Practical SEO for new business websites: keywords to content

Executive overview

New business websites fail to rank because they pick keywords by gut feel and write thin pages. Start with keyword research to find phrases that balance search volume, low difficulty, and buyer relevance. Then build long-form pages that cover each topic more completely than competing results.

The real lever is matching content type to search intent — service pages for buyers, articles for researchers.

Choosing the right keywords

• Write down your best guesses for what customers search, mixing buyer-intent phrases ("chiropractor San Diego") and research questions ("do I need a chiropractor?")
• Use Semrush to validate ideas: it shows monthly search volume and difficulty score (green = easy, red = hard)
• Target 3–5 phrases that score well on all three criteria: volume, low difficulty, relevance
• Discard high-volume phrases that won't convert (e.g. "chiropractor salary" attracts job-seekers, not patients)

Matching content type to intent

• Buyer-intent phrases → optimise an existing service or home page
• Research-intent phrases → create a dedicated article or blog post
• Example: dog grooming business might optimise the home page for "dog grooming Seattle", create a service page for "dog nail trimming Seattle", and write an article for "how much does dog grooming cost?"
• This mix builds a pipeline of ready-to-buy visitors now and future customers still in research mode

Writing pages that rank

• Aim for at least 1,500 words; go to 2,000–3,000 words against strong competitors
• Cover the topic more completely than every other result on the page
• Use the SEMrush SEO Writing Assistant (WordPress plugin) to check coverage gaps against your target phrase
• Include your keyword phrase in: page title, URL slug, H1 heading, first 100 words of body text, at least one H2/H3 subheading
• Upload an image with the exact keyword as the filename and in the alt text
• Use Rank Math (WordPress plugin) to control page titles, URLs, and alt text without touching code

Compounding signals with video

• Upload a video to YouTube named with your keyword phrase and embed it on the page
• Google owns YouTube — a matching title and description creates a ranking signal across both platforms
• Longer on-page engagement from video is itself a ranking signal
• Video content can be a testimonial, service overview, or anything relevant