By OLIVER ANDREWS
What industries need SEO the most
Perhaps you have a business and you’re thinking of investing in marketing, more specifically search engine optimisation (SEO) but you’re wondering what industries need SEO the most?
Alternatively, you don’t have a business yet but you’re making preparations and building up a marketing plan. Or another scenario could be that you’re already performing SEO on your website but you’re not seeing any results from it so far so you’re beginning to question if SEO even works for your industry!
Whatever situation you’re in, in this article we will discuss absolutely everything you need to know about what industries need SEO the most and why they need it the most.
What we will cover in this article
What Is SEO And Why Most Industries Should Care?
Search engine optimisation (SEO) is ensuring your website is at the top of search engine results pages (SERPs) for keywords that are relevant to your business. SEO is about creating the right content, providing a good user experience (UX) and promoting it across the web through backlinks.
Most industries should care because Organic Search Drives 51% Of Traffic to your website!
Also, think about everything you’ve ever typed into Google… how many times have you wondered the answer to a question and said, “I know, I’ll Google it”!
Lastly, you’re out and about or researching and planning at home Google is normally your number 1 tool. If your business has the answer to people’s questions, problems, dilemma’s, wants and need, your business need to be at the top of SERP’s!
What Industries Need SEO The Most?
Nearly every industry can benefit from SEO in one way or another. Your goal might be getting more leads, or it might be about increasing the brand awareness of your business. Whatever you’re trying to achieve there’s nearly always a way with SEO.
However, many industries particularly stand out in terms of being industries that need SEO the most. Let’s cut straight to the chase. Here are the most commonly known industries that need SEO the most.
Restaurants, Bars and Cafes
If for example, you’re visiting a city you need to know where the best places are to eat and drink. Or you’re just looking for somewhere in the local area for a coffee you’ll likely search Google for your nearest coffee shop!
Anything food and drink-related you will either be out and about looking for somewhere or your will plan ahead.
If you’re out and about you might use keywords such as ‘coffee shop near me’ or ‘best restaurants near me’.
If you’re planning you might instead search for something like ‘coffee shops in west London’ or ‘best restaurants in Mayfair’.
These types of businesses must be at the top of the search results on either maps, the organic listings or both!
Professional Services
Professional services could include types of businesses such as legal (solicitors), accountants, human resources (HR), digital marketing, IT, government, public sector etc.
Most of the time these services aren’t mega urgent so people will often take their time searching for the best company to use.
They are often location-based services, for example, most people when needing a solicitor would find one in their local area so would search something like ‘solicitors in Kent’.
However, these services can be scaled as they don’t often require someone in person so they can target wider areas they are not necessarily based in. The keywords they would target might be ‘solicitors UK’.
Medical
How many times have you Googled a symptom only to find you have a terminal illness and you probably won’t make it through the night unless you get yourself to A&E right now? You’re not alone I’ve done this many times too!
Aside from diagnosing symptoms and medical information, people will also search for a dentist, vets, physiotherapists and all other medical business types!
These searches can either be mega urgent or not urgent at all. If someone is looking for information it won’t be location bound, whereas if you’re looking for something like an emergency vet you need the nearest one possible!
Real Estate
Another big one for search engines is real estate! Everyone needs somewhere to live and let’s face it many of us are very fussy when it comes to where and what we live in.
Businesses such as estate agents need to be at the top of the search results to ensure they sell the most houses.
People will likely search for estate agents or properties in the areas they want to buy in, so local SEO is extremely important here.
eCommerce
eCommerce is an online business so it’s essential to be visible online! Many eCommerce businesses these days don’t even have a physical shop so the closest thing they have to a high-street is Googles search results!
An eCommerce store owner can optimise for each product they sell or the overall niche of their business. Or both!
An eCommerce business will also more than likely be using many other forms of digital marketing within its strategy.
Trades
If you need new windows, a loft conversion, electrician, plumber etc and you don’t know anyone who does these jobs the next place to look is Google!
These types of services lend themselves well to local SEO and can be either emergency or non-emergency. If your roof is leaking, I’d imagine you’d want that fixed pretty quick!
Businesses and industries that Rely Heavily On SEO
The businesses and industries that rely on SEO services the most, are the ones that benefit from it the most, as just discussed.
However, let’s simplify that. The type of businesses and industries that rely on SEO the most, are ones where the most people need the answers/solutions to questions, problems, dilemma’s, wants and needs.
Most Competitive Industries for SEO
Competitiveness is usually determined by two main factors. The first is demand, which translates into search volume. And second is profitability, which can often be estimated by cost per click (CPC). However, you knowing your products and services would be a better judge of that!
If you’re in a highly profitable industry with a highly profitable product or service and you have a lot of demand for it, you’re going to have a lot of competition!
However, do not be put off by this. Just because you’re in a competitive industry does not mean you can’t win. Firstly, if you have the budget to compete and you can see the returns are good enough, why not compete? Secondly, even in an extremely competitive industry, there are always ways such as targeting long-tail keywords with less search volume that the bigger players do not focus on.
Most of the industries discussed in the section ‘What Industries Need SEO The Most?’ are the most competitive industries. But as mentioned above whichever industry you’re in, if it’s profitable and in high demand, it’s going to be competitive.
Least Competitive Industries for SEO
The least competitive industries are, you guessed it, going to be the complete opposite of the most competitive industries. These will be lower demand products or services with lower profitability. The search volume will generally be less, and CPC will be low.
Does this mean SEO isn’t for you? Absolutely not! Just because they’re not the most in-demand products or services doesn’t mean they can’t be profitable for you. In fact, small niches are going to be easier to win and quicker to start seeing a return from.
It could also just be that you’re in an emerging market and have a very unique offering that hasn’t yet been discovered by the masses.
Industries Where SEO is the most profitable
As previously covered, industries that need SEO the most, and industries that are the most competitive are most likely to be the most profitable.
However, as discussed even the least competitive industries can still be profitable. If you found a small corner of a market that isn’t very competitive, this could be hugely profitable.
In theory, the most profitable niches are going to be where the supply is much lower than the demand.
Industries or Businesses That Don’t Need SEO
SEO will work for pretty much every business but you might not need SEO at this point, or it might not be the right strategy for your business at its current stage.
You could be in a very low competition niche that doesn’t have a lot of search volume. However, there are always keywords you can target that will raise the awareness of your business, its services and its products. Just because someone isn’t directly searching for your products or services doesn’t mean there isn’t anything to target.
You need to think outside the box. What questions would people be asking to then lead them to your products or services? Think about the customer journey from the very start and work out how you can get in front of them at the different points of their journey.
Every business can benefit from SEO, it just might not seem so obvious with some.
Industries That Struggle with Other Forms of Marketing
When it comes to marketing it’s important to test the water with a few different strategies. Do your research, find what’s working for other businesses within the same industries and niches as yours.
Try to find other businesses that are in a similar stage as you are. There’s no point in modelling yourself around a huge industry leader when you’re only a start-up. Your strategy and what works for you will be different.
Analyse to see if your competitors are spending money on SEO, ads, content marketing, social media, direct marketing etc and then decide what you are going to test out for your business.
Industries that struggle with other forms of marketing might find that SEO works for them better and vice versa.
Which Industry Spends the Most on Digital Marketing?
According to eMarketer ‘Retail will pull even further ahead of all other categories in 2021, spending £3.98 billion ($5.11 billion).’
Other leading industries in their digital advertising spending power are automotive, financial services and travel.
Even if you are in one of these industries don’t ever think you don’t stand a chance. These may be the industries that spend the most but there will always be small niches within these industries that are winnable and do not require a ton of capital to compete.
What Industries Need the Most Marketing Help?
You could argue that the industries that need the most marketing help are the most competitive ones that spend the most. However, your small business in a less competitive industry can also need marketing help as much as a bigger business does.
You cannot be a master at every form of marketing, and as a smaller company, it will be very hard for you to do everything in house. If you, the business owner decide to do the marketing yourself that’s taking you away from other things you need to do in your business that could be just as important.
You need to decide how much help you need to ensure your business stays on track.
Conclusion
Now you should know what industries need SEO the most. Most importantly you should have a better idea as to how to figure out whether you need SEO at this point.
Start with research. Look at your competitors and look at where your target audience hangs out. That’s your starting place. If SEO is your next step be sure to understand how competitive your industry and niche is, so you know how much time and resources you need to dedicate to it.
If SEO isn’t right for you at this point, just know there are many other solutions out there that will work for you. You just need to work out which ones.
If you want to discuss your website’s SEO get in touch with me today!
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