We’ve all heard the tale of Goldilocks and The Three Bears – Goldilocks snuck inside the bears’ home, tested out three bowls of tasty porridge, sat on three comfortable chairs, and fell asleep in three cozy beds, but only one of each was right for her. Goldilocks wasn’t about to settle for any bowl of porridge or any bed – she wanted the one perfectly suited to her tastes. The same goes for your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) campaign – by tailoring your SEO efforts to your industry and taking advantage of the great opportunities niche marketing has to offer, your SEO will be “just right”.
Most Websites fit into a specific niche, which Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines as “a place, employment, status, or activity for which a person or thing is best fitted”. Goldilocks has an online store that sells delicious porridge. She wants to start working on SEO to increase her keyword rankings for competitive phrases in non-paid, “organic” search engine results. She wants to attract as many people as possible to her store, so she thinks it makes sense to concentrate her SEO efforts on ranking for the keyword “food”.
Not quite, Goldilocks. Sure, ranking for the term “food” will certainly increase your online visibility, but it’ll take years of round-the-clock SEO work for Miss Golden Locks to rank high for the keyword “food”. Plus, how does she know someone searching for “food” actually wants porridge? What if they want Swiss chocolates or recipe ideas? That searcher definitely won’t click on her listing, and her SEO efforts will be all in vain.
Don’t worry, there’s a better solution. Rather than striving to rank for general terms, look to your own industry. Since Goldilock’s online store sells porridge and has a great deal of relevant information about the porridge on her site, search engines are much more inclined to rank her site for targeted terms related to “porridge”. So, she’s higher up on the non-paid search engine results for porridge-related terms, and people searching for that term are actually looking for that in which her store specializes.
We all know that SEO is a long-term strategy. Instead of trying to go after those highly competitive, general terms from the start, research keywords directly related to what you’re selling, try to think like consumers – if they were looking for your products, what keyword phrases would they type into the search box? Sure, these terms may not be as competitive, but you have a much better chance of ranking high for them in a shorter amount of time, and actually reaching the audience you want to reach.
There are several ways to take advantage of niche marketing. First, make sure your site’s informational content is optimized to target the industry-specific keywords for which you want to rank. Create a resources section and include informative content about different topics related to your niche. Next, start a blog, brand it to your site, and start posting about topics related to your industry. Reach out to non-competitive sites in your industry and ask them to add your site’s link to their own Website. Point out that your site is specific to the industry, and thus will be extremely useful to visitors to their site. Research social media sites tailored to your industry, and create lively, interesting profiles and pages on those social media sites. You’re putting yourself right in front of the exact audience you want to target.
Don’t settle for any old SEO campaign. Just like Goldilocks, be sure your SEO efforts are just right for your industry. Follow the tried-and-true SEO tactics such as search engine optimized content, link building, and social media optimization, but tailor them to your industry. You’ll be reaching the customers who are actually seeking your products, and in time, you can step ahead as a leader in your industry. Seems like Goldilocks knew a thing or two, after all.
By Alicia Magda
aliciam@ebizinsider.com
