Whether you sell vegan shoes or provide accounting services, there is someone looking for what your business has to offer.
And one thing is for sure - any business can (and will) benefit from effective SEO since it helps businesses to connect with their target audience.
Having said that, there are some businesses that need SEO more than others.
Well, if you’re interested to find out what are the industries where SEO pays for itself, look no further!
In this article, we will cover:
- Top 10 Industries That Benefit From SEO
- What Is SEO and Why Is It Important For Your Business
- SEO FAQ
…and more!
Top 10 Industries That Benefit From SEO
Before jumping into the list of industries that benefit from SEO, it’s important to establish a general framework for judging whether SEO is the right channel for a business or not.
After all, SEO is not the best marketing channel for every business.
So, here’s a list of scenarios in which you should not be doing SEO, regardless of your industry:
- You’re just getting started with your business and you need to drive revenue yesterday (and not in 1-2 years). If this is your case, then try running Google or Facebook ads instead of focusing on SEO.
- Your target audience is small. If you’re selling an enterprise B2B software that has around 2000 prospects in the entire world, chances are you won’t be able to target them with SEO. It’s better to just reach out directly via email or via phone.
- Your product type is brand new. If no one knows the product exists, then probably no one will be searching for it on Google.
The scenarios above are applicable to businesses of all industries. So if your business falls in any of the above-mentioned categories, you might want to focus on a different marketing channel like content marketing or paid ads.
Now that that’s been established, let’s cover the top 10 industries that need SEO the most:
#1. SaaS Companies
SEO is a must for software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies.
Essentially, SaaS companies are based on a recurring revenue model, so they depend on having a steady flow of customers landing on their website and converting them into free and, ultimately, paid customers.
While you can attract visitors to your SaaS company website with paid ads, paying for each click can get expensive.
If you want to scale the traffic that reaches your site, you will also have to scale your ad budget.
And once you stop paying for ads, that stream of traffic just stops reaching your website.
So, more often than not, running ads isn’t the most optimal way to grow a SaaS company, especially if you’re focused on long-term, steady growth.
Using SEO to get more people to land on your website and use your software, can be a lot more cost-efficient in the long run - once you rank for keywords, you start to attract organic traffic to your website non-stop (or at least for as long as you rank).
Now you might be thinking, what kind of web content should a SaaS create to attract organic visitors?
Well, there are two main types of content:
- Landing pages targeting a specific use-case of your SaaS - for example, if you have a workflow software, you can create landing pages targeting use-case keywords like enterprise workflow software, collaboration software, business process management software, etc.
- Informational blog content - this can be blog content with the purpose of giving information to top-of-the-funnel leads.
If you have an accounting software, for example, you could write blog content for SEO on accounting topics such as:
- How to create an invoice?
- How to create journal entries?
- How to calculate limited liability company taxes for 2021?
Just think about it - it’s very likely that people researching these topics need accounting software, which makes them a perfect top-of-the-funnel lead generation tool.
As such, SaaS companies are among the businesses that need SEO the most to attract potential customers, continuously.
Want to learn all the ins-and-outs about the SEO process for SaaS companies? Check out our SaaS SEO Mega-Guide.
#2. Law and Legal Firms
Law and legal firms reap many benefits of doing SEO because of the nature of their practice.
Essentially, only people with high intent to solve their legal issues are searching for law firms, so SEO can help legal firms to draw relevant traffic to their websites organically.
In the past, people with legal issues used Yellow Pages books to look up local lawyers, but today Google is the go-to place to find a lawyer.
For example, if someone gets into a personal injury, they will first use Google to get information on the steps they need to take to deal with their situation.
In most cases, once they know exactly what to do, they will search for a personal injury lawyer located in their area on Google (e.g. ‘personal injury lawyer new york’):
So, in this case, law and legal firms are among the industries that need SEO to rank first when people search for a particular type of lawyer in a specific city.
Now, while most searches go directly on Google.com, some go on Google Maps (e.g. ‘personal injury lawyer near me’, ‘personal injury lawyer near New York’, or just ‘personal injury lawyer’):
So, to rank first on Google Maps results, law and legal firms need local SEO.
Not to mention, reputation is one of the key factors people consider when choosing a law firm.
Because of this, law and legal firms are one of the types of businesses that need SEO the most since people are generally more likely to trust law firms which rank high on the search engine results page.
#3. Real Estate and Interior Design Firms
Like most businesses that benefit from SEO, real estate and interior design businesses need SEO to attract relevant traffic into their websites, generate sales, and grow their businesses.
But, both real estate and interior design firms can also benefit from focusing on local SEO since people looking to rent, buy, or renovate their homes search for real estate agents and interior designers working in their city.
So, for example, if someone is planning to buy a new house in Los Angeles, in most cases, they will type ‘realtor los angeles’ on Google to find a local realtor:
Alternatively, people might search for realtors or interior designers on Google Maps (e.g. ‘interior designer near Los Angeles’):
Whatever the case may be, real estate and interior design companies alike are some of the businesses that benefit from SEO the most.
That is because one of the benefits of SEO for businesses, including real estate and interior design companies, is that SEO can help them rank at the top of Google and Google Maps search results pages, which brings in more clients and gives a competitive advantage.
#4. Automotive Companies
Automotive industry is competitive, and that’s one of the main reasons why automotive companies can benefit from SEO.
To thrive in a competitive environment, setting up a website isn’t nearly enough for automotive companies.
Effective SEO helps automotive companies to optimize their websites so that they can be found by search engine crawlers and rank better in search engine result pages.
And, with more people seeing and visiting the website, it’s much easier for automotive companies to make more sales.
#5. E-commerce Businesses
E-commerce businesses typically have thousands of pages, which makes having a fast loading website a top priority.
It is exactly for this reason that e-commerce businesses are some of the businesses that need SEO the most.
If the pages on your e-commerce website load slowly, it can hurt your business in two ways:
- Search engines rank websites with slow loading times worse than fast loading websites
- Your website visitors may navigate to other websites with faster loading times, causing a loss of sales for your company
And this is why one of the major benefits of SEO for businesses with thousands of pages is speed optimization, which can improve your website’s user experience, resulting in more sales.
In case you aren’t sure if your e-commerce business needs speed optimization, test your website on PageSpeed Insights.
This official Google tool can give you suggestions on how to improve your website to make it load faster on both desktop and mobile.
Check out this example of Ebay’s speed analysis:
#6. Local Businesses
Google has the option to list search results based on location, which is why local businesses are among the top businesses that benefit from SEO the most.
In fact, with the help of geotargeting, local businesses have the advantage of reduced competition as they don’t have to compete with national or international businesses.
Even more, searching for local businesses on Google (e.g. ‘Chinese restaurant in Portland, Oregon’) generates a map with the three most relevant entries.
Here’s how it looks:
Successful SEO can help local businesses to enter one of these three slots, which brings tons of exposure to a local business, making SEO the ideal digital marketing strategy for any business operating locally.
#7. Niche Businesses
Any business that provides very specific services or products only relevant to a specific target audience (e.g. cruelty-free make-up brands, sweets for diabetics, etc.) can be called a niche business.
Naturally, such businesses have much less competition, which can make ranking for competitive keywords a breeze.
Now, if you own a niche business, you may think investing your time and effort into SEO isn’t worth it as your target audience is quite small and you won’t get much traffic to your website.
However, done the right way, SEO can help you reach your target audience, which is all the more important to niche businesses.
Just think about it - although your target audience may be small, these people are looking specifically for the product/services you have to offer.
As such, SEO can get you relevant leads that are likely to convert into sales.
#8. Professional Service Companies
Whether you’re an engineer, architect, advertising specialist, or offer any other professional service to your clients, you should look into SEO.
One of the main reasons why professional service companies are among the businesses that need SEO the most is because such companies offer specific services, which means you’re competing with other professionals in your field.
As such, by helping you outrank your competitors and get your business more visibility, successful SEO can draw traffic to your website and generate sales.
Even more, SEO helps not only with building brand awareness, but also with building a reputable brand, which, once again, gives you an advantage over your competitors.
#9. Hospitality Industry
Hospitality industry is one of the most competitive industries out there.
As such, people searching for hotels, guest houses, hostels, etc. are swamped with thousands of options.
When competition is so fierce, it can be hard to stand out among competitors - and for independent hotels that don’t have a famous name attached to them, it can be nearly impossible as travelers often choose chain-branded hotels.
That’s exactly why effective SEO is vital to businesses in the hospitality industry - do it right, and you’ll get a fighting chance of competing against thousands of other lodging options.
#10. Medical Professionals
There are a number of reasons why medical professionals are among the businesses that benefit from SEO the most.
First off, medical professionals typically specialize in a single field and operate as local businesses, which eliminates a great load of competition and makes ranking for specific keywords much easier.
Not only that - people tend to search for medical professionals when they’re experiencing symptoms.
This means that, if you’re a medical professional, effective SEO can help people who need your services to easily find you, and, more often than not, your leads will quickly convert into sales since your target audience is likely to use your services as soon as possible.
Even more, similarly to law firms, medical practices can benefit greatly from being ranked high on the search engine result page as it increases potential patients’ trust towards the medical practitioner.
What Is SEO and Why Is It Important For Your Business?
Essentially, search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of optimizing your website to rank higher on Google or other search engines.
As a digital marketing strategy, SEO helps to bring more relevant visitors to your website by increasing its visibility on search engines, which can then lead to more sales and profit for your business.
Specifically, your business needs SEO to:
- Optimize your website. By doing SEO, you can optimize your website both for search engine crawlers and visitors alike. SEO improves your website crawlability, allows it to be correctly indexed, AND optimizes it for visitors by ensuring that your website is fast, easy to navigate, and contains content relevant to your target audience.
- Build an authoritative brand. People searching for products and services generally perceive websites that rank high on the search engine results page as reputable, credible, and trustworthy. Even more, a high ranking website shows that your brand is a top player in the industry, so potential customers are more likely to trust you (and, as a result, use your services/buy your products) over your competitors.
- Reach your target audience. SEO is hyper-targeted, which means that users intentionally looking for the services or products your business offers will see your website at the exact time they need you, which increases the likelihood of making a sale.
- Drive relevant traffic organically. If you’ve ever used paid advertisements, you definitely noticed a sudden drop in your website traffic as soon as you stopped paying for them. Unlike paid advertisements, successful SEO drives organic traffic to your website for as long as you are ranking, which is a more sustainable solution for your business.
- Generate leads and sales. By building your brand awareness and increasing its visibility, SEO makes it easier for your target audience to find your website on search engines, and, in turn, helps your business to convert leads into paying customers.
- Grow your business. By helping you achieve all we mentioned above and more, SEO is a long-term marketing strategy that promotes business growth.
Work With an SEO Agency
And that’s a wrap!
By now, you know which industries need SEO the most.
Not only that - you also know the benefits of SEO for businesses, including driving organic traffic, growing your business, generating leads and sales, and so much more.
Not sure if your business can benefit from SEO?
Contact us for a free consultation!
SEO FAQ
#1. What industries need websites the most?
A professional, well-made website is beneficial to any business.
However, if your business offers digital services, relies on online customers to make sales, and/or targets an international audience, having a website is even more important.
For example, businesses in the hospitality industry must have a website to reach potential customers from any location worldwide.
#2. What type of businesses need SEO?
Basically, businesses that benefit from SEO are those that offer services or products for which people search on Google.
In fact, different types of businesses benefit from SEO for different reasons.
For example, SEO can help local businesses reach their target audience with less competition, while, for businesses in competitive industries, SEO can be a cost-effective way to get more exposure.
#3. Why is SEO important?
SEO is important because it helps your website to rank high on search engine results page, which gives your website exposure.
More exposure means more relevant traffic to your website, and, the more people visit your website, the more it increases your chances of making a sale.
Basically, effective SEO sets off a positive chain reaction that helps your business grow.
#4. Is SEO dead?
SEO is far from dead.
In fact, it is very much alive (and more relevant than ever!).
But, let’s be fair - SEO has changed over time.
In the past, it was all too easy to manipulate search engines to rank your website at the top of the search engine results page.
For example, you could’ve just packed your website with a bunch of keywords to trick search engines into showing your website on the first page.
Such tricks don’t work well today - in fact, they don’t work at all, and can even get your website penalized.
That’s because search engines aim to deliver high quality results that match people’s search intent, so they regularly update the algorithms that determine how the search results are displayed.
As a result, today SEO is all the more important if you want to get more organic traffic to your website.
#5. What is the process of SEO?
Here’s a run-through of our SEO process:
- Technical SEO. This includes optimizing your pages, sitemap, website architecture, removing duplicate content, and other technical elements to make sure your website can be easily found, crawled, and correctly indexed by search engine crawlers.
- Keyword research. A well-made keyword sheet will not only give you important insights (e.g. how easy or difficult ranking for each keyword is, which keywords your competitors rank on, etc.), but will also help you write content based on what your target audience is searching for.
- Landing pages. Once you’re all set with your keywords, the next step is to create landing pages for each keyword. You can create SEO landing pages either by using a template or creating unique landing pages each time.
- SEO blog content. Blog post keywords are much easier to rank for compared to landing pages, so you should aim to write high-quality and high volume content to outrank your competitors.
- Link-building. Link-building is an essential part of your SEO strategy as search engines see links to your website as proof that your content is high-quality and worthy of being ranked high. To improve your link-building game, try using a strategy, such as the Skyscraper technique.
- Interlinking. Interlinking extends the time visitors spend on your site, which is one of the ranking factors on Google. So, you should aim to link your pages to other relevant pages on your website to boost your chances of ranking high on search engines.
- Monitoring your headline CTRs. To rank high on search engines (and maintain your position), you should carefully track your headline clickthrough rates as Google rearranges the ranking based on how many people click on your page’s headline in comparison to other headlines. You can improve your headline CTR by experimenting with different headlines.
- Progress tracking. Whether your website sits at the top of Google’s first page or not, SEO is an on-going process, so you should regularly track your website’s ranking and make any adjustments that could help you improve or maintain your ranking.
