I published my first SEO-focused blog post eighteen months ago.

For six months, nothing happened. Literally nothing. Google barely knew the page existed. Traffic: zero.

Then, slowly, it started ranking. First page two. Then bottom of page one. Then top five.

Now that single post brings in hundreds of visitors per month. Every month. While I sleep. Forever.

That's the promise of SEO. It's also why most solo founders ignore it.

Why Solo Founders Avoid SEO

It takes too long. You want results now, not in six months. Social media gives you dopamine today.

It seems technical. Keywords, backlinks, site speed—it sounds like a whole discipline to learn.

Results aren't immediate. You can't tell if it's working until months have passed.

You prefer the dopamine of social media. A tweet gets likes in minutes. A blog post gets traffic in months.

All true. All missing the point.

The Case for Slow

Here's what fast channels require: constant feeding.

Twitter needs daily posts to stay relevant. Ads stop working when you stop paying. Product Hunt gives you a day of attention.

SEO compounds. The content you create today keeps working forever. The effort stacks instead of resetting.

One year of consistent SEO work creates an asset. One year of social media creates... memories of posts nobody can find.

SEO for Products, Not Just Blogs

Here's something most founders miss: your product pages can rank too.

Think about how people search:

  • "Best Excel add-in for navigation"
  • "How to get vertical tabs in Excel"
  • "Date picker for Excel"

These are buying searches. People want solutions. If your product page answers their query, you get customers—not just traffic.

You don't need to be a content factory. You need pages that answer the questions your customers are asking.

The Minimum Viable SEO

You don't need to become an SEO expert. Here's the minimum:

One good page per problem you solve. What does your product do? Write a page about that problem and how you solve it.

Answer questions your users ask. Check your support inbox. What do people ask? Write content answering those questions.

Don't overthink keywords. Write naturally about the problems you solve. The keywords will be there.

Make pages fast and readable. Basic technical stuff. Nothing complex.

The 6-Month Reality

Here's what to expect:

Month 1-2: Google barely knows you exist. Traffic is essentially zero. This is normal.

Month 3-4: You start showing up for some queries. Page two, page three. A trickle of visitors.

Month 5-6: Some posts start climbing. You're on page one for a few things. Traffic becomes noticeable.

Month 12+: Compound growth. Old posts keep climbing. New posts rank faster because your site has authority now.

The hard part is continuing through months one and two when nothing seems to be happening. It is happening—you just can't see it yet.

Why This Favors Solo Founders

Big companies need fast results. They have quarterly targets, impatient stakeholders, pressure to show immediate ROI.

You don't. You can afford to invest in something that pays off in a year.

Patience is a competitive advantage. The funded startup can't wait six months. You can.

Starting Today

Here's your action plan:

Write one piece of content this week. Answer a question your users ask. Don't overthink it.

Make sure your product pages explain the problem you solve. Not just features—problems and solutions.

Wait. This is the hard part. Keep writing. Keep waiting. Results will come.

SEO is slow. That's not a bug. That's the moat you're building.

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