Not everyone can get to the top of the SERPs for the major keywords of their industry. In fact, very few businesses can afford to compete on that level. At the same time, very few businesses are going to be keen to recede into the background, using simple niche phrases. How do you choose between a broad-ranging or a niche campaign?
The first thing to realise is that giving up on the major keywords in your industry does not mean bowing out of the competition. In fact, targeting a number of lower-competition areas can be a great strategy that ends up providing more coverage. Knowing that a broad-range campaign and a niche campaign are both effective doesn’t help you to decide which one is good for your business. Each path needs to be carefully considered.
The broad approach
There are natural advantages to a broad-range campaign if you succeed. The traffic you can get from such keywords tends to be huge, which brings a number of benefits including a better chance of conversions and further support of your SEO by boosting your statistics. The sheer amount of exposure you receive at the top of a high-competition keyword can also help publicise your company, meaning you get some marketing value out of this kind of campaign.
The down side of a broad-range search engine optimisation campaign is mainly the amount of work required. A lot of effort needs to be put in to face such tough competition. The risks are big for such big rewards.
Honing in on a niche
The reason targeting a niche tends to work really well is because of two factors. First of all, the size of the niche means that it’s going to be a little easier to get to the top. Competing against 100 other sites is always going to be easier than competing against 10,000 of them. The second reason is the specificity of the niche. Although a niche campaign might get you less traffic than if you appear at the top of a broad-range search, the traffic is going to be more suited to your page. People looking for ‘flying purple people eaters’ are the kind of internet users who know what they want. Once they select your page, you have a better chance of a conversion.
Most companies are put off the smaller audiences of niche campaigns for website optimization. The upside of this is that many businesses haven’t realised how powerful the niche approach to an SEO campaign can be, and you can discuss this with us at SEO Consult.
Do I have to choose?
The good news is that broad and niche campaigns aren’t either/or. You can pursue a broad path while building up your niche presence, or vice versa. Many companies mix it up. The important thing to note, though, is that a firm strategy must be devised for each path. A niche SEO campaign is necessarily different to a broad one. Talk to your SEO company for advice.