How to Do SEO for Niche Markets

Do you run a website in a super-specific niche market? I mean, not everyone is in a giant niche like marketing, sales, yoga, or health food.

Do you struggle to pull in website traffic as a result?

It’s tough. I get it. There just aren’t a lot of people on the planet searching for your particular topic. You might struggle to generate content ideas or attract organic traffic.

Don’t give up hope, though. You can still pull in plenty of organic traffic with a smart content marketing strategy.

That’s why you need niche SEO.

Sure, you’ll still have to turn to the usual suspects––technical SEO, page optimization, link profiles, and understanding the SEO basics. With just a few tweaks and twists on those traditional strategies, you’ll win at niche SEO.

Read on to learn how you can use SEO in a small niche that doesn’t have a lot of search volume.

Key Takeaways

• Niche SEO targets a much smaller audience, so you’ll lean on strategies like using keywords with lower search volumes and targeting more long-tail keywords.
• One of niche SEO’s biggest challenges is its low search volume.
• Writing detailed content like blogs, guides, and case studies and publishing videos aimed at your target audience’s unique pain points can help you rank for more keywords specific to your niche.
• Steps to developing a niche SEO strategy include elevating your website’s technical SEO, optimizing for mobile, and creating compelling content.
• Keywords with low search volume are valuable to niche SEO, as they attract highly qualified traffic.

What Makes Niche SEO Unique?

A niche business caters to a specific group of customers with specialized needs rather than trying to appeal to everyone. 

For example, a niche business might offer software specifically for professional service business owners, such as time tracking for billable hours or client management tools. This gives the company an advantage, as it’s viewed as a specialist rather than a generalist.

However, a niche business might struggle to get noticed online. SEO for niche markets is different from general SEO. It’s unique because:

• Niche SEO targets a narrower group than traditional SEO.
• There will be lower traffic due to the low search volumes. 
• The focus is more on keywords with lower search volume rather than keywords that attract large volumes of traffic.
• Niche SEO uses more long-tail keywords than traditional SEO, as it’s aimed at a more specific audience.

To get the most from SEO in your niche market, you also need to understand the challenges you’re up against. One of the biggest hurdles is search volume (the number of searches a particular keyword gets).

But, as NP Digital SEO Manager Brittany Werdowatz explains, there are ways of making up for low search volume:

“To rank for these types of keywords, creating valuable, in-depth content such as blogs, guides, case studies, and videos can help to address the unique pain points of the target audience and rank for more keywords specific to your niche. Additionally, building authority through engagement in niche communities, forums, and social media groups allows marketers to share valuable insights and drive targeted traffic back to their website.”

Can A Keyword Be Too Niche?

When you think about it, getting keywords right is essential for low-volume SEO.

Ask anyone who’s into tea gift baskets, wearable tech for pets, or even Begleri fidget toys. There’s definitely an audience out there for incredibly specific keywords.

But this can sometimes be a problem. If your keyword is painfully specific (think “fluorescent lime green yarn”) or otherwise way too niche, you could get close to zero searches.

So, how can you tell if your keyword is too specific? Well, start by understanding your audience—think about what they search for on the web. This will help optimize your keyword research. Here are some tips to get started:

• Enter keywords into tools like AnswerThePublic to discover what people are searching for and the questions they ask related to particular keywords. This helps you understand more about your customer’s pain points and search intent, providing opportunities for conversion potential.
• Check search volume for particular keywords to see if your keyword is getting any traction. Tools like Ubersuggest are a real asset here. It can also help you find related keywords with a higher search volume. Remember, niche keywords may not have the same volume, but you must balance relevance and popularity.

How To Execute SEO For Niche Markets

Niche SEO is all about making your keywords more general, optimizing your technical SEO, ensuring your site is mobile-friendly, and getting your content right.

You’ll also want to work on your backlink strategy, analyze competitors, and measure your key performance indicators (KPIs).

The following steps will help you build a niche-driven SEO approach to your online marketing:

Make Your Keywords More General

If you’re in a niche with low search volume, this is probably the process you’ll use.

Let’s say your focus keyword is “watercolor dog painting artist.” An Ubersuggest search reveals it doesn’t register any search volume:

That likely won’t get a lot of searches. What you need to do is generalize.

First, brainstorm. Think about keywords that are related but cover a bit more ground (these are known as semantic SEO keywords). 

So, a great alternative for the keywords above would be “pet portraits.”

This returns much better results in Ubersuggest:

You could also use keywords like “dog portraits” or “dog paintings.”

That last keyword, “dog paintings,” has medium SEO difficulty (a score of 40) but good search volume. This could be a good keyword to try to rank for.

Don’t forget about search intent, either (i.e., why somebody is searching for a particular keyword). Are they asking questions? Looking for solutions? Simply browsing?

Get Your Technical SEO In Order

I know how scary the term “technical SEO” sounds, so let’s focus on four main areas: page speed, Core Web Vitals, indexation, and security.

Page speed: You know how frustrating it is to be stuck waiting for a website or page elements to load properly. Aim for a page load speed of two seconds or less.

Core Web Vitals: These sound more complicated than they are. In the simplest of terms, these metrics show how user-friendly your site is. They measure areas like load time and visual stability. I discuss this more fully in my piece How Core Web Vitals Affect Google’s Algorithms.

Indexation: Make sure your site is easy for search engines to index by including an XML sitemap optimizing your robots.txt file, and checking no-index and canonical tags. These all ensure that search engine bots can crawl your content. Do a technical SEO audit to spot common issues that can affect rankings, too.

Security: One of the most basic measures you can take to protect your site is using HTTPS. It contributes to the page experience and also acts as a minor ranking signal.

Build Your Site For Mobile

Google has been using mobile-first indexing for some time now. Due to the soaring number of mobile phone users—more than 7 billion worldwide—Google ranks and indexes a website’s mobile version rather than its desktop version.

But how do you start optimizing for mobile? By following these tips:

• Use responsive design. This means that your site’s design changes to accommodate different screen sizes. It is easily the best option for handling both desktop and mobile environments.
• Conduct mobile keyword research. Mobile keyword research is different from desktop keyword research. Generally, mobile keywords are shorter and more localized. I wrote an entire post on it. It’s a must-read for everyone who does SEO, period.
• Use dynamic serving so your site has the same URL for desktop and mobile.
• Keep the robots meta tags the same for your mobile and desktop sites.
• Use the same headings and content on your mobile and desktop sites.

For more tips, read Google’s best practices for mobile search indexing.

Get Your Content Right

You know the saying “content is king,” right? If you can create amazing content, you can dominate a low-volume niche. 

That’s true even in the smallest of niches with rock-bottom search volume. Quality, targeted content can be more effective for niche SEO simply because there is less competition out there.

Don’t forget to follow some of the formatting rules for great content:

• Break up your content using subheadings, images, and other media.
• Back up your statements with facts, studies, and data.
• Include content tags.
• Use shorter sentences and paragraphs.
• Don’t write walls of text that are hard for people to read. Assume your readers will skim or scan your content and design it with that in mind.
• Make sure your content flows well, and keep it simple––don’t try to write the next bestselling novel.

Finally, always keep Google’s E-E-A-T (experience, expertise, authoritativeness, trustworthiness) guidelines in mind. Here’s a deep dive into E-E-A-T and how to apply it to your content.

Have a Link-Building Strategy For Your Niche

Like regular SEO, niche SEO needs a link-building strategy. The more quality backlinks you have, the more likely the search engines will see you as a trusted site. Backlinks also increase visibility and traffic.

As you’re covering a niche topic, there won’t be many publications or influencers to link to, but that’s OK.

Social media can work just as well for link-building, and you can always look for micro-influencers in your niche.

Another approach is to look for trade publications that publish online and invite contributions. That’s an authority backlink right there.

Finally, remember the E-E-A-T guidelines mentioned earlier and concentrate on writing the best possible content. That might be long-form content with expert quotes, graphics, or case studies for organic backlinks. 

Firm Up Your Reporting Strategy

Doing SEO for a niche market means managing expectations. Whether you’re working in-house as part of a team or doing client work, let your leaders or clients know there may be lower search volumes and traffic for niche SEO topics as there’s a smaller pool of searchers.

To measure your overall performance, you’ll need to focus on your competitive performance. Also, remember that even though search volumes are lower, traffic quality is likely higher.

As Werdowatz states:

“Keywords with lower search volumes specific to your niche can be highly valuable, and marketers often achieve success by targeting them. These keywords attract highly qualified traffic that is ready to convert since they reach an audience already interested in your specific offerings”. 

Keep an eye on metrics like organic traffic growth, keyword rankings, conversion engagement, bounce rates, and your authority score, and you’ll be on the right track.

Focus on Competition

With SEO niches, you can’t rely on traffic numbers to determine how successful your strategy is. Instead, you’ll want to look at how direct competitors are doing traffic-wise and either adapt their strategy to your site or find ways to outperform them. 

You’ll also want to focus on content gaps, keyword gaps, and optimizing meta descriptions.

KPIs to track include:

Long-tail, niche keywords: These are longer and more specific than regular keywords and focus on a more targeted market. For instance, “best vegan cafes in downtown Los Angeles.”

Click-through rates (CTR): This helps measure the success rates of your online advertising and the effectiveness of email marketing. The higher the CTR, the more relevant your marketing is to your audience.

Traffic share: Tools like Google Analytics 4, Ahrefs, and Similiarweb all have features to help you measure this metric.

FAQs

Is niche SEO different from traditional SEO?

Yes, in that you’re trying to reach a narrower group of people than with traditional SEO. You’ll also target keywords with lower search volumes and focus more on long-tail keywords to reach a smaller, specific audience.

What are the benefits of niche driven SEO?

The biggest benefit of niche SEO is quality traffic from a specific customer group more interested in your product or service. This can mean higher conversions. Focusing on niche keywords also means less competition, and you can ensure your content is relevant to your audience. 
Since you’re targeting a smaller, more specific audience, niche SEO can also be more affordable.

How do you create a niche SEO strategy?

Begin by understanding your target audience and researching niche keywords so you know who your audience is and what they want.

Optimize your content around these keywords and write high-quality, niche-specific content that’s relevant to your customers. Consider E-E-A-T guidelines.

You’ll also want to focus on building backlinks, analyzing your competitors, and monitoring and analyzing the performance of your niche SEO strategy.

Conclusion

If you’re in a low-volume niche, don’t panic.

You’re not doomed to lose the SEO game.

You don’t have to have a huge site with a ton of influence to rank well in any niche, and that goes for niches with almost no search volume.

Niche SEO doesn’t have to depend on popular keywords and lots of paid traffic. Don’t overcomplicate things.

Just use the tips in this article, like keeping Google’s E-E-A-T guidelines in mind, optimizing for mobile, and using analytics to keep your strategy on track. These are the basics of any SEO plan, but they work every bit as well for niche SEO.