Five Creative Ways to Combat SEO Saturation
It’s 2024, and most markets are completely saturated when it comes to SEO! Ranking a small business can feel daunting, and SEO resources like specialists, tools, and agency help are expensive.
Try these five methods to get ahead of the game and combat SEO saturation:
Tap into your personal network for links
Get creative with keyword strategy
Focus on Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)
Find new ways to leverage AI
Purchase spots on ranking pages
Tap into your personal network for links
Traditional backlink outreach is tough. You have to pay for software that generates lists of people for outreach, spend time crafting and testing emails, and coordinate links/exchanges with site owners you’ve never met. And all that effort may not pay off - Google’s algorithm continues to devalue unnatural links.
But if you happen to have any family or friends who own websites (or site managers at previous jobs), you have access to a short cut. Ask them to do a backlink exchange using keyword anchor text.
If you have a strong network of contacts who manage websites, you have an advantage over competitors regardless of their budget.
Target longtail keywords
Longtail keywords can be lower competition and lower search volume. Here’s an example of a keyword and relevant longtails:
While a longtail keyword is easier to rank for, you might have to rank for 4x as many to get the search volume of a broader term.
But that’s okay! You can boost your odds of conversion by finding keywords that relate to acute pain of your potential buyers.
For instance, a keyword like “cupcake shop” might bring in ten website visitors in a day, and “gluten free chocolate cupcakes” might only bring in one. But that one visitor knows exactly what they want and are more likely to convert.
Pain Point Keyword Workshop
Find out how to generate longtail keywords that are likely to convert in the Pain Point Keyword Workshop.
Focus on Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)
Speaking of conversions, you can build a CRO strategy to double down on your existing site traffic. Here’s how.
Get an A/B testing tool
The most effective CRO strategies involve testing different hypotheses to a large audience. It sounds tricky, but tools like Optimizely make A/B testing concepts fast and easy.
Try a heat mapping tool
You could also use a tool like Hotjar or Crazy Egg to see heat maps and recordings of users on your website. A heat map will help you spot trends in where users hover, click, and scroll on a web page. As you make web updates, you can check heat maps to see how people interact with a new version.
Use a List of a CRO Best Practices
On the other hand, a smaller business that generates less than a hundred visits to a single page won’t have large data sets. That makes it difficult to spot trends. Instead, study up on best practices and make sure all your bases are covered.
Here are some things you might want to consider adding to your website to improve conversions:
Use social proof and case studies to build trust in your brand
Use a chatbot to help people get answers to specific questions
Implement site search to help people navigate to information they need
Add video content to explain your services incase your audience prefers to interact in that way
Add CTAs to your blog posts
Use a tool like Unbounce to quickly A/B test on paid landing pages (bonus points if you document your findings and apply to the rest of the website)
Find new ways to leverage AI
If you’re using AI to rapidly generate content for you, you’re abusing its power. Plus, Google is designed to detect and penalize websites who do so.
Instead, find creative ways to leverage AI that speed up the production process. That means:
Generating lists of keywords to target for ideas to further research
Generating lists of persona pain points for ideas
Generating lists of blog ideas for further consideration
Providing long-form content and having AI repurpose and shorten it
Purchase spots on ranking pages
If you can’t beat them - join them! Many times, valuable keyword results are packed with Top 10, 20, or even 50 lists.
Contact the site owner to learn more about their affiliate programs. They’ll often get back to you with a price and average number of clicks generated. Try it out for a few months and see if it generates any value.
Small brands should not be discouraged with SEO
These are just five of many ways to get around SEO saturation. As a small business, remember that you have a competitive advantage of brand freedom (no red tape!) and run with it. It’s easy for you to try new channels, test new messaging, and change direction quickly.
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