In this article, I am going to give detailed information about how to grow your business with Vertical SEO, so let’s start.
Google is considered as the ruling search engine among all other search engines. But, if you want to filter your searches by more specific details and with more specific results, do you trust Google to give you what is expected? Here we’re speaking about Vertical Searches and its optimization.
Now that, did you ever know there are different types of searches? And, have you ever heard about Vertical SEO and what does that mean? For those of you who are hearing it for the first time, I’ll explain what it means. If you knew about Vertical SEO, this blog discusses growing your business with Vertical SEO.
Vertical SEO- What is it?
We all have used different search engines, and we never realized whether it is a general or vertical one. We just wanted to get the results for what we wanted. Most of us relied on Google for whatever we wanted to search for. But, then a vertical search engine provides results for only on a specific segment or category.
For example, it is like how we studied at school and college. For each subject, we had teachers who were specialized in it. Likewise, the Vertical search engines will be specialized in categories such as Travel, Socio-economics, Medicine, Research, Space Science etc.
I am sure you will have definitely used any of these prominent vertical search engines such as YouTube for videos, Amazon for eCommerce, Pinterest for images, Yelp for reviews, TripAdvisor for travel, indeed for jobs, eBay or Etsy for eCommerce.
Why should you use Vertical SEO?
Some of the recent surveys have found that many people are spending time on vertical search engines on their mobile apps. 76% of total digital media engagement today happens on apps. While a recent report discovered that vertical search growth outran core search growth (Whereas Vertical search grew 8%, Google searches declined by 2%). This defines the reasons why you should focus your business also on vertical search engines.
The key difference between General and Vertical Search Engines
The crawlers used in vertical search engines are different when they index websites relating to them.
While general Web Search Engines use web crawlers for indexing sites, vertical Search Engines use focused crawlers for indexing web pages which appear to be relevant to any set of topics.
How can you make the best use of Vertical SEO for your business growth?
Vertical search engine helps users to discover content about a specific topic, industry or business vertical. Therefore, you have to decide between these search engines to get your website up and popping up quickly for relevant searches. Selection of search engines is decided based on the nature of your business. Once you decide the channels for vertical search, start optimizing your website for it.
1. Understanding Consumer Behaviour
The first thing you should consider is to understand the nature of consumer behaviour on the relevant vertical search engines for your brand. Consumer demands and expectations will differ based on the search engine. For example, a video search engine like YouTube will help users to find a video on a particular topic.
An e-commerce search engine like Amazon would help users find relevant products. While an app search engine would help users find apps very specific to the users’ search query.
What you’ve to understand is these users are started their query there for specific reasons. This leads you to think into the types of content you need to create in response to those expectations.
2. Vertical Search Engine Selection
How do you decide which search engine is best for your business? The first thing you should do is to research your own industry. Search for more specific verticals that can hone your searches or boost your business advertising ROI. Pick up a search engine that will find the things you’re looking for and where you think will quality customers come looking for things.
If you want your business flourish through videos, stick with a search engine that returns video results. Similarly, you may start focusing on search engines that deliver search specific results for images, travel destinations, tours, designs etc..
There are also all-in-one search engines that can find multiple types of content, but choosing a dedicated search engine will work better for the specific things you want your business to flourish.
3. Optimize your website for Vertical Search
How do you optimize your website for Vertical Search Engines? Usually, you may have your website optimized for horizontal search engines like Google. But, you need to be more specific with your selection of keywords when it comes to vertical search. For Example; if you’re running an online ladies shoe store, your general search keyword could be like “Ladies Fashion
Shoes”. But your vertical search engine keyword could be something more specific like “Ladies Wedding Shoes”.
While you optimize your website for vertical search engines, make sure if the site enables you to build and manage original content. Sites like Amazon, eBay, Facebook, LinkedIn, SlideShare, Pinterest, Reddit and Wikipedia do.
If you want your business to focus on any of these search engines, start building out pages that are focused, attractive, and authoritative and include the kind of images and videos that users like.
Another important thing you should focus is to invest time in metatags and descriptions. However, the optimization technique for each search engine is different. Focus more on the content and exceed that of your competitors, which means better and high-quality content and images, helpful videos, and reviews or Likes where applicable.
All these are the job of a Search Engine Optimization Professional to help others understand the Vertical Search Engine Optimization requirements of the relevant sites.
The search engine behaviours are changing, and so are the new content opportunities. Search engine optimization is not any more simply publishing content and expecting search engines to do the rest for us. It is not limited to ranking in Google anymore. The focus now comes more on vertical search engines to get the most out of your business. Therefore, we need to constantly evolve our strategies to make the most of the new circumstances.
The digital marketing industry is reaching a point where deep learning allows search engines to understand both content and context with accuracy levels. As marketers, we need to look at the skills that are common to horizontal and vertical search and optimize our site experience for a particular audience.
Overall, the growth of vertical search engines suggests a massive change in the search ecosystem. In the coming months, we can expect steady growth in the vertical search landscape. If you want to be an SEO professional you should make an effort to improve your SEO skills that are best for your career. It’s becoming a recognized career worldwide with a high range of career opportunities available in all sectors of business.
