This article is based on Zhenni Wu’s brilliant talk at the Developer Engagement Summit. As a DMA member, you can enjoy the complete recording here.
Can a simple SEO (search engine optimization) strategy really make a difference for a startup? Absolutely.
Using a practical, no-frills SEO framework, I’ve helped startups triple sales, grow their traffic to tens of thousands of visitors, and generate high-quality leads – all on a tight budget.
In this article, I’ll share how I made it happen, the challenges I overcame, and why SEO has become my go-to strategy for sustainable growth. If you’re looking to take your startup to the next level, this guide has something for you.
First, a quick introduction. My name’s Zhenni and I’ve been working in the tech industry for a while now. I started my career at Apple in worldwide developer relations. Later, I transitioned to product marketing at Baidu’s autonomous driving unit, an open-source project called Apollo.
Since then, I’ve been focused on startups. My first startup was Dgraph Labs, an open-source graph database. Next, I became Head of Growth at Datafold. My third startup, Arcion, was acquired by Databricks last year. I’m currently leading go-to-market strategy at PuppyGraph.
Through these experiences, I’ve developed a solid understanding of how SEO and technical content can drive much-needed growth at early-stage startups.
An SEO strategy that works
When I joined Dgraph, my first dev tool startup, we had around 3,000 GitHub stars and modest traffic. By consistently publishing technical content and optimizing our documentation, we saw incredible growth.
We achieved over a 1,000% increase in monthly visitors and impressions. Our search rankings improved dramatically, and we ranked in the top three for 90 competitive keywords.
At Arcion, my third startup, there wasn’t even a website when I arrived. I spent my first two months building a site, crafting our messaging and positioning, and setting up a scalable content management system (CMS) on Webflow.
Once the site was live, I focused on conducting keyword research and creating technical content in collaboration with the developer relations team.
In just a few months, we grew from 200 monthly visitors to 13,000. I know 13,000 visitors might not sound like a lot – particularly if you work for a huge enterprise – but trust me, for the stage we were at it was plenty! This traffic wasn’t just about vanity metrics; it translated into organic leads and long-term benefits.
Even now, that content continues to perform, ranking higher than major competitors like Oracle for specific keywords.
Why startups should focus on SEO
Let me break down why, rather than events, product-led growth, or paid ads, I like to focus on SEO as my number-one growth strategy at early-stage dev tool startups.
At early-stage startups, resources are limited. I’m often the only marketer, so I don’t have the bandwidth – or the budget – to organize regular events. Events require a huge amount of planning: securing speakers, booking venues, and driving sign-ups. While they're impactful, it’s just not feasible to run events on a monthly or weekly basis with a lean team.
Dev tools also add some unique challenges. They’re often self-service tools, rather than traditional SaaS products. Users download and deploy them in their own systems, meaning we don’t have insights into their usage.
Did users drop off after signing up? Did they struggle to run a query? Unless they report a bug, we have no way of knowing. Plus, unlike in SaaS, there's no viral loop where users can invite others, so we need an alternative way to grow.
At Arcion, we experimented with paid ads on LinkedIn and Google, even hiring a reputable Bay Area agency. We spent $20,000 – including $7,000 a month on agency fees – and saw our customer acquisition costs skyrocket to around $1,000. It soon became clear that this wasn’t sustainable.
On top of that, paid campaigns only offer short-term benefits. Traffic only flows as long as you’re spending. I’ve spoken with other marketers who rely heavily on paid channels or influencer campaigns, and they often spend $100,000 or more per month just to maintain traffic. For a startup, that kind of spending isn’t realistic.
The advantages of SEO
Unlike paid ads, SEO provides lasting value, consistently driving traffic. This is especially critical for startups with limited budgets.
