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Thursday, April 12th, 2007 by Guest

18

Why Will the SEO Industry Change In 2 months? Niche SEO

By Ahmed Bilal.

If you are an SEO consultant, or if you are responsible for purchasing SEO services for your organization, the ideas discussed here may be the most important ideas you read this year.

In a nutshell – the SEO industry is changing. We have integrated link baiting and social media marketing into our SEO toolkits, but now it’s time (and space) for the “step”.

It’s also an end to a cycle – we know (to a great extent) what search engines want and how to give that to them.

But as search marketers, do we know what our clients want?

And as media buyers hiring SEO firms, do we know what options we have?

In the next two months (it is early April 2007 as I write this) you will read a wave of articles talking about “niche SEO”. I urge you to follow this wave closely – if you embrace it, you will be part of the new breed of SEO. If you don’t, you’ll be playing catch-up by the end of the year.

What is niche SEO? The best way to answer that is to show you.

Do you have industry-specific SEO knowledge? If you give a competent SEO a specific industry and 30 minutes, he can tell you:

  • How competitive that niche is
  • What the top keywords are
  • Top ranking sites in that niche
  • Where to get topical links from
  • Untapped sub-niches (by comparing keyword popularity and relative competition)

That’s impressive, right?

Now if you handed the same assignment to an SEO with deep knowledge and experience in that industry, he could tell you, in those 30 minutes:

  • Who the top link sources are
  • The sites most likely to link to you (and how to get those links)
  • The linkerati and how to attract their attention
  • The top bloggers and their background (I’m talking names, history, email and phone contacts)
  • The top communities in terms of traffic and influence – and how to use them
  • Where to buy ads for traffic
  • Niche-specific monetization opportunities
  • Trusted information sources
  • The misinformers (spammers)
  • 50 linkbait ideas
  • Top traffic sources (and how to get traffic from them)
  • How to segment and target sections of the linkerati without alienating the rest

Is this something that a ‘generic’ search marketer can find through research?

Yes and no.

Yes, because ultimately the resources being used are the same.

No, because it takes too much time. Knowledge, experience and an established network in an industry – if you are hiring an SEO firm, these are the three main checkboxes your prospective hires will have to tick.

Why/How “Niche SEO” is better than “Generic SEO”

A real-world example, to show you how powerful niche SEO really is:

Recently (on 4th and 5th April, to be exact), there were two key sports-related incidents in Europe. During two soccer matches (one on each day), visiting fans clashed with the police inside the stadium. The common factor in both incidents is that the visiting fans were English.

The incidents have raised serious security concerns within the game AND because of the police involvement, it can (and probably will) turn into a diplomatic crisis as well.

These are serious events, but as news goes, it is also an opportunity for a smart marketing to provide unique coverage of these events and gain market share as a result.

The ideal way to do this would be to:

  • Find videos related to the incident – clips from TV coverage in the English media, in the Italian and Spanish medias, and video footage taken by fans
  • Connect with fans visiting these matches and get their input
  • Provide full (and immediate) coverage of all news related to this incident
  • Pull out historical information that relates to such violence and do a timeline piece
  • Find academic research on soccer hooliganism and refer that in your articles
  • Start and manage discussions on this topic in different forums, using your profile and referring to your coverage / articles to drive traffic to your site
  • Use your media contacts (that cover soccer/sports news) to promote your site
  • Contact leading soccer bloggers with targeted pitches about your content related to this issue
  • Contact podcasters in your niche and give them exclusive information in exchange for coverage

Who would be the ideal candidate to do this?

Someone who:

  • Knows which forums fans frequent and has a strong profile in those communities
  • Knows where to quickly get news and video clippings of this incident
  • Has a strong social network in the soccer news industry that includes media contacts, podcasters and bloggers?
  • Has historical knowledge (through experience and as a fan) of soccer and specifically, similar issues in soccer?
  • Knows the best strategies of promoting content in this sector?

Or:

A crack team of link baiters and search marketers who will charge you $500 per hour but will then spend the next 10 hours – $5000 of your time – learning about the niche while other news sites cover the breaking news and eventually become the main hubs of discussion around that topic?

The choice is yours.

Where do you stand? If you’re a search marketer, you can be a ‘generic’ SEO or you can pick a handful of industries (through personal experience) and specialize in them.

If you’re a business owner or someone looking to purchase SEO services, the main three questions you should ask the next SEO company are self-evident – do they have the

  • Experience
  • Social network
  • Background knowledge

in your industry?

The success of your business will depend on those answers. There is much more to talk about on this subject. To follow the discussion, use Technorati to track “niche seo” . And if you want to criticize / discuss this topic further, find me (Google my name) and I’ll be glad to answer any questions you have.

[This has been an entry for Marketing Pilgrim's SEM Scholarship contest. Keep up to date with all entries and other marketing news by subscribing to our rss feed.]

Want more marketing news & views? Follow Marketing Pilgrim's Andy Beal on Twitter!

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18 comments on “Why Will the SEO Industry Change In 2 months? Niche SEO”

  1. Spezialisiertes SEO - Die Zukunft? Says:

    April 12th, 2007 at 10:52 am

    [...] Spezialsiertes SEO – damit ist nicht etwas die Spezialisierung auf einen Suchmaschinen, sondern viel mehr die Spezialisierung auf eine Branche gemeint. Wenn ich dabei, wie in der Überschrift, über die Zukunft spreche, stimmt das eigentlich nicht so ganz. Dies hat den Grund, da es heute schon SEOs gibt die sich auf eine Branche/Bereich spezialisiert haben. Auf das Thema “Spezialisierung und SEO” bin ich übrigens über den Artikel von Ahmed Bilal gekommen, der heute beim Marketing Pilgrim erschienen ist. Bevor ich diesen jedoch 1 zu 1 übernehme, schlage ich vor ihr lest ihn euch selbst durch (Die 10 Minuten ist er auf jeden Fall wert). [...]

  2. Ist die Zukunft voller SEO-Spezialisten? | SEOmantik Says:

    April 12th, 2007 at 11:46 am

    [...] Ein sehr interessanter Artikel, allemal einen Blick wert. Denn er hat sicher Recht, dass jemand, der sich in der Branche auskennt wesentlich gezielter und damit erfolgreicher vorgehen kann. Die Zukunft wird zeigen, ob es genug Nischen für alle SEOs gibt. Fest steht auch, dass ein “allgemeiner SEO” starke Probleme haben wird, sich gegen einen Spezialisten bei den entsprechenden Keywords durchzusetzen. [...]

  3. eric hebert Says:

    April 12th, 2007 at 12:18 pm

    I’ve recently changed my own approach to internet marketing services by doing just that – finding a niche and becoming an expert in promotion within a certain industry, instead of just being another boring “SEO”.

  4. Brian Chappell Says:

    April 12th, 2007 at 2:23 pm

    I guess the key here then is to find the niche which entices you, at the same time as finding a niche that would generate a solid customer base. Steering away from the fly by night niches.

  5. Sherwin Says:

    April 12th, 2007 at 9:22 pm

    Whoooooaaaaa! Ahmed, this is the best article so far. Man, I read your Soccerlens blog ALL THE TIME. I get all my football news from Soccerlens and Soccernet. Wanna take a guess what’s my fav team? ;-) Great advice.

    And I’m talking here about the REAL football, not that game where you carry the ball in your hands :p I wonder how many flames I’m gonna get for that? Hehe

  6. SEOcritique.com Says:

    April 13th, 2007 at 12:29 am

    I am impressed. This is well thought-out and written. At first I thought Andy had written another classic (reading via RSS) and realized it was a contest entry when I came to the website to re-read.
    Congratulation on an excellent article.

  7. Ahmed Bilal Says:

    April 13th, 2007 at 5:50 am

    Eric – I’d be interesting in hearing how it’s working out for you.

    Sherwin – thanks mate :)

    SEOCritique – thank you.

  8. Niche SEO - using specialised industry knowledge to your advantage - SEO Hotline Says:

    April 13th, 2007 at 1:36 pm

    [...] Update:Also read: Why will the SEO Industry change in 2 months? Digg It | Post to Del.icio.us [...]

  9. Josh Nelson Says:

    April 13th, 2007 at 7:41 pm

    This is something niche marketers are already adept at and a strategy they have been pursuing for some time, although they may not have called it SEO (though the keyword research software companies certainly have). An entire ‘get rich quick’ market with garish sales pages and promises of untold millions with adwords and adsense have already blossomed around this concept. Isn’t this what the long tail is all about? My own feeling is that this is something I’ve already been hearing about for quite awhile now.

  10. Why should SEOs be niche experts? - VinceVinceVince Says:

    April 16th, 2007 at 5:27 am

    [...] Ahmed over at marketingpilgrim.com has come out with an interesting post. To cut a long story short, his opinion is that an SEO today needs to have real knowledge of a given niche beyond that which can be obtained using the standard research methods (keywords, competitors, etc.) [...]

  11. Objections to Niche SEO - SEO Hotline Says:

    April 19th, 2007 at 7:25 am

    [...] In my previous posts I’ve introduced the concept of Niche SEO. During the last 10 days, I’ve also received plenty of feedback on the idea, so I thought I put together the criticism and put it up in one list. [...]

  12. Friday Favorites 4/20/07 - Stuntdubl - Search Engine Marketing Consultant Says:

    April 20th, 2007 at 12:20 pm

    [...] There are some really great submissions for the SEM Scholarship contest. CK Chung (anything that starts with a entourage reference ranks high in my book), Eric Hebert, Ahmed Bilal, Simon Heseltine, Jeff Horsager, Todd Mintz, and Dustin Woodard, are among the favorites I’ve read so far. I love Social Media! – Votes are noticed and appreciated:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. [...]

  13. HeatMaps Help to Increase AdSense Earnings (Search Engine Roundtable) : TheBlogSense.com Says:

    April 20th, 2007 at 1:04 pm

    [...] There are some really great submissions for the SEM Scholarship contest. CK Chung (anything that starts with a entourage reference ranks high in my book), Eric Hebert, Ahmed Bilal, Simon Heseltine, Jeff Horsager, Todd Mintz, and Dustin Woodard, are among the favorites I’ve read so far. [...]

  14. Relationship Brokering in SEO - SEO Hotline Says:

    April 20th, 2007 at 9:40 pm

    [...] When I initially discussed the idea, I dubbed it niche SEO. [...]

  15. Niche SEO and Budget Rank Building: Keyword Domains Says:

    April 20th, 2007 at 10:03 pm

    [...] Search Engine Journal’s Ahmed Bilal has an article at Marketing niche SEO and how the industry will change in the next two months. It’s part of the scholarship contest, and an excellent read, as well as a launching point for this article. [...]

  16. Ahmed Bilal Says:

    April 21st, 2007 at 12:42 am

    Josh – I’m not sure that it’s just niche marketing that this covers – although that’s certainly a part of it.

  17. Seo Mumbai » Blog Archive » Friday Favorites 4/20/07 Says:

    May 23rd, 2007 at 4:53 pm

    [...] There are some really great submissions for the SEM Scholarship contest. CK Chung (anything that starts with a entourage reference ranks high in my book), Eric Hebert, Ahmed Bilal, Simon Heseltine, Jeff Horsager, Todd Mintz, and Dustin Woodard, are among the favorites I’ve read so far. [...]

  18. The Uber Random List | UK SEO/SEM Blog | B10G Says:

    August 19th, 2008 at 8:58 am

    [...] Niche Industry [...]