The Inevitable Fragmentation of SEO
Question: When companies in a specific industry start to break off and provide niche products and services, does that mean the industry is saturated or that business is good?
An increasing amount of search marketing companies, such as First Page Fitness and Page 1 Solutions, have discovered that they can achieve better results when performing SEO for particular niche industries.
Focusing on a single industry allows niche search marketing companies to keep up-to-date on the latest blogs, directories, article libraries, trade publications, newsletters, and web sites about that particular sector.
For instance, Page 1 Solutions ( http://www.page1solutions.com ) has its finger on the pulse of thousands of personal injury law, plastic surgery, LASIK and cosmetic dentistry web sites. They have built relationships with bloggers and journalists in these industries, developed database files that are constantly being updated with the latest niche directories or vertical search engines, and have already done the keyword research on the vast majority of terms that their potential clients hope to target.
“We feel that we can give our clients a more comprehensive approach to their marketing efforts by understanding their industries and end users. Being intimate with these industries allows us to make recommendations based on experience that we have had with clients in similar practices and markets,” explains Shannon Montoya, Director of Internet Marketing at Page 1 Solutions, LLC.
It may seem too limiting for a search marketing company to narrow its services to a particular market. However, niche SEO firms like First Page Fitness (http://www.firstpagefitness.com ) do not see it that way.
First Page Fitness provides search marketing to chiropractors, fitness centers, yoga studios, martial arts franchises, equipment manufacturers, supplement companies and distributors, healthcare and fitness web sites, bodybuilding magazines, day spas, personal fitness trainer certification programs…
“The possibilities for search marketing clients within this niche is wide enough to allow for a healthy influx of new clients each month, but focused enough to allow First Page Fitness to develop a reputation as The Best in this niche,” says Everett Sizemore, Director of Search Marketing and Owner of First Page Fitness, LLC.
Other search marketing niches that have been carved out recently include: Car dealership SEO (www.clickmotive.com), Hotel Industry (www.secure-res.com), several real estate, gambling and pharmaceutical drug niche firms, and even an SEO company dealing strictly with Christian websites (www.OurChurch.Com).
Some would say that niche search marketing cannot be sustained due to eventual conflicts of interest. After all, there are only ten spots on most search engine result pages. However, Page 1 Solutions has been working with the same markets for over seven years with no sign of slowing down. Critics may not have factored the effect limited space would have on client retention.
Others would say that this trend towards breaking off into niche SEO markets is a sign that the industry is saturated with SEO companies. However, when one looks at the development of other new industries, from traditional advertising and PR, to manufacturing and logistics, it becomes clear that fragmenting into specialized niche markets is a sign of maturation.
Industry father figures like Greg Boser and Danny Sullivan may have used completely different parenting techniques, but in the end the result is the same – SEO is all grown up.
