With the rise of digital marketing, users have become tech-savvy. They focus on digital to find information and make purchases faster. 

Companies are starting to understand the value of digital product development. They create smartphone apps, websites, educational products, and similar digital product types to attract new audiences. 

However, developing a digital product that delivers value to users is a complex process. It consists of several phases, from ideation to software engineering. While it involves the use of numerous tools and techniques, you should not underestimate the value of SEO in the process.

How does SEO benefit the creation of digital products? Let’s find out!

The Idea Validation Process

According to the HTEC Group, developing a digital product consists of several phases – discovery, advisory, design, development, and support. The goal is to approach your digital product development strategically.

The last thing you want to do is invest your time, effort, and resources into a loss-maker. Precisely because of that, you should validate your new product idea and assess its profitability. 

That is where SEO can help.

Perform Keyword Research

There is a wide range of reliable keyword analytics tools in the SEO ecosystem. Some of them are SEMrush, KWFinder, Ahrefs Keyword Explorer, and Google Keyword Planner. 

These tools a fundamental role in your product idea validation process.

For example, by measuring the keyword volume, you know how relevant the phrase is to your target audience. Simply put, the metric tells you whether there is a market demand for your digital product.

Use Google Trends

Google Trends allows you to enter your desired keyword and monitor its popularity in Google Search. You can even select your target region and language. 

Google Trends also uses graphs to compare the keyword search volume over time. As such, it tells you whether there is market interest in your digital product. Sure, the goal is to seek topics that are growing in search volume.

Leverage Answer the Public

Answer The Public is a nifty keyword tool. It collects search data from search engines and visualizes it. All you have to do is enter your keyword, and the platform will provide a list of the most relevant search queries.

For you, that is the opportunity to discover a treasure trove of digital product ideas. Most importantly, you can use these insights to tailor your product ideas to your audience’s interests.

Digital Product Development

One of the most common mistakes digital marketers make is developing a digital product without investing in SEO. 

Let’s take the example of website development. Before you choose the coding language, ask yourself how it will impact your online presence. 

For instance, ReactJS saves developers time. It offers new modules that enable super-high loading speed. However, it comes with numerous SEO-related issues, such as slow indexing. Also, a single error in the JS code makes the entire page impossible to index. 

When you know how coding languages impact SEO, you can choose the one that meets your needs. 

Next, you want your website to deliver frictionless user experiences. That is why software developers should work closely with SEO teams to discover the common UX issues, such as page load speed. To reduce them, programmers can configure the servers that store your website. For instance, by enabling compressions and minimizing time-to-first-byte, they can make the digital product more SEO-friendly. 

Content Optimization and Keyword Research

Without thorough keyword research and optimization strategy, your digital product cannot reach its target audience. 

That is where SEO professionals can help. By identifying the most relevant keywords and their semantic fields, you can boost organic rankings.

Most importantly, keyword research is the pillar of copywriting and content marketing. Irrespective of the content type, develop it around relevant search phrases. Keywords guide your content topics and help you gain a competitive advantage in Google’s SERPs.

Here are a few simple tips on keyword implementation:

• Include keywords in your meta tags, titles, product descriptions, etc.  
• Add keywords to your URL. 
• Use a general keyword on your homepage and more specific phrases for product pages, blog articles, etc.

Public Relations and Off-Site SEO

When creating digital products, you want to increase their online reach and visibility. Apart from creating on-site content and optimizing it for search engines, establishing external authority is crucial. 

Your SEO team should collaborate with the PR team to create a detailed off-site digital product promotion strategy. 

For example, they can use link prospecting tools to find new guest blogging opportunities. In other words, they can identify high-authority websites in the same industry that accept guest articles. By promoting your PR articles on external sites and including the link to your website, they can increase your website authority and organic rankings. 

Sure, keep in mind that search engines give natural, editorial links more weight. That is where the content marketing team steps in. Their responsibility is the creation of engaging, data-driven, and organic content and inserting keywords to your website more organically.

Continuous Analytics and Improvements

In the SEO world, there is no room for guesswork. SEO professionals use a wide range of website analytics tools to measure site performance. 

As such, SEO is critical to the success of your digital products. By setting clear marketing KPIs, tracking SEO metrics, and performing A/B tests, digital marketers identify which tactics work or not for your target audience. That way, they increase the effectiveness of digital product promotion.

Over to You

It is essential that marketing and product development departments understand its value. 

From invaluable insights into the customer demand to content and media, SEO benefits the digital product development process on multiple levels. 

For starters, it helps you validate your digital product ideas and assess their market relevance. 

Most importantly, SEO allows you to optimize your digital products for search engines right from the start. 

Finally, it helps you build a consistent online presence, boost online reach, and generate leads faster.

Do you use SEO to discover new opportunities for digital products? Please, share your tips and experiences with us!