3 Core Trade-offs Every SEO Strategy Must Consider
Very few strategies are mutually exclusive in the SEO industry, but that doesn’t mean doing both is always the best of both worlds.
Investing more in one strategy usually means investing less in another, at least in the short term, and choosing the path straight down the middle isn’t going to be the best choice for every brand, either.
With that in mind, let’s talk about three primary strategic tradeoffs that you’ll need to consider when making important decisions for your brand optimization.
1. Traffic vs. Relevance
I know what a lot of you are thinking. “It’s relevance, obviously.”
Yes, an SEO strategy that doesn’t factor relevance into the game plan is obviously flawed.
Traffic from users who would never have an interest in your product is inherently wasteful.
Except when it isn’t.
Here’s the thing:
There’s actually a lot more to consider than might be immediately apparent.
Consider the following:
Pros of a High Traffic, Low Relevancy Approach
- Higher the traffic earned, better are your chances of earning natural links from visitors.
- High traffic means that people who would be interested in your products may hear of you secondhand from visitors who never would be interested in your products, whether that is through social sharing or in person.
- More traffic volume means it is easier to achieve statistically significant results from SEO experiments, A/B tests, and similar data approaches.
- More traffic can ultimately mean increase in the total number of relevant visits, even if the proportion of relevant visits is lower.
- High traffic strategies can reach people who are further up the sales funnel but may still ultimately take an interest in your product, often in wildly unpredictable ways.
The Disadvantages of a High Traffic Approach
- High traffic keywords are often very competitive, even when they are low in relevancy. The easiest keywords to rank for are those with limited traffic potential and audiences with very specific needs.
- Poor conversion rates limit the immediate financial value of high traffic strategies.
- Chasing too many high traffic topics can look cynical or dilute your brand’s message.
Pros of a High Relevancy, Low Traffic Approach
- Much higher conversion rates for lead generation and sales.
- Less competitive keywords to target.
- A more targeted psychological impact on the visitors who are most likely to ultimately buy your products, leading to a stronger brand affinity.
- More enthusiastic brand advocates.
- More relevant natural anchor text in your earned links.
The Disadvantages of a High Relevancy Approach
- High relevancy keywords can be just as competitive as high traffic keywords if they have high conversion rates. High audience relevance often doesn’t translate to high product relevance.
- High relevancy strategies can be difficult to scale, especially without alienating your existing audience.
- Becoming too focused on a limited set of topics can limit your brand’s perceived personality.
