Written by: Tish Donkersley. Originally posted on Tech.co on March 20, 2017

Startups constantly wonder how they can get their company noticed by customers online. Sure, buying ads on social media, creating content, and amplifying their message via Hootsuite is a start, but it’s hard to move the needle if you don’t understand the full scope of the SEO landscape.

Anne Ward, SEO expert, futurist and author of the new book The SEO Battlefield, said that to win at SEO, it’s more of a technical game than one might think.

“SEO started out the marketers game and now it’s the developer’s game. It’s definitely become more technical with machine learning and the algorithms are more complex,” Anne said.

Anne has some advice for the small businesses owners who aren’t sure how to get started with an SEO marketing plan.

“I see a lot of entrepreneurs struggle with intimidation and I think that’s normal, but it’s something you need to get past. It’s ok if putting your business on Facebook and running some ads is your marketing [plan], that’s fine, [SEO is] about what you need and where your customers [are located],” Anne said.

At SXSW, I had the opportunity to talk with Anne about her new book, SEO strategies for startups, and digital advertising for small businesses.