compliance perspective, regular review of your site’s performance helps mitigate risks like outdated content, broken links, or traffic anomalies that could suggest fraudulent activity. It also shows PSPs that your digital footprint is both measurable and proactively managed.

Incorporating a monitoring routine into your workflow allows you to stay agile, sustain growth, and build a stable digital operation. SEO isn’t static, and your business shouldn’t be either—continuous optimization is what separates short-term visibility from long-term success.

Conclusion Building a strong online presence through SEO isn’t just about ranking higher on Google—it’s about proving that your business is real, reliable, and built to last. For entrepreneurs navigating today’s competitive digital landscape, each of these seven steps serves as a roadmap for sustainable visibility and operational integrity.

When you follow SEO best practices—from researching the right keywords to refining your content strategy, from earning backlinks to maintaining technical performance—you’re sending a clear message to customers and payment processors alike: your brand is legitimate, professional, and committed to long-term success.

This level of transparency and attention to detail not only improves your search rankings but also reduces risk in the eyes of PSP underwriters. It shows that your digital operation is active, compliant, and trustworthy—an essential factor for securing and maintaining reliable payment processing.

Whether you're just launching or looking to scale, apply these SEO steps methodically and review your progress regularly. As your visibility grows, so will your authority, customer trust, and revenue potential. SEO is more than a marketing tactic—it’s a long-term investment in the health and credibility of your business.