Ever felt as if you’re fighting a losing battle with sex shop marketing?
If so, take comfort in the fact that you certainly aren’t the only one!
It’s no secret these days that SEO is a fundamental prerequisite for any business intent on succeeding. Regardless of whether you specialise in donuts or dildos, you still need to appear as prominently as possible in the SERP rankings. If not, you’ll be overtaken and outperformed by the competition.
The problem is that when it comes to sex shop digital marketing (broadly speaking), you also have to deal with the kinds of established advertising guidelines that can make it difficult to know where to start. Publishers are unlikely to blink at the thought of distributing adverts for Disney Movies – porn DVDs and the like being an entirely different matter altogether.
As such, you find yourself in a position where you know you need to get serious with SEO for your online sex shop but have no idea where to start. But while it’s true to say that sex shop SEO and marketing are at least slightly different to the ‘conventional’, this doesn’t mean that securing and maintaining a competitive edge needs to be difficult.
The Beauty of Modern SEO
Search engines like Google exist for one reason and one reason alone – to direct web traffic in the way of the most appropriate sites and services. Right now, somewhere in the region of 95% of all web traffic is directed by the major search engines. Google alone handling around 90% of queries. And when adult audiences are on the lookout for sex shops and the like, they use Google like everyone else.
Tens of millions of them, every single day.
The way Google handles search queries today is more sophisticated and indeed liberal than it has ever been. If you search for teddy bears and candy bars, that’s exactly what you’ll find. If you search for cock rings or vibrators, that’s what you’ll be shown. Getting around traditional advertising conventions and regulations can be tricky – search engine optimisation is a different story entirely.
When you think about it, posting adult-focused ads, images, blog posts or anything of the sort strictly limits you to very specific platforms. In turn limiting exposure for your products, services and business in general. The difference with Adult SEO being that you technically don’t go chasing for leads. If you hit the nail on the head with the right search terms, all the leads in the world will flock your way.
Strategic Sex Shop SEO
Of course, grasping the importance and potential value of sex shop SEO is all well and good. But you also need to consider if and how you can gain a competitive edge over your rivals. After all, with millions of online sex shops competing for the same business, it’s inevitable that many will already be focusing heavily on doing SEO for their respective sex shop.
The solution…well, unfortunately, there’s no quick-fix, silver-bullet method for immediately ascending to the top of the rankings. Nevertheless, it goes without saying that the sooner you begin focusing on strategic SEO, the quicker you’ll begin seeing results.
Make no mistake about it – ranking prominently for the most obvious and competitive keywords is always difficult. By contrast, focus your efforts on more specific terms or queries and you stand a much better chance of gaining traction.
For example, you could focus on terms like “How to orgasm using a sex toy” or “How to choose the perfect vibrator”, in order to attract those looking for genuine advice and support. Far more effective and viable than focusing on broad terms like “Large vibrator” or “Online sex shop”. One of the biggest mistakes made by many business owners is that of simply casting their net too wide, rather than refining their approach to focus on more specific terms and phrases related to specific products (best sellers maybe?).
An All-Round Resource
If there was ever a secret to successful sex shop SEO, this would be it:
Focus on creating an all-round resource of value, rather than an online vending machine.
When you think about it, all the products you currently offer can probably be purchased elsewhere. They may even be available elsewhere at a lower price. As such, what brings customers to your website and keeps them coming back for more is the value you offer that goes above and beyond the products themselves.
Blog posts, tutorials, industry news, guest posts, video clips, helpful articles and so on – all the kinds of things Google and Co. take into account when assigning SERP positions. If you simply do not have the time and/or inclination to handle all such responsibilities manually, consulting with the experts comes highly recommended.
