I have commented in more than one post that I’ve done for the company over the years that “content is king,” and I am certainly not the first SEO specialist to have remarked so.
The operative point I am trying to make (along with many other SEO experts ) is that content is the primary way to differentiate a brand from the competition, and the most important ranking signal out of many that are also important.
But, in the modern era, in which Google’s algorithm is only getting better at distinguishing authority from the voice of content, in which expertise, experience, authority and trust are becoming more central, and in which AI engines like ChatGPT are increasingly reliant on content as a differentiator, the observation that “content is king” is anything but moot.
This is even more poignant in the face of AI-generated copy and images, which are, by and large, borderline or actually unusable.
But, for the time being, I digress. The case of this point is a look into a client of ours that sells knives and other outdoor tools and accessories, which, you would know if you’ve read any of my other case studies, means that they can’t advertise through search engines or social media.
The only channels available to this client are organic.
So let me peel back the layers so you can see what the challenges are, and how we met them head on to deliver success.
The Challenges of Knife Industry SEO
There are two primary challenges associated with knife industry SEO. The first and easiest to understand is that platforms like Meta and Google will not let knife retailers advertise through their platforms. Therefore you can’t pay to play as other merchants in other industries can.
This means that only organic channels are available to those that sells knives and other tools. SEO, AI marketing, content marketing, and email marketing are on the table, but the best of these is SEO, not just because it offers the highest ROI (even all the way out here in 2026) but because a well-executed SEO strategy is also an AI marketing and content marketing strategy (I’ll elaborate on this in a moment).
But before I do, let’s get into the matter of the other primary challenge associated with knife industry SEO, which is that a true subject matter expert is actually needed to move the needle.
Let’s actually look into this in depth.
The Case for a True Subject Matter Expert
In SEO, there is a pervasive myth that persists, even to the present day, that with respect to content, it’s all about hitting a word count and keyword density, and a little bit to do with post structure.
Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely do structure my blog posts for the best results, and I do include target keywords in my work, but these two considerations are ancillary to the prerequisite that the content in question, whether it is a blog, a CMS page, or just a bit of product page copy, delivers some value.
There is another myth that anyone can write SEO copy, and there is some truth to this as well but it is mostly false. Unless you have firsthand experience with what you are writing about, you will mostly be including keywords in bland copy and listing features. Anyone can do that. The problem is that, if anyone can do it, there is no differentiation. And if there is no differentiation, there is no value.
This is why a true subject matter expert is often required to deliver the best results with SEO (or, for that matter, for AI SEO, and certainly for content marketing).
I can speak from experience on this matter. As an outdoorsman, I have a lot of experience thereby handling and using knives, not just collecting them for the sake of it. I know what steel alloys will rust when exposed to maritime conditions. I know how to prevent stress corrosion cracking. I know the different types of grinds and how each should be sharpened. I understand what gives a drop point profile a more robust, breakage-resistant tip than a needle point
I could go on, but I wish not to be graceless and I will save the remainder of my breath (typing?) for the copy I produce for the client in question as well as others in the industry. The point I’m making here is that I don’t just hit a keyword count, drop the keyword in a few headers, list some product features and call it a day.
I can review a knife with authority. I can write tutorials, I can write about processes and uses for a knife; how to sharpen, how to store, how to safely handle, and so on and so forth. That makes a massive difference with SEO, and it also makes a massive difference with AI SEO and with content marketing. This is the sort of thing I covered in one of my past posts, How to Advertise in the Gun Industry (and Part Two). You can learn more about how authority really matters in SEO for restricted industries there. I need to save some time here.
Consequently, I’ve been able to produce uncommon results for this client, even for competitive keywords and topical clusters, and even brought in new traffic to their blog, which would not be possible with a “conventional” SEO campaign, but which is attainable since I have actual experience writing in this vertical.
By the way, the fact that I’ve been able to drive traffic to their blog, with corresponding increases to time on page, makes the entire domain more reputable in the eyes of search engines that crawl it, not to mention the fact that it boosts AI citations. This is what I was writing about earlier in the article when I said good, effective SEO was practically indistinguishable from these other channels.
And, the bottom line here is that authority is the key piece. Anyone can “do SEO” for a knife client, but no one will be able to challenge someone that has authority in the industry.
eCommerce SEO Services: The Work We Do
As I already clearly stated, the primary method by which we move the needle, especially in the case of a client like this that needs expertise from a copywriter in the outdoor sphere, is through copy.
In other words, I write blogs, CMS page copy, and product and category page copy (among a few other things) that addresses questions real-life users have about the products this client sells. These support our eCommerce SEO services.
To be specific, I write things like:
Knife reviews
Comparisons between models
Overviews of brands
How to sharpen and maintain knives
How to safely handle and store knives
Overviews of different knife steel alloys
Overviews of scale materials
Investigations into knife sheath types
And how to use knives to do odd tasks, like lighting fires and other things of that nature
But in addition, the process of our eCommerce SEO services here also involves:
Keyword research, selection, and adjustment throughout the course of the campaign.
Technical analysis and rectification of issues.
Site speed, security and other health audits.
Optimizations at the page level.
And building links, among a few other things.
Together, these optimizations improve the performance of the website not just at the page level but at the domain level. Average position for target keywords drops, impressions rise, then clicks rise.
Done well, and targeting appropriate keywords aligned with intent to purchase, then not only time on page increases as well but so does revenue, which we can explore through the results we generated over the course of this campaign.
The Results
First, we can see how average position dropped and both impressions and clicks rose, as indicated in the image below.
Then, we can see that sessions and time on page rose as indicated in the image below.
And lastly, and perhaps most importantly, we can see that revenue was up massively, especially compared to the period indicated.
All in all, these are the sorts of gains we can produce for clients in restricted industries through eCommerce SEO services, especially when a copywriter with experience in the industry is dedicated to the account for the purpose of research, drafting, optimizing, and delivering.
Check Out Our Other eCommerce Case Studies
These are only a few of the case studies I have written on clients that operate in restricted industries. I write for other clients in the outdoor sphere who have partnered with us for eCommerce SEO services, many of whom sell gun parts, fishing equipment, knives, and other tools. You can check them out in our full collection of case studies, or get in touch with one of our SEO experts for more information.