Positioning Precedence: The Key to Landing Your Content on the SERP

Imagine that you run a small e-commerce business selling handmade cards for special occasions. The good news is that you create products with a considerable amount of demand.  After all, it seems that every day is a new national holiday whether Mother’s day, Earth Day, National Boyfriend Day, Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, and even National Squirrel Appreciation Day (maybe you could make a greeting card for that?).

The bad news? There are hundreds of other vendors online selling handmade greeting cards as well and consumers will drown in a plethora of other Etsy listings before they even make it to yours if you optimize the key word “handmade cards.”

So how do you stand out? Positioning.

Brand positioning always must come before search engine optimization. You need to have a clear understanding of the product you are offering and, even more importantly, the place that it occupies in the minds of consumers to set you apart from competition.

Here are some simple steps to find those niche keywords that will make your business rise to the top of the SERP.

1. Discover what makes your product unique

Mentally walk through the process of how you design your product. Let’s return to the example of handmade cards. Do you use calligraphy, watercolors, or pencil sketches to create these cards? Do you customize these greeting cards or just sell blank cards for specific occasions? Once you come to a conclusion about the unique value you are offering the consumer you must consider the place or position that you occupy in your consumer’s mind?

2. Understand Your Audience

How does the audience perceive your product? What words come to mind? Ask your customers how they would describe your product and read reviews on similar products to understand your target market. When you have gathered all the information you need about both your product and customer, you can begin to select your keywords.

3. Choose Your Keywords

Sure, your product is a “handmade card”, but hundreds of other vendors are competing for that keyword as well. Instead, you should seek to find high traffic, niche keywords that only a few businesses are competing for. This is where your UVP comes in. Consider using more specific terms such as “watercolor calligraphy card” or “squirrel appreciation day  card” that differentiates your product from similar ones.

Once again, you need to strategically “position” your product, before you earn a “position” on the SERP. Hopefully, these three steps will help guide through the process of effective SEO and increase engagement with your content.