Trojan horse SEO: How to gain traction in new markets - Search Engine Land

We all love Netflix binge-watching now, but do you remember how you first learned about Netflix? I’m guessing it wasn’t by typing “DVD mail rental subscription” into Google on a whim.

And that represents a similar challenge for any business with a new or disruptive idea: how do you build engagement for something nobody knows exists?

Luckily, there is an audience for your product or service, regardless if they already know it. And you do have a category, regardless of its keyword volume.

Much like paid search practitioners occasionally like to borrow competitor clout and poach traffic by bidding on brand terms, SEO professionals who are growing brands in new markets need to look at poaching the demand that already exists for related markets – and then explain why their brand is a great alternative.

This article will break down my approach to what I call “Trojan Horse SEO” for category creation:

• Researching the existing market you’ll disrupt.
• Creating an SEO and content strategy around the old terms.
• Introducing your new category/keywords in the process.

SEO research for new markets

Your mission at this step is to discover how people search for that thing you’ll disrupt – even if it doesn’t overlap with your new product or service.

To do this, you really have to understand the old way of thinking and why people are motivated to search.

• Find the search volume for keywords associated with the old way.
• Create an SEO strategy using those old terms as a foundation.
• Acquire...

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