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Marketplace Deep Dive - Q1 (Case Study: Zillow)
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Marketplace Deep Dive - Q1 (Case Study: Zillow)

Exclusive insights into Zillow's SEO strategy + large analysis of marketplace data

Kevin Indig's avatar
Kevin Indig
Feb 14, 2025
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Marketplace Deep Dive - Q1 (Case Study: Zillow)
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Welcome to the first deep dive into marketplaces - one of the most exciting business models for SEO!

Besides the market and trends you should know, I’m covering:

  1. How Getty Images eventually beat the competition with a clever SEO play

  2. Why Twitter → X migration was successful (not because of SEO)

  3. Why Chegg & Co are getting crushed by AI

  4. What’s going on with software review sites

I also have a juicy Deep Dive into Zillow at the end, based on a conversation I had with Matt Bowers, who was there for 8 years and defined Zillow’s SEO Strategy.

Key takeaways:

  • Technical SEO is paramount at scale: Marketplaces deal with massive amounts of content. Crawl efficiency, internal linking, page quality optimization, and rich snippets are not just good practices; they're essential for visibility, as Zillow's story illustrates.

  • Content strategy needs to be dynamic and vast: Getty Images' success shows how a large inventory allows for creative content expansion and targeting trending topics. Marketplaces should explore diverse content formats and topics to capture a wider audience.

  • User experience directly impacts SEO: "Good" clicks matter. Zillow's map improvement demonstrates how UX enhancements translate into better SEO performance.

  • Brand awareness supports SEO: While organic traffic is vital, Zillow's investment in TV and paid advertising shows the importance of brand building as a buffer against algorithm changes.

  • Monitor and adapt to algorithm changes: The rise of social networks and the decline of some review sites demonstrate how algorithm updates can drastically shift traffic.

What are marketplaces?

Marketplaces are two or three-sided platforms that connect different parties, for example tutors with students or renters with landlords. What makes marketplaces unique and worth their own category is their unique approach to SEO. I call them SEO Aggregators.

The approach to Aggregator SEO is heavy on the technical and product side. You usually deal with hundreds of thousands - if not millions - of pages and need to optimize for page quality, crawl efficiency, internal linking, rich snippets, and product experience.

I brought a selection of consumer and B2B marketplaces to give you an idea of what we’re talking about:

Consumer marketplaces

  • Social networks: Nextdoor, Meta properties, Snap, Reddit, Youtube, TikTok, Linkedin, Pinterest, Twitter, etc.

  • Consumer apps: UBER (eats), Yelp, Spotify, Soundcloud, Eventbrite, Coinbase, Opensea, Thumbtack

  • Travel: OTAs (Expedia, Booking), review sites (Tripadvisor, Viator), attraction aggregators, etc.

  • Real estate: Zillow, Apartments.com, Redfin, Homes.com, Realtor.com, Trulia, Movoto, etc.

  • Jobs: Indeed, ZipRecruiter, Simply Hired, Glassdoor

  • Stock photo sites: Getty Images, Shutterstock, Adobe stock, Alamy, etc.

  • Tutoring/learning/courses: CourseHero (link to deep dive), Studocu, Brainly, Chegg, Coursera, Udemy

  • App stores: Apple app store, Play store, Amazon app store, Galaxy Store

  • Content platforms: Medium, Substack, etc.

B2B marketplaces

  • Review sites: Trustpilot, G2, Capterra, etc.

  • App store data: Sensor Tower

  • Freelance marketplaces: Upwork, Fiverr, Toptal, Intelycare

  • Industrial & Manufacturing: Xometry, Equipment Share

  • Logistics: Flexport, Convoy

Notice how most marketplaces serve end consumers as opposed to businesses.

I intentionally exclude retail marketplaces because I cover them in e-commerce deep dives (read the latest).

Industry overview

Marketplaces grew by 8% in total traffic over the last 12 months after a flat 2023. The two drivers of growth are social networks (Threads, Pinterest, Reddit, TikTok) and Crypto (Coinbase, Kraken). Jobs, software reviews, lyrics and real estate sites are struggling.

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