8 New Vertical SEO Research Reports

Erik Newton

M Posted 5 years ago

t 6 min read

 Technical SEO

BrightEdge has released 8 new industry vertical SEO research reports, which you can download free now. The first 8 industries covered are:

Each of the SEO research reports covers: industry-specific data, top industry trends, primary marketing channels and tactics, content comparison benchmark, industry SEO click curves, and primary SEO use cases and BrightEdge solutions for the industry. They are useful for enterprise SEOs to understand context and plan for SEO success. Here is a quick preview from each of the reports:

Ecommerce

2018 worldwide ecommerce sales are expected to top $2.8 trillion in 2018 with $653 billion expected in the US, according to Statista.

Ecommerce providers need to manage the buyer’s journey and the full customer experience to be successful to develop good bounce rates. For commerce providers that also have retail presence, customer journey requires both physical and digital elements to maximize potential.

There is a new acronym for something many have been doing before they shop offline, and that is research online. ROPO – Research Online, Purchase Offline – where people are looking for reviews and making sure they are getting a good price.

Download Ecommerce SEO Research Report

Retail

According to a recent Gartner Digital Business Survey, as few as 3% of retailers are delivering clear results from their digital marketing initiatives. The survey further finds that there is a lack of clarity by retail marketers concerning their objectives.

We now live in a new world of "omnishoppers" where 81% of shoppers first learn about a product online before they buy in-store. It is vital to support this new hybrid (online and in-store) shopper with easy access to all the information they need at the moment they need it.

While the customer journey clearly begins online it has been reported that up to 88% of online shoppers will continue to make the purchase in-store after making the buying decision online. In order to drive results, marketers in the retail industry should focus on omnichannel marketing strategies.

Download Retail SEO Research Report

Financial Services

71% of financial services brands said they plan to increase digital marketing spend in 2019 according to a study by Econsultancy. In contrast to that large majority, however, the same study found that only 7% of financial services brands place creation of high-quality content as a top marketing priority, compared to 15% in other industries.

The digital channel, and SEO with it, is rapidly becoming a centerpiece of marketing efforts in an industry that has traditionally been seen as a conservative one. The low numbers around prioritization of quality content and SEO research might be discouraging at first glance, but they speak to the pronounced SEO opportunity for financial services brands that exist right now.

Ninety percent of U.S. consumers want personal finance courses to be part of high school education according to a survey from Equifax, suggesting older generations feel unprepared to equip younger people with the financial skills they need. As a result, the potential demand for informational content about financial literacy to fill the gap is great.

Download Financial Services SEO Research Report

Travel

Like many other service-based industries, travel and hospitality is in the midst of a fundamental shift towards digital transformation. As consumers trend away from absolute brand loyalty and towards a longer conversion funnel, opportunities arise for SEOs and digital marketers in this space to get search visibility with prospective customers.

A full 72% of businesses say improving customer experience is their top priority, according to a Forrester survey. As websites, mobile applications, and progressive web applications (PWA) increasingly become the main place where customers and prospective customers receive the brand experience, this has obvious implications for web owners in the travel and hospitality space. Ever-increasing digital market: The market for online travel sales has grown consistently since 2014. Total digital travel sales worldwide are forecast to reach $817.54 billion by 2020 according to Statista.

Growing budgets for digital marketing: Travel and hospitality brands are responding to the outsized growth of opportunity in the digital space. A 2017 survey of hotel professionals by SiteMinder found that 48% planned to allocate “high spend” towards digital marketing, including website and SEO research.

Download Travel SEO Research Report

Media and Publishing

The birth and growth of the digital ecosystem has had a tremendous impact on the media and publishing industry. Advertisers must counter falling print circulation, which in turn has impacted how they approach the market and invest their budget. Advertisers spent 6.8 percent less in 2016 than they did in the previous year, and it is expected to drop another 6.8 percent in 2018.

As distribution and storage became ubiquitous, instant, and virtually free the pendulum has swung back to “content as king” as can be seen with massive sift to original content creation and licensing. Creating and controlling exclusive content has become a hallmark of successful digital publishers of all types.

The encouraging news is that in the digital era total, ad spend has doubled and new media companies were born and thrived: Google, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Amazon, Netflix, YouTube, Craigslist, and Spotify. Traditional media companies that evolved with the industry include: Time.com, Forbes.com, WallStreetJournal.com, CNN.com, NewsCorp/Fox.com, IAC/HSN, ConsumerReports.com, Latimes.com, WashingtonPost.com, and TheGuardian.com to name a few.

Download Media and Publishing SEO Research Report

Higher Education

In 2015, a survey of college-bound high school juniors and seniors found that over three-quarters of them reported college websites making a difference in their ideas about the institution.

As schools become more focused on becoming successful digital enterprises, they demonstrate a greater understanding of user intent and an ability to enhance the student experience throughout their educational journey. This begins from the moment when the student first begins to explore educational options through their graduation day and beyond as an alumni and potential donor, building loyalty and appreciation for the school.

Download the Higher Education SEO Research Report

Real Estate

2018 is expected to see 6,270,000 homes sold in the US with a total value of $1.73 trillion or 9% of the US gross domestic product. Though the market has slowed some in mid-2018, housing prices are up 6% and volume is expected to be flat to last year. Commercial real estate sales have declined modestly from their peak in Q4 2015.

With US unemployment dipping below 4%, the demand for commercial real estate is on the upswing in 2018 and expected to remain steady. Job growth bodes well for housing market, but that is also being tempered by rising interest rates. As the market slows, marketing for customers and transactions becomes more important for agents and brokers in both commercial and residential housing.

BrightEdge Research shows that on average 62% of site traffic is now mobile and that 70% of commerce journeys start in the SERPs. Real Estate has very strong mobile use cases because people will be out on the move in the neighborhoods looking around for units.

Download the Real Estate SEO Research Report

Healthcare

The total U.S. healthcare expenditure was more than $3.5 trillion, per the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. At that level, it accounted for 17.9% of gross domestic product (GDP). 85 publicly-traded healthcare companies made $47 billion in profit on $545 billion in global sales. Pharmaceutical companies generated 22% of the revenue and 60% of the profit.

In this industry SEO research report on healthcare marketing, BrightEdge discovers how the healthcare industry can deliver higher degrees of personalization, consistency in care, overall capacity utilization, patient satisfaction, and outcomes.

Key trends

Patient-Centered Care- Improving the patient experience throughout the patients’ journey
Digitization- Connected devices, sensors, micro-services, and rich applications offer highly efficient options
Regulation, Compliance, and Marketing- Public exchanges provide more access to insurance as laws impact services and fees
Reputation Management- Encouraging positive reviews as reputation is the #1 criteria for hospital selection

Download the Healthcare SEO Research Report.

These are just some previews of the wealth and depth of information available in these new SEO research reports.