Some individuals or companies looking to create a website or online store for their business seek a web developer, but mention something like, “I want a website with SEO.” The question that arises from this request is: Is this realistic? Is it possible for a new website (or online store) to have SEO from day one? In this article, I will attempt to answer this question.
What is SEO?
SEO is organic search engine optimization (SEO) and also includes ranking in AI LLMs (such as ChatGPT and Grok).
How is SEO achieved?
Unlike other online channels, SEO is generally a medium- to long-term work. It’s important to note that SEO is a competitive system, where only the best or most relevant websites occupy prominent (organic) positions.
Web Developer Profile vs. SEO Specialist Profile
The profiles of a web developer and an SEO professional are different. A web developer builds and maintains websites and web applications. This role typically focuses on ensuring the website functions correctly, is fast, has the aesthetics the client desires, and is usable. On the other hand, an SEO professional is responsible for making the website appear in the top positions of Google and other search engines (and AI LLM programs) organically. Here’s a summary of these profiles:
| Aspect | Web Developer | SEO Specialist |
|---|---|---|
| Main Focus | Building and running the website or online store | Making the website or online store visible in search engines and AI LLM programs |
| Area | Technical/Programming | Digital Marketing + Technical + Strategy |
| Measurable Results | Aesthetics, functionality, speed, user experience | Organic search engine traffic, search engine rankings, organic traffic from AI LLM programs, organic conversions |
| Tools | VS Code, frameworks (React, Laravel…), Git, CMS, etc. | Google Analytics, Search Console, PageSpeed Insights |
| Level of creativity and skills | High (design + code) | High (keyword research + SEO optimization + strategy + statistics analysis) |
| Time to results | Short term (days or weeks) | Medium-to-long term (months or years) |
As we can see, these are two different profiles. Can a web developer have SEO knowledge? The answer is “yes,” but this knowledge may be limited or basic, so the results in these areas won’t be as expected.
Time to see results
The most important point between these two specialties is the time it takes to see results. For example, in web development, the result is short-term (days or weeks, possibly up to 1 month) since the final product delivered is the website or online store itself, while on the other hand, in SEO, the result is medium- to long-term (months or years; results are generally seen from the sixth month of work onward). This difference in results is due to SEO being a competitive system in which only the best rank in prominent positions.
Example of a marathon runner
To understand the difference between these two profiles, I always use the example of a marathon runner. It’s one thing to register for a marathon and be fit to train (and even have all the necessary equipment), but it’s quite another to consistently finish in the top 5 in every race or competition, as this requires more consistent work, such as training, time tracking/improvement, nutrition, rest, mental preparation, etc.
About SEO for a New Brand
It’s important to understand that there are several types of ranking: brand-name ranking and ranking for competitive terms, such as informational and conversion searches. Ranking for a brand name (especially when the brand is new and uses a made-up word) tends to be easier because we’re using a word that doesn’t exist. For example, if we have a real estate agency called “Invitusen House,” it’s very likely we’ll appear in certain searches (as soon as the website is created) since that word or phrase “has no competition” because we simply invented it (it didn’t exist before we created it). Because of this, it will be very easy to rank for. On the other hand, a common search term like “houses in Bogotá” will be much more difficult to rank for, since it has several competitors (who already have an SEO presence), and we’ll only be able to improve our rankings when we become more relevant, which we’ll achieve with SEO work over several months or years.
Is it realistic to create a website with built-in SEO?
The answer to this question is simply no, since SEO is a medium- to long-term endeavor. However, this doesn’t mean that initial SEO work can’t be done when creating a website or online store. For example, an SEO professional can advise on the most suitable structure or hierarchy for the website or online store. A web developer might create website URLs like this:
online-store.com/product-planner-personal-black-45
online-store.com/product-planner-business-blue-30
Meanwhile, an SEO specialist might determine that it’s best for the URLs to have a different hierarchy, such as:
online-store.com/planners/
online-store.com/planners/personal
online-store.com/planners/business
Therefore, it’s important to seek SEO advice when creating a website, as this will facilitate future SEO efforts (and save us a lot of headaches). However, it’s important to understand that we won’t be able to rank competitively immediately, but this initial SEO work will make subsequent SEO efforts much easier.
Personal Experiences on the Topic
In my personal experience working on SEO for different websites and online stores, I’ve seen the following problems:
If there’s no basic SEO, the SEO work will take longer
If the website doesn’t have basic SEO parameters (at the time of creation), future SEO work will extend for several months because all the SEO errors will need to be corrected.
The concept of free competition and the timeframes for results are not understood
Many people don’t understand that SEO is a free-market system and, therefore, a medium- to long-term project. There are also people who think that SEO is a “right.” These misconceptions are generally due to:
– Misinformation from other areas when promoting their products or services: for example, the typical “hosting service” ad that mentions that by creating your website with that hosting, your website will rank at the top, which is far from reality.
– Mixing SEO with other areas of online marketing. For example, SEO is often conflated with search engine advertising management (Google Ads or SEM). This also happens with the profile of a web developer or web designer (where it’s assumed that this professional also knows SEO).
Another problem I see is that many novice SEO professionals tend to sell “quick fixes” by offering SEO diagnostics (which can be delivered immediately) while avoiding the actual SEO work, which can take several months or years.
Not separating budgets
Another problem is the tendency to combine budgets. This means that instead of hiring two professionals or agencies (one for web development and another for SEO), a single professional is hired to do both. Unfortunately, this doesn’t solve the problem; it exacerbates it, since the work is done poorly (in the area of weakness), requiring more resources to be spent in the future to fix the problem it creates, such as recovering from an SEO penalty.
I have seen good results when the web development budget is separated from the SEO budget. This means they hire a web developer or web agency to build the website, and separately, they hire an SEO professional (or SEO agency) to optimize the website or online store’s SEO.
What are your thoughts on this? Do you think it’s possible to create a website or online store with SEO?
If you need help with the SEO of your website or online store, you can contact us to see how we can help.
Image by Myriam Jessier via Unsplash.com under a Creative Commons license.