…and it\u2019s NOT just about ranking on Google.<\/p>\n
No, I\u2019m not talking about Bing optimization or Yahoo! optimization or DuckDuckGo optimization.<\/p>\n
In fact, I\u2019m not talking about optimizing for general search engines at all.\u00a0![\"Search](\"https:\/\/www.digitalmarketer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/VerticalSeo1.png\")
<\/p>\n
I\u2019m talking about a different kind of search optimization. A kind of optimization that, depending on your business, might be far more important than improving your organic rankings in Google<\/strong>.<\/p>\n I\u2019m talking about vertical SEO (search engine optimization).<\/p>\n In this post, you\u2019re going to learn\u2026<\/p>\n Ready to get started?<\/p>\n We’ll begin with how vertical SEO is different than Google SEO.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s say you own a Thai restaurant, and you\u2019re trying to get your site in front of local people who are searching online.<\/p>\n But as anyone in the restaurant business can tell you, Google is NOT the only important search engine you have to keep in mind.<\/p>\n For local restaurants trying to attract new customers, Yelp is just as important as Google is.<\/p>\n But here\u2019s the thing: Yelp and Google are different kinds of search engines with completely different algorithms.<\/p>\n Google is what we call a \u201cgeneral search engine.\u201d<\/strong> You can go to Google to search for just about anything you can imagine.<\/p>\n Yelp, on the other hand, is a \u201cvertical search engine.\u201d<\/strong> In other words, it focuses on a specific niche, industry, or vertical. It\u2019s more of a specialty search engine.<\/p>\n In the case of Yelp, that vertical includes local businesses \u2014 like restaurants, bars, hotels, and so on.<\/p>\n Other examples of vertical search engines include…<\/p>\n So, why is vertical search so important?<\/p>\n Research shows that searches conducted on vertical search engines are growing \u2014 especially on the all-important mobile device.<\/p>\n A 2013 comScore report<\/a> revealed that vertical search grew 8% YoY while Google searches declined 2% YoY. <\/strong><\/p>\n Meanwhile, an article<\/a> in The New York Times <\/em>revealed that Amazon gets more shopping searches than Google does<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Now, I\u2019m not saying you need to be optimized for ALL vertical search engines. That wouldn\u2019t make sense at all.<\/p>\n But optimizing your business for the right <\/em>vertical search engines can have a huge effect on your bottom line.<\/p>\n So, the next thing you might be wondering is… how do you know which vertical search engines are important for your business?<\/p>\n And to answer that question, let\u2019s turn to a concept called IBSO.<\/p>\n If there\u2019s one SEO mistake that companies make all the time, it\u2019s this:<\/p>\n They improve search rankings that don\u2019t have any effect on their business.<\/strong>\u00a0 In other words, they either target the wrong keywords, optimize the wrong pages, or focus on the wrong search engines.<\/p>\n They end up with better rankings… but those rankings don\u2019t translate to more traffic or conversions.<\/p>\n So, how do you avoid this super-common mistake?<\/p>\n By following IBSO.<\/p>\n Intent-Based Search Optimization, or IBSO for short, is a search optimization process that can help you to optimize your site not just to get better rankings\u2026<\/p>\n …but to get more traffic, customers, and revenue<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what it looks like:<\/p>\n IBSO consists of six steps. Each step is simple and straightforward by itself, but when followed in a specific order, they can be very powerful.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s run through all six steps now:<\/p>\n The first question is simple: What is the prospect searching for? What\u2019s the search query?<\/em><\/p>\n For our example, let\u2019s use \u201cThai food.\u201d<\/p>\n Next ask yourself: Why are they searching for this?<\/em><\/p>\n In our example, the answer is pretty simple. Because they\u2019re hungry! It\u2019s lunchtime, and they’re looking for something to eat.<\/p>\n Next, you\u2019ll have to think about this search from the searcher\u2019s perspective. What is it they\u2019re looking for? What sort of asset will satisfy their search?<\/em><\/p>\n By \u201casset,\u201d I mean…<\/p>\n …or something that will make their problem go away.<\/p>\n (RELATED:<\/strong> Perfect Content Marketing: How Content Generates Leads and Sales at Every Step of the Funnel<\/a>)<\/p>\n In our Thai food example, the asset that makes sense is a listing<\/em>.<\/p>\n In other words, a page that contains information about the restaurant \u2014 its hours, menu, reviews, location, pictures, and so on. Information the searcher can use to determine where they want to go for lunch.<\/p>\n Now that you know which asset will satisfy the person\u2019s search, the next thing you need to figure out is: Where should that asset live?<\/p>\n In our example, we\u2019ve determined that the asset they are looking for is a listing that contains information about the restaurant.<\/p>\n So where should that listing live?<\/p>\n Some of the vertical search engines that make sense for restaurant listings include:<\/p>\n Many of the channels you list out in this step will be search engines, each of which has different ranking factors. Which brings us to…<\/p>\n Now that you know what kind of content to create and where to put it, the next step is to figure out how the prospect will find that asset.<\/em><\/p>\n When we talk about search optimization \u2014 whether it\u2019s SEO for a general search engine like Google or optimizing for a vertical search engine like Yelp \u2014 this is where that search optimization takes place.<\/p>\n This is where it becomes crucial to understand different search algorithms and how each channel ranks the different assets on its website.<\/p>\n In our Thai food example, some of the things we\u2019ll need to optimize for on Yelp include:<\/p>\n We\u2019ll dive into this step in more detail in just a moment. But first, let\u2019s discuss…<\/p>\n Here is where you have to think about the next step in the Customer Journey<\/a>. What do you want people to do AFTER they consume your content asset on the channel from Step 4?<\/p>\n What\u2019s the next step?<\/p>\n In our Thai food example, the next step might be for the person to check out our menu and call to make a reservation or to place an order for delivery.<\/p>\n And that\u2019s it!<\/p>\n That\u2019s how you go through the IBSO process to determine what sort of content assets your business needs to develop and where they need to live.<\/p>\n Before we move on, let\u2019s do another quick example:<\/p>\n Now, let’s talk about…<\/p>\n I want you to notice something: IBSO has six steps, and we didn\u2019t even mention search optimization until Step 5.<\/p>\n That\u2019s because truly effective search optimization requires more up-front thought than most people give it.<\/p>\n And they fail to take the time to figure out why <\/em>people are searching for that query, what <\/em>they\u2019re really looking for, and where <\/em>that asset should live.<\/p>\n This is a big part of the reason why so many marketers have such a hard time with SEO. And it\u2019s also why many companies are able to increase their rankings <\/em>without actually increasing their revenue.<\/em><\/p>\n But following IBSO can change all that.<\/p>\n And that\u2019s why it\u2019s important to figure out the Intent, Context, Asset, and Channel for your search term before <\/em>you focus on the actual optimization process.<\/p>\n So, let\u2019s talk about that stage in more detail by going through examples of how you can rank on several of the most popular vertical search engines.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re an ecommerce company selling physical products, there\u2019s no doubt what the #1 biggest vertical search engine in your space is.<\/p>\n It\u2019s Amazon.<\/p>\n This ecommerce giant has developed its own sophisticated search algorithm designed to return the search results that are most likely to maximize sales.<\/p>\n With that in mind, here are five Amazon product page elements to optimize for:<\/p>\n Sales velocity is defined as\u00a0the speed at which you are receiving orders. Basically, it boils down to getting a high volume of sales as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n To this end, product launches are an important part of getting traction on Amazon<\/strong>.<\/p>\n By doing a promotional launch of your product, Amazon will think: \u201cOh, this is a hot product!\u201d And as a result, they\u2019ll start showing your product higher in the search results<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s an example of a promotional page for an Amazon product that worked very well:<\/p>\n Obviously offering your product for such a significant discount will eat away at your profit margins. In this case, it will even cost you money.<\/p>\n But the beauty of a product launch like this is that you don\u2019t have to keep it running forever.<\/p>\n Once your sales velocity picks up, your Amazon rankings will improve.<\/p>\n Then you can discontinue the coupon deal and enjoy the increased sales that come as a result.<\/p>\n Verified reviews are a big part of the Amazon algorithm. The reason why is pretty simple: because Amazon knows that a high number of good reviews increases sales significantly.<\/p>\n Having trouble generating reviews on Amazon?<\/p>\n Try checking out a program like Feedback Genius<\/a>. It\u2019s well worth the investment if Amazon is an important part of your business.<\/p>\n Often, the search results you see on Amazon aren\u2019t necessarily for the best products… but for the best-optimized<\/em> product pages.<\/p>\n With that in mind, it\u2019s important to create compelling search results that will increase your click-through rate (CTR).<\/p>\n If more people click on your product page, you will get more sales \u2014 and Amazon will be more inclined to display your product.<\/p>\n So, how do you do that?<\/p>\n By optimizing every element of your product listing page, including\u2026<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a great example of a well-optimized product listing \u2014 in other words, what people see on the Amazon search results page<\/em>:<\/p>\n Step 3 was about optimizing your product listing.<\/p>\n This step is about creating the most compelling product page you can so that once people click on your product listing, they will be more likely to purchase your product.<\/p>\n To do this, it\u2019s important to research your competitors<\/strong> to see what the best-selling products are doing. Then work on creating keyword-rich product pages by optimizing all the elements on that page:<\/p>\n Here\u2019s the product page for the skin care serum we showed above. Notice how each of the \u201cAbout the Product\u201d bullet-points is a big, meaty paragraph full of benefits:<\/p>\n (RELATED:<\/strong> 13 Ways To Use Amazon.com To Pick Products and Niches, Craft Winning Offers, Increase Conversions And More<\/a>)<\/p>\n Finally, it\u2019s important to make sure your product is listed in the correct category and is targeting the most relevant keywords.<\/p>\n This is vital to ensuring that your page shows up for people who are actually searching for you.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s say that your content asset (Step #3 of IBSO) is a video.<\/p>\n If that\u2019s the case, then a likely channel for your search will be YouTube.<\/p>\n Here are the top five things to optimize your videos for on YouTube search:<\/p>\n This is one of the most important things to optimize for on YouTube to increase video views. A good thumbnail will grab people\u2019s attention and compel them to click on your video.<\/p>\n Here are some examples of good thumbnails:<\/p>\n Notice something all these thumbnails have in common?<\/p>\n They all make good use of text overlay on top of an eye-catching image.<\/p>\n If you aren\u2019t sure how to create a thumbnail like this, it\u2019s surprisingly easy \u2014 just sign up with Canva<\/a> to customize your own thumbnails for free.<\/p>\n Engagement metrics are a strong ranking signal for YouTube.<\/p>\n As more people like, share, and comment on your video, YouTube will start to find your content more engaging \u2014 and your YouTube rankings will increase as a result.<\/p>\n So, how can you optimize your video for engagement?<\/p>\n Creating a high-quality video is always a great start.<\/p>\n But you can also make calls-to-action (CTA) within the content of your video itself. Ask people to…<\/p>\n …on your video. By doing this, you can create a noticeable increase in your engagement metrics.<\/p>\n Remember that YouTube is owned by Google. As a result, many of the traditional SEO techniques can help to improve your YouTube rankings<\/strong>.<\/p>\n So, what can you do?<\/p>\n Optimize your video\u2019s…<\/p>\n …to include the keywords you want to rank for.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s an example of a video that ranks for the keyword \u201chow to tie a tie.\u201d Notice how many times they use that keyword in the video’s description (the text below the video):<\/p>\n When trying to rank for vertical search, it\u2019s helpful to think about things from the search engine\u2019s perspective. What do they want searchers to do?<\/p>\n In this case, what does YouTube want people to do?<\/p>\n Well, YouTube earns its revenue from advertising \u2014 and the way they maximize that is to keep people on YouTube as long as possible.<\/p>\n With that in mind, another way of increasing your YouTube rankings is by improving your video retention rate<\/strong>. In other words: get more people to stay on your video longer.<\/em><\/p>\n You can see a graph of your video retention inside the YouTube Creator Studio:<\/p>\n One tip to increase video retention is to use a technique called \u201copen loops.\u201d<\/p>\n In other words, open a loop at the beginning of your video to pique viewers\u2019 attention… then wait until later to pay it off. Like, “More on that in a minute, but first let’s look at…”<\/p>\n Novels and TV shows open loops all the time.<\/p>\n Typically, at the end of a chapter or an episode, a character is confronted with a shocking revelation or finds herself in a difficult dilemma. The loop has been opened.<\/p>\n And what does this get you to do? You turn the page or binge-watch the next episode to learn how it plays out and close the loop.<\/p>\n If you can arouse viewer’s curiosity at the beginning, they\u2019ll stick around just to get the payoff when you close the loop.<\/p>\n Finally, always keep in mind what you want people to do next \u2014 after they finish watching \u2014 and include a CTA near the end of your video.<\/p>\n Do you want them to go to your website?<\/p>\n Download a free report?<\/p>\n Watch another video?<\/p>\n Here\u2019s an example of a YouTube video from DigitalMarketer. Notice the CTAs are 1) to click to watch another YouTube video and 2) to subscribe to our YouTube channel.<\/p>\n Keep in mind, YouTube wants people to stay on YouTube. So, anytime you can get people to click on another video, that will help your YouTube rankings even further.<\/p>\n\n
General Search vs. Vertical Search<\/h2>\n
![\"Optimizing](\"https:\/\/www.digitalmarketer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/VerticalSeo2.png\")
One search query that you want to target is \u201cThai food.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Introducing: Intent-Based Search Optimization (IBSO)<\/h2>\n
![\""...but](\"https:\/\/www.digitalmarketer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/VerticalSeo_Quotebox5.png\")
<\/em><\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.digitalmarketer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/vertical-seo-img1.jpg\")
<\/p>\nIntent-Based Search Optimization Step 1: Intent<\/h3>\n
Intent-Based Search Optimization Step 2: Context<\/h3>\n
Intent-Based Search Optimization Step 3: Asset<\/h3>\n
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Intent-Based Search Optimization Step 4: Channel<\/h3>\n
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Intent-Based Search Optimization Step 5: Optimization<\/h3>\n
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Intent-Based Search Optimization Step 6: Ascension<\/h3>\n
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How SEO Fits Into IBSO<\/h2>\n
![\""Truly](\"https:\/\/www.digitalmarketer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/VerticalSeo_Quotebox4.png\")
Most marketers start by performing keyword research (Step 1 in IBSO), then jump straight to trying to optimize their site for that keyword (Step 5).<\/p>\nHow to Optimize for Search on Amazon<\/h2>\n
Optimize for Vertical SEO on Amazon Step 1: Sales Velocity<\/h3>\n
![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.digitalmarketer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/vertical-seo-img2.jpg\")
<\/p>\nOptimize for Vertical SEO on Amazon Step 2: Verified Reviews<\/h3>\n
Optimize for Vertical SEO on Amazon Step 3: Click-Through Rate (CTR)<\/h3>\n
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![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.digitalmarketer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/vertical-seo-img3-v2.jpg\")
<\/p>\nOptimize for Vertical SEO on Amazon Step 4: Content<\/h3>\n
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![\"Product](\"https:\/\/www.digitalmarketer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/vertical-seo-img4-v2.jpg\")
<\/p>\nOptimize for Vertical SEO on Amazon Step 5: Category<\/h3>\n
How to Optimize for Search on YouTube<\/h2>\n
Optimize for Vertical SEO on YouTube Step 1: Thumbnail Images<\/h3>\n
![\"6](\"https:\/\/www.digitalmarketer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/vertical-seo-img5.jpg\")
<\/p>\nOptimize for Vertical SEO on YouTube Step 2: Engagement<\/h3>\n
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Optimize for Vertical SEO on YouTube Step 3: Content<\/h3>\n
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![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.digitalmarketer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/vertical-seo-img6.jpg\")
<\/p>\nOptimize for Vertical SEO on YouTube Step 4: Video Retention<\/h3>\n
![\"Viewing](\"https:\/\/www.digitalmarketer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/vertical-seo-img7.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\""Open](\"https:\/\/www.digitalmarketer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/VerticalSeo_Quotebox3.png\")
Use this tactic in your YouTube videos.<\/p>\nOptimize for Vertical SEO on YouTube Step 5: Optimize for Ascension<\/h3>\n
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