13 Industries That Can Benefit From a Quality SEO Campaign
Out-ranking competitors on Google is hard. Showing up on the first page of Google is hard.
So how do companies do it? What’s the secret sauce?
The answer is Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
In this guide, we will take an in-depth look at what industries need SEO the most.
Contents
- What Industries Need SEO the Most?
- 13 Examples of Businesses That Need Seo – Grouped By Search Intent
- Group One: Companies in Industries Targeting Localized Searches for Products or Services
- Group Two: National Companies in Industries Who Target Broad Industry-Related Searches
- Group 3: Hybrid Industries – Targeting Both Local and National Searches
- No Matter What Industry You’re In – A Free SEO Audit With SEO Growth Partners Is the Best Place to Start
What Industries Need SEO the Most?
Most companies can benefit from an SEO strategy, but there are specific industries that need SEO the most to help reach their audience.
Industries in highly competitive sectors rely on SEO to help beat competitors and “win” more customers by increasing their digital presence.
A highly competitive industry drives the need for companies to…
- Follow SEO best practices
- Consistently create content; and
- Optimize web pages
… to show up on the first page of Google for industry-related search queries.
Sidenote: As you read through this, it’s important to note that businesses within each industry are at different levels of maturity. Some businesses are brand new while others have been around for 50 years.
If you’re a brand new startup, we recommend that you first read our SEO for startups guide before navigating back to this page.
13 Examples of Businesses That Need SEO – Grouped By Search Intent
Group One: Companies in Industries Targeting Localized Searches for Products or Services
Local, service-based businesses need SEO because they have an audience that is actively searching online for services they have to offer. And this audience is typically ready to buy and typing in “bottom of the funnel” keywords.
Think about it like this: If you are looking for a dentist in your area, how do you begin your search?
You probably pull out your phone and type something into Google like, “dentist near me” or “dentists in Portland”.
The very first thing you will see on the SERPs is the Google Local Pack, which looks like this:
Only three businesses can populate organically in the Google Local Pack at a time, and 50% of users will click on one of the businesses listed in the Google Local Pack.
If there are 20+ dentists in the Portland area and only three can rank organically in the Google Local Pack that is fierce competition. And the cold, hard truth is this:
It’s impossible to rank in the Google Local Pack without an effective local SEO strategy.
Below, we will go into more detail about the types of local, service-based businesses that would benefit from SEO the most.
#1: Home Service and Repair Companies
The type of companies that benefit from SEO the most in this industry include:
- Painters
- Plumbers
- Remodelers
- Eletricitions
- Siding Contractors
- Home decorators
- General contractors
- And more
An effective local SEO strategy can dramatically impact these types of businesses.
One of our clients, Elite Home Exteriors NW, is a multi-location siding company based in Portland and Vancouver. After one year of partnering with us for SEO services, they have seen 6x increase in phone calls and local exposure on Google.
#2: Medical Providers
The type of companies that benefit from SEO the most in this industry include:
- Chiropractors
- Naturopaths
- Medical spas
- Dentists
- Doctors
- And more
The local medical provider industry can be a competitive environment. One of our clients, HealthierU, a nutrition clinic based in Brooklyn has to compete with over 15+ nutrition clinics in the area. They sought out SEO services to help them rank above their competitors.
Six months into their local SEO campaign, their local exposure on Google increased by 88%:
In one year, their local exposure on Google nearly increased by 4x, and their phone calls nearly increased by 3x.
#3: Professional Services
People seeking professional services typically turn to Google to research the best businesses in their area.
The type of companies that benefit from SEO the most in this industry include:
- Financial advisors
- Accountants
- Bookkeepers
- Virtual Assistants
- And more
#4: Food, Drink, and Entertainment Services
The type of companies that benefit from SEO the most in this industry include:
- Restaurants
- Bars
- Bakeries
- Cafes
- Caterers
- And more
Think about it, when you are looking for food or entertainment services in your area, what do you do?
You pull out your phone and type something into Google like:
- “Best restaurants near me”
- “Pubs near me”
- “Best coffee near me”
If you’re a local business in this industry, you want your Google Business Profile to generate in the coveted Google Local Pack for these types of queries. Local SEO can help you achieve this.
#5: Legal Services
When it comes to legal services, users typically research their options before settling on a professional to assist them.
If you’re a legal service, you want your business to consistently show up in the SERPs for localized searches.
The type of companies that benefit from SEO the most in this industry include:
- Lawyers
- Paralegals
- Bail bondsmen
- And more
#6: Real Estate
The type of companies that benefit from SEO the most in this industry include:
- Real estate agents
- Brokers
- Multi-family housing companies
- Corporate housing companies
- And more
It’s no secret that the real estate industry is notoriously competitive.
Within just three months of beginning a partnership with us, our client, Peggy Hoag Real Estate, a local Portland realty company, went from ranking on the fourth page of Google for the keyword “portland realtor” to the second position on the first page:
880 people per month search for this one keyword alone — that’s 10,560 searches per year.
The average click-through rate (CTR) for position two on Google is 37.36%, meaning our client can expect to receive roughly 3,907 organic clicks per year for this one keyword.
#7: Pet Related Services
Most people regard their pets as family members and heavily research pet-related services on Google before settling on a business.
Not only do you want your pet-related business to show up in the Google Local Pack and SERPs for localized searches, but you want to ensure you’re keeping up with Google reviews that demonstrate your credibility and trustworthiness.
The type of companies that benefit from SEO the most in this industry include:
- Veterinarians
- Pet supply shops
- Doggy daycares
- Boarding kennels
- Pet groomers
- And more
#8: Beauty Services
The type of companies that benefit from SEO the most in this industry include:
- Beauty supply stores
- Hair salons
- Nail salons
- Estheticians
- Spa
- And more
Prior to partnering with us, one of our clients, Bridgetown Aesthetics, a local Portland medical spa, was paying 3x more for local SEO services from a different SEO company and not seeing results.
In less than two months, organic traffic to their website increased by 131.9% and their phone calls nearly doubled. Click here to view the full case study.
#9: General Local Services
The type of companies that benefit from SEO the most in this industry include:
- Dry cleaners
- Photographers
- Junk removal
- Child care services
- Tutoring services
- Gyms
- Flower shops
- And more
A great example of potential local SEO results for general local services is one of our clients, Botanica Floral, a Portland flower shop. Within three months of partnering with us, their local exposure on Google increased by 78% and their phone calls from Google increased by 68%.
Group Two: National Companies in Industries Who Target Broad Industry-Related Searches
E-commerce and companies with national audiences can benefit from SEO because their audience tends to search for informational-type queries around their products and services.
#10: E-Commerce Businesses
E-commerce businesses sell products and services strictly online. They do not have brick-and-mortar locations.
When you think about E-commerce companies, companies like Dollar Shave Club, Chewy, and Stichfix probably come to mind. These are large companies with massive digital presence.
But what about the smaller companies? How do they create a digital presence online that translates to customers? The answer is SEO.
Here’s an example of our E-commerce clients’ SEO campaign success:
ONDRwear, a small, E-commerce company that sells leak-proof underwear, was previously stuck at averaging 500 organic visitors to their website per month and 15-20 sales total per month.
Just nine months into their SEO campaign, their organic traffic has increased by 6x (3,100 organic visitors per month) and sales have increased by 5x (98 sales total per month).
#11: Placement Services
When it comes to placement services like recruiting agencies, their target audience is typically going to conduct research on Google via a series of long-tail queries.
For example, someone considering becoming a travel nurse may type queries into Google like, “How do I become a travel nurse?” “How much do travel nurses make?” “What are the benefits of becoming a travel nurse?”
If you’re a travel nurse recruiting agency, you want your website showing up on the first page of Google for these types of queries.
With our partnership, Trusted Nurse Staffing has been able to do just that.
At the beginning of their SEO campaign, Trusted Nurse Staffing was only ranking in positions 1-3 on Google for 17 keywords. Today, they are ranking in positions 1-3 for 212 keywords.
This increase in rankings led to a huge increase in organic traffic. Organic traffic increased from a couple of hundred visitors per month to nearly 25,000 visitors and growing.
#12: National Product or Service Providers
A few examples of national product or service providers that benefit most from SEO include:
- Digital marketing companies
- National moving chains
- Education resource companies
- And more
An excellent example of the impact of SEO for these types of companies comes from one of our clients, Houston Video, a video production company.
Prior to their SEO campaign, Houston Video was ranking on the 8th page for their most valuable keyword, “Houston corporate video”. Today, they are ranking in the first position of Google.
Group 3: Hybrid Industries – Targeting Both Local and National Searches
Hybrid industries are another type of business that can benefit greatly from SEO. A combination of national and local SEO strategies can help maximize their digital presence on Google to help increase their leads and sales.
#13: Multi-Location Businesses
These businesses will need to implement both local SEO that targets localized searches and broad industry-related search terms:
- Local SEO helps increase local exposure and phone calls for multiple brick-and-mortar locations.
- National SEO helps increase organic traffic to the website and domain authority, resulting in higher-quality leads and increased sales.
One of our clients, Body and Brain Yoga Tai Chi, is a great example of what an effective SEO campaign can do for a multi-location business.
Their local exposure and phone calls to their 200+ brick-and-mortar locations dramatically increased with local SEO implementations.
Before their campaign, they were ranking on page eight for their most valuable keyword, “Korean yoga”. Today, they are ranking in the first position on Google and bringing in approximately 1,651 organic website visitors per year from this one keyword.
An Extra Category! International Businesses
We’ve talked about most every type of business. But there’s a small issue.
There might be an extra layer to every category above…
- What if you’re an e-commerce brand that sells products internationally? Selling to customers in the USA, Canada, the UK, and more?
- What if you’re a SaaS company with a multi-lingual product? And you want to target users that speak English, Mandarin, Spanish, and French?
This is where international (and by default, frequently multi-lingual) SEO comes into play.
If you’re in this particular category, then our Founder Joey Randazzo specializes in international SEO consulting.
No Matter What Industry You’re In – A Free SEO Audit With SEO Growth Partners Is the Best Place to Start
If you’re looking for SEO services for your business and don’t know where to start, we can help.
Click here to request a free SEO audit. One of our SEO specialists will conduct an analysis of your current digital presence and share customized SEO strategies that can help increase your visibility on Google, phone calls, leads, and sales.
Carley Clagg
SEO Specialist and Military Spouse
