I agree that SEO shouldn't be the viable marketing strategy for your start-up. If that's your path to gaining traction in any market that can make you a real am

I agree that SEO shouldn't be the viable marketing strategy for your start-up. If that's your path to gaining traction in any market that can make you a real amount of money through organic, it's largely already been harvested and/or millions of dollars have been thrown at establishing ranking positions - such as on keywords like "cheap flights" or "car insurance". However, in subsidiary markets where the volume isn't as large, it's a valid marketing channel for ancillary revenue streams. Much like retargeting or PPC or having a Facebook fan page, in these markets, SEO won't be your thing. It will simply be a thing, because the volume is significantly lower and often times, in the "startup" environment, what you're offering isn't necessarily something that people know how to search for. If your aim is for the long term, throw out the bait and continue building for some long-term keyword like "cheap flights" - but in the seed-investment environment where traction must occur quicker and something positive must be seen somewhere - trying to achieve such a keyword would be a suicide mission, and as such, would almost make this post an accurate take.