There are so many different ways to be seen on today’s internet. From email marketing and social media to search engines and paid marketing strategies, you have plenty of methods through which to get the word out. Organic ranking strategies have long been used as one way to bring reliable amounts of traffic for free or little cost to a website, but there are so many different options beyond that of simple search engines to consider today. Where should you be focusing your time in ranking these days? We’ll break it down and recommend a few simple areas to focus on as you build a stronger and more visible online brand.

Image Results

If you want to improve your performance in search engines and really be pinging for SEO where it counts, then you can’t forget about the power of image search results. In many cases, it is far easier to rank for a search term or SERP via images than through a standard search, but it nevertheless provides plenty of benefit for your brand. Those who are searching for images will be just as likely to visit your website to see more images that are similar, or to find more information associated with the image. By ranking highly in images, you add a valuable component to your traffic portfolio and can improve your overall SEO strategy at the same time.

Local/Shopping Results

Whenever relevant, the power of local results and shopping results in search engines is immense. Many people use their mobile devices while on-the-go to find product and service solutions that they might not otherwise find in the physical world. If you slowly but surely begin to rank for relevant terms in both local results and shopping results, then you can catch a whole new demographic of traffic that you might otherwise miss in standard search results. Pinging for SEO doesn’t just revolve around the default SERP function of search engines: as more and more people demand localized results both for information and e-commerce, you’ll be well-positioned if you target these niches effectively.

File Search Results

While this may be a smaller search category than some feel worth targeting, there is an immense opportunity to reach specific users by ranking well for specific file types. If you have a variety of PDFs, spreadsheets or other types of files on your domain, optimizing them for search – independently of the pages they may be featured on – will help you catch a more internet-savvy demographic. When people search for specific terms and phrases along with a particular file type associated, the chances of your optimized files appearing in search are much, much greater than through a standard search. With this method, you’ll dominate in an otherwise small niche. It may seem insignificant, but pulling in the vast majority of traffic for a smaller niche is sometimes better than grabbing a small percentage in a much larger or more contested SERP.

There are so many different elements to consider ranking for in search that it can sometimes seem overwhelming. From standard searches to multimedia, shopping, files and local searches, you have many different angles to consider when building a reputable SEO strategy. What are some ways you’re targeting select niches that break the usual SEO mould? Tell us below about your experiences.