Industry-specific SEO tactics

Dec 11, 2020 by
Industry-specific SEO tactics

It should be obvious in marketing that tactics which work for one industry won’t necessarily work for another.

An online retail store sending out scores of localised leaflets, for example, would be a demonstrably bad idea, whereas creating an ambitious online marketing campaign for a local plasterer would probably involve a lot of wasted time and resources for minimal gain. The same is true of SEO – some tactics that might work for one industry might not provide the same results in another.

So, we thought we’d take a sector-by-sector approach to a couple of common industries to underline this theory and, in doing so, hopefully, we can offer up a few kernels of industry-specific SEO wisdom.

Retail SEO tactics 

Particularly for franchises, a retail business stands and falls on its name; its brand. For retailers, ranking well has never been more important, particularly given the rise in popularity of online retail.

It’s estimated that 71% of consumers will click on a link from the first page of results so getting on that first page is crucial.

Using branded terms is often a good tactic here (keyword terms using your company name), though that will depend on the existing visibility of your brand. If you have multiple physical locations, meanwhile, ensure that every location has its own website and invest in SEO tracking software that will show you how to duplicate keywords that are performing in each region. That way, you can adapt them accordingly. Also, optimise these pages for local keywords.

Restaurant SEO tactics 

With 60%  of customers searching for their local restaurants online before booking, your restaurant’s SEO strategy really should be a priority.

For any local restaurant, the focus should be on optimisation for conversions. That means focusing on keywords that are specific to the industry, defining the location of your audience and tailoring your strategy around those prospects.

As far as your site is concerned, it also helps to have easily accessible contact information on every page (including your phone number and address) and have as much information available as possible.

Focus on what makes your restaurant unique and keep the site updated regularly and relevant. That also means ensuring the menu is uploaded.

Though note that PDF files are not read by search engines, so steer clear of them whenever possible.

Also, include plenty of calls to action on the site that allows people to book a table or order online if you provide an online delivery service.

The one constant

The one thing that’s constant across all industries is user intent. If you don’t know the intent of your audience then you stand no chance of creating an effective SEO marketing strategy.

In any industry you have to learn to think like your customer – what are they looking for, where are they looking for it and what can you provide to help them find it?

Generally speaking, is the search intent of your customers transactional (to purchase a product or service), informational (to find an answer to a query), or navigational (where they know what they want but not how to get there)? If you can answer that question then you’re already halfway there.

The key is in using that answer to generate tactics that are agile enough to adapt to industry trends. Because the world is changing fast these days and that’s certainly not an industry-specific problem.