Priority is important decision in all aspects of business and life. This week we take a look at where priority plays a role in SEO decisions, and how those decisions should reflect your core business model.
As a business student in a past life, I was educated on Porter's Generic Business Models framework and the three basic silos for business strategy: differentiation, cost leadership, and segmentation/focus. Although it seemed like somewhat of an oversimplification, as I've gained more experience I realize the importance of its core fundamentals, and how well it applies to search engine optimization and online marketing with respect to priority.
Porter's Generic Strategies
Michael Porter has described a category scheme consisting of three general types of strategies that are commonly used by businesses to achieve and maintain competitive advantage. These three generic strategies are defined along two dimensions: strategic scope and strategic strength. Strategic scope is a demand-side dimension (Porter was originally an engineer, then an economist before he specialized in strategy) and looks at the size and composition of the market you intend to target. Strategic strength is a supply-side dimension and looks at the strength or core competency of the firm. In particular he identified two competencies that he felt were most important: product differentiation and product cost (efficiency).
Source/More Information : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porter_generic_strategies
Differentiation Strategy
Differentiators want to make sure their websites and social media outposts communicate an effective message and, typically, present a professional and cutting-edge design. Firms following this strategy often have large enough margins to justify sizeable search marketing budgets based on keywords that reflect their core competencies. It is also relatively less important for these firms to saturate the web from a presence perspective, instead choosing select, higher quality outlets that generate traffic from qualified customers.Higher Priority
- Content and Social Media
- Design
- Blogging
- Search Marketing
Lower Priority
- Cost
- Presence/Online Saturation
Cost Leadership Strategy
Cost leaders are usually more concerned about efficiency and scale as opposed to quality and luxury. With this is mind, design quality and company message are not as high of a priority as cost and market saturation. Search marketing can also be pursued but will likely be of greater interest if the firm is using the web as a primary sales channel. Local search marketing may also be an alternative for regionally-focused cost leaders.Higher Priority
- Cost
- Presence/Online Saturation
- Search Marketing
Lower Priority
- Content and Social Media
- Design
- Blogging
Focus/Segmentation Strategy
Focus-strategy firms are soliciting a specific niche of group of niches with similar needs. These companies are often further broken down into differentiators and cost competitors, but in either case several priorities arise based on the narrowness of market scope. Content is critical due to the importance of message delivery in a narrow market. Search marketing is also important, to expand the size of the target market.Higher Priority
- Content
- Search Marketing
Varying Priority based on Competencies
- Cost
- Presence/Online Saturation
- Social Media
- Design
- Blogging
Search Marketing and Online Marketing Priority
Notice that in each case, search marketing is high priority. I believe this to be the case for many reasons.First, search marketing is a foundational element of online marketing. While establishing a keyword baseline helps clarify high-level business strategies, search-savvy businesses also build market saturation due to link-building and solidify content message during keyword implementation – nice economic benefits. Also, in a competitive environment where people are searching for information and services, it only makes sense to establish a presence at some scale.
Which brings us back to priority; which ultimately priority comes down to scale decisions. Businesses investing in search marketing can easily adjust scale based on number of keywords, competitiveness, search frequency, level of customer qualification and landing pages. However when considering the economic benefits and qualification of solicited traffic, search marketing is nearly always at the core, regardless of whether it was intended to be so.
