How an SEO campaign can help the ink and toner industry

It might seem ironic to think of a paper-based market segment like the ink and toner industry turning to the virtual world of the internet for its marketing activities; however, there are plenty of reasons why SEO can work as well for this sector as it can for any other.

Firstly, it’s worth recognising that the search market for ink and laser toner is distinctly seasonal – Google Trends analysis of the terms ‘ink’ and ‘toner’ show spikes in search activity in January and August-September, with pronounced lulls in between.

A well-timed SEO campaign could easily inject a few search-optimised pages into your website just ahead of these seasonal surges in search activity, helping you to cash in on the increase in potential custom.

Secondly, it’s a big market, with plenty of room for different specialisms – common queries range from the predictable ‘ink cartridges’ and ‘printer ink’ to the more niche ‘Epson toner cartridges‘.

That gives you a good chance to tailor your SEO campaigns, making the most of short-tail terms like ‘ink’ itself, and longer-tail phrases like ‘HP toner cartridges’ and ‘Epson ink cartridges’.

Finally, consider that the average search audience for ‘ink’ is just over twice as large as that for ‘toner’ – roughly 232% of the size, according to Google Trends.

If you can tap into that market, you’re doing particularly well, but it may be worth targeting the less competitive search market for ‘toner’ – your overall ROI could turn out to be greater if you can achieve a front-page ranking for your target search terms without spending as much on optimisation.

Written by Rob Henry