In 1979, the Harvard Business Review published associate professor Michael E. Porter’s “How Competitive Forces Shape Strategy”. It was revolutionary especially in the world of strategy. Many companies and corporations adapted this framework. In the SEO industry, it is as much as driving force as in any business. The main goal of SEO is to be on the top rank of search engines and there are many factors as to how it happens. This article will try to uncover those factors.

Entrants

Keyword ranking is one of the many ways to analyze your standing in the competition. Poor-performing keywords in your SEO strategy are in constant threat to new entrants who are vying for that keyword. There are three types of entrants: a., a new competitor in the same industry as yours b., an existing competitor who is not currently investing in SEO but decided to start a massive marketing campaign and focus on organic search and c. an existing competitor who increased their budget for their SEO strategy and online marketing campaign. There are also ways to fend off these competitors. One is to focus on keywords that drives conversions and traffic, devote time and money in an optimized content marketing strategy and own those keywords not just on your website but across the entire Internet.

Suppliers

Suppliers are the search engines itself. In the recent algorithm changes imposed by Google (Panda and Penguin), many keywords were affected. In essence, keyword positions on these suppliers are constantly in threat by the ever-changing organic search and social media landscape. In your SEO strategy, it is important to look beyond these changes so that your keyword can stay on top. New suppliers are also entering the SEO background and Blekko and Yandex are only two of the newest addition. It is also important to take advantage of social media networks like Facebook and Google+. Who knows, your competitors may be outranking you on these sites.

Buyers

Buyers refer to the impact of customers in an industry. Customers are the ones clicking on search engines and typing your keywords so just imagine how they will affect your rank. These days, search engines like Bing and Google consider social signals in their algorithms. Social signal is publishing your content on social channels like Twitter, Facebook, etc. Engaging with these channels produce positive impacts on your rank so when your competitors are outranking you, increase your prospects and customers so that you will stay on top.

Substitutes

This is the threat wherein a SEO company has found another way to market his strategy resulting in the downfall of your rank. These companies have found new prospects and have developed a better marketing strategy to generate more ROI compared to yours. To avoid going downward, think about alternative marketing tactics like search targeting, tradeshows, paid search, etc. It is also advisable that your strategy needs to support your prospects throughout the time they spent in your site.

Competition

This factor encompasses everything. Rivalry and intensity for a keyword will always affect your rank—whether negatively or positively. If your website is frequently visited because of your chosen keyword, it becomes a threat to other SEO companies and ultimately, they will vie for the same word. To outrank them, the best thing to do is to always have relevant content, long-tail keyword phrases and fresh ideas on your site.

Porter’s Five Forces changed the way how people view competition in the business world. The threats presented above will hopefully help marketers and SEO specialists to always think ahead of the ever-changing landscape in this industry.