What Makes SEO Suitable for Your Business?
After having covered paid advertising and partnership-based push channels, let's cover organic user acquisition through pull channels, starting with SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) as a growth channel.
This concept recaps the unique characteristics of SEO as a pull marketing channel, as well as criteria for businesses choosing this channels as their key growth channel.
Understanding Pull vs. Push Channels
SEO, a key pull channel, attracts customers actively seeking solutions, unlike push channels where the outreach is initiated by the business.
For instance, when a customer searches for 'best running shoes', they are being 'pulled' in, unlike encountering a shoe ad on social media, which is 'push' marketing.
Distinguishing Search-led vs. Share/Virality-led Channels
Within pull channels, SEO is search-led, focusing on customers actively searching for information or products, as opposed to share/virality-led channels like YouTube or Instagram, where content popularity is driven by user engagement and sharing.
For example, Moz's growth through SEO strategy contrasts with GoPro's growth through viral YouTube content.
Editorial vs. Programmatic Content in SEO
SEO content can be divided into editorial-led, such as expert blogs, and programmatic-led, like user-generated forum posts.
An example of editorial content is a detailed travel blog by an expert, while a community-driven travel portal with user posts exemplifies programmatic content.
Identifying Businesses Suited for SEO
- Low ARPU Models: Suitable for ad-monetized media sites or community platforms.
- Domain Authority: Crucial for brands with established authority, such as in insurance or banking.
- Information Advantage: Beneficial for platforms like Glassdoor, where user-submitted data is key.
- User-Generated Content: Ideal for community sites like Reddit or Stack Overflow.
- Volume Advantage: Effective for e-commerce sites with numerous product listings or travel portals with diverse destinations.
Aligning with one or more of the above factors can significantly enhance a business's ability to leverage SEO effectively, paving the way for successful organic user acquisition.