The SEO Goldilocks Zone
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Within planetary science, there is a concept called the Goldilocks zone, which is when a planet is deemed habitable because it has the right temperature for water to remain liquid.
I adapted this term for SEO and use it to refer to the perfect place where there is enough demand to justify building SEO efforts but not enough competition, which would make those efforts unsuccessful.
{Tangential note: Aaron Wall, someone I looked up to and learned a tremendous amount from when I was first starting SEO, has an infographic here where he refers to Goldilocks SEO.
He used this concept about avoiding spam. I think most SEO professionals don’t dabble in spam, and instead, I want to extend this concept to the perfect opportunity in SEO and not just SEO behavior. If you are unfamiliar with Aaron Wall, check out his SEO book and content. He was an SEO thought leader long before most people in this industry optimized a single keyword. }
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Marketplace competitive dynamics
To illustrate: Imagine an SEO search as a vast marketplace. Some areas are bustling with activity, with sellers hawking their wares to a crowd of eager customers. Others are quiet, almost deserted, with a smattering of hopeful sellers and a few curious passersby.
If you go on a quiet street, you might dominate the market, but it is too small to sustain your business. If you go on a busy street, you may not make any sales because it’s impossible to stand out from the crowd.
Choosing where to go involves understanding the two fundamental forces: competition and demand. Let's map it out.
High Demand / High Competition: This is a bustling marketplace. People are interested in what's being offered, but the competition is fierce. Think financial affiliate offers or commoditized ecommerce. Here, success hinges on standing out from the crowd with a unique selling proposition or a strong brand presence, which is incredibly costly to do with SEO.
High Demand / Low Competition: This is the marketer’s dream – a land of opportunity with plenty of customers but few competitors. Think of niche markets with specific needs or innovative new products. This is a classic blue ocean with pent-up demand. Here, the challenge lies in effectively reaching your target audience and making them aware of your offering. As soon as the market becomes aware of the offering, the search volume will increase, and users will search for this offer.
Low Demand / High Competition: This is the lonely corner of the marketplace. It's a struggle to attract buyers, and even if you do, you're likely to be locked in fierce price wars with other desperate sellers. This is where many AI tools are about to be.
Low Demand / Low Competition: This is the empty desert. There might not be much competition, but there's also not much customer interest. Many companies are creating programmatic SEO content in this area. The demand exists for the content, but no one else created anything for this value prop because the market is so low.
The sweet spot for SEO is the "Goldilocks zone," which is right in the middle: High Demand / Low Competition. Here, you have a clear market need with a manageable number of competitors. This is where you can establish yourself, build a loyal customer base, and thrive for the long term.
Finding the Goldilocks zone
So, how do you find this SEO goldilocks zone?
Market Research: Dive deep into your chosen niche. Understand the existing products, customer needs, and competitor landscape. SEO professionals don’t spend enough time in this area. Talk to your users, find out what they want, and compare it to what already exists online.
Identify Gaps: Are there unmet needs or pain points that current offerings aren't addressing? This is now about using a contnet gap tool on an SEO tool, anyone with access to the tool can create the same contnet. This is about using the market research you did with users to find the gap between what users want and what doesn’t exist on a search engine.
Product Differentiation: What makes your SEO unique? How will it provide superior value to customers? Even when you do a commoditized search, like for e-commerce, you don’t automatically click the first result. You don’t need to rank #1 on the search result if you have a unique value prop. Superior return policy? Top-notch customer service? Put that all in your content and SEO metadata.
Look at existing traffic: Is there a page or query that bubbles up as something people are interested in, but you haven’t deliberately targeted it? What if you scaled that up? I have found that once you have accrued the signals that make you the best fit for a specific query, you have a better chance of owning it for the long term, even when competitors enter the market. Look at companies like Zillow, who continue to dominate their market despite many new entrants, some even with better SEO.
Learn from the competition: Is there an offering the competition has but doesn’t seem to be hitting the right market? This is where you might want to extend their efforts. This is not Skyscraper SEO (coined by Brian Dean), where you improve on the competition, but instead, this is using the competition to learn.
Remember, the search market is constantly evolving, and queries are growing. What's a sweet spot today might become overcrowded tomorrow. The key is adaptability, continually innovating, and staying attuned to customer needs. By navigating the landscape with a keen eye on competition and demand, you'll be well on your way to finding your own area of the search world.
There is a Goldilocks zone within every search area, and as demand is created, one Goldilocks zone will spawn off another.
Combine the idea of Blue Ocean SEO with Goldilocks strategies, and you will be on the road to unlocking billions in value.
Please get in touch if I can help!
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This is the exact playbook we ran for a dental client.
In a few short months, the results was:
$139,801 in revenue.
Old SEO playbook:
Create 1000s of pages and rank for millions of keywords.
Alienate users with mass-produced content.
Buy links, run link exchanges, scale your guest posting to boost your rankings so more people can check out the bad mass-produced pages.
New SEO playbook:
Create 100 pages that are best in class, help users solve their problems, honestly present various solutions, and position you as a great option.
Keep those pages up to date be refreshing content regularly.
Create original research and thought leadership content that builds your brand while attracting journalists who want to write about your content.
People who find your pages organically immediately feel served by the content and develop a positive association with your brand. They convert at a higher level or place you on a shortlist.
Get your New SEO Playbook.