Avalara Organic Growth Opportunities

Create a comprehensive matrix of pages detailing the taxability of specific product categories in every U.S. state. This play directly answers one of the most fundamental questions for sellers and leverages Avalara's unmatched tax code library to become the definitive online resource.

Example Keywords

• "is saas taxable in colorado"
• "clothing taxability illinois"
• "food tax exempt california"
• "software subscription sales tax ohio"

Rationale

While Avalara's current pages show tax rates, they don't explicitly state whether a product category is taxable at all. This play captures high-intent searchers who are trying to determine their core tax obligations, creating a powerful funnel into Avalara's core products. Competitors only offer sporadic blog posts on this topic, leaving a massive opportunity for systematic, authoritative coverage.

Topical Authority

Avalara maintains the definitive U.S. tax-code library, with over 15,000 AvaTax codes. This internal knowledge base provides unparalleled and uncopyable topical authority on product taxability rules, making it nearly impossible for competitors to replicate the depth and accuracy of these pages.

Internal Data Sources

Leverage the Product Tax Content API to map tax codes to jurisdiction rules, creating tables of taxable/exempt/conditional statuses. Incorporate edge cases from Sales Tax Badge certification documents and use the support ticket corpus to identify and answer real customer questions for each product category.

Estimated Number of Pages

25,000+ (500+ product categories x 50 states)

Develop state-specific sales tax guides for sellers on major e-commerce platforms like Shopify, Etsy, and Amazon. This strategy captures the rapidly growing search volume from SMBs navigating complex marketplace facilitator laws.

Example Keywords

• "etsy sales tax texas"
• "does etsy collect sales tax in texas"
• "amazon nexus california"
• "shopify economic nexus rules florida"

Rationale

Avalara currently ranks for generic state sales tax terms but has minimal coverage for platform-specific queries. As more businesses adopt multi-channel sales strategies, they desperately search for clear guidance on their obligations for each platform. These pages serve a high-need audience and directly promote Avalara's integrations.

Topical Authority

Avalara is a trusted leader in U.S. sales tax and an official partner for many major e-commerce marketplaces. This existing trust and partnership ecosystem provides immediate authority and credibility for platform-specific advice, making Avalara the natural go-to source for this information.

Internal Data Sources

Use AvaTax Nexus data to provide state-specific threshold counts. Leverage partner team documentation to clarify which platforms automatically collect and remit taxes. Incorporate information from knowledge-base articles on specific channel connectors to create a rich, differentiated resource.

Estimated Number of Pages

4,500+ (90+ platforms x 50 states)

Programmatically generate static pages that detail the estimated import duties for specific products (by HS code) between major trade corridors. This play targets high-intent global merchants with granular, product-level information that is currently unavailable for free elsewhere.

Example Keywords

• "import duty on leather shoes from china to usa"
• "hs code 940360 tariff canada"
• "uk duty calculator electronic components"
• "de minimis china to us"

Rationale

Avalara's current tariff content is broad, but sellers need to know the exact cost to import a specific product. By creating a massive library of HS code-specific pages, Avalara can capture long-tail, high-value traffic from businesses making purchasing and logistics decisions. This provides a direct lead-in to Avalara's landed-cost and cross-border solutions.

Topical Authority

Avalara’s cross-border solutions are built on real-time HS code and duty databases. This proprietary, trusted data is a unique asset that can be used to generate authoritative content that is far superior to the outdated blog posts that currently rank for these terms.

Internal Data Sources

Utilize the Cross-Border duty rate API to pull HS code data, duty rates, VAT, and de minimis rules. Use the output from Avalara's machine-learning HS code classifier for popular products. Reference the internal trade-agreement knowledge base to include information on preferential rates.

Estimated Number of Pages

500,000+ (Top 5,000 HS codes x 10 origin countries x 10 destination markets)

Publish a unique set of pages that provide a relative audit risk score for specific industries in each state. This highly creative, data-driven play will attract significant attention and capture businesses actively worried about compliance risks.

Example Keywords

• "sales tax audit risk new york"
• "chance of sales tax audit for ecommerce"
• "high audit risk industries texas comptroller"
• "how to avoid sales tax audit california"

Rationale

No other company in the market quantifies sales tax audit likelihood. By leveraging its vast, anonymized dataset, Avalara can create a first-of-its-kind resource that generates both high-intent traffic and press-worthy buzz. Businesses discovering they are in a high-risk category are prime candidates for automation and exemption certificate management solutions.

Topical Authority

With data from over 35,000 customers and managed audit services, Avalara possesses a unique and defensible dataset on audit events. This provides unimpeachable authority to speak on audit risk in a way no competitor or publisher can match.

Internal Data Sources

Use anonymized audit notice frequency data, segmented by NAICS code and state. Incorporate anonymized data on average assessment amounts to highlight financial risk. Pull common audit triggers from support ticket tags to provide actionable mitigation advice on each page.

Estimated Number of Pages

6,000+ (50 states x 120 high-volume NAICS codes)

Create the web's first structured, comprehensive directory of business license and tax permit requirements, broken down by industry and local jurisdiction. This massive play moves beyond generic state-level guides to provide actionable checklists for entrepreneurs and businesses at the local level.

Example Keywords

• "retail business license los angeles county"
• "how to get vape shop permit miami"
• "food truck sales tax license colorado springs"
• "contractor license requirements harris county texas"

Rationale

While Avalara sells a License Management solution, its organic content is thin. Businesses struggle to find a single source for local permit requirements, instead piecing together information from disparate government sites. By creating a centralized, easy-to-navigate resource, Avalara can capture businesses at the crucial formation stage and establish itself as the authority on all aspects of compliance.

Topical Authority

Avalara’s internal license filing network, which spans over 20,000 jurisdictions, represents an unrivaled data asset. This deep, proprietary knowledge of local requirements across thousands of industries provides immense topical authority that cannot be easily replicated.

Internal Data Sources

Leverage the internal license requirement matrix that maps jurisdictions to NAICS codes. Use anonymized data on processing time SLAs to provide realistic timelines. Incorporate customer success stories and case studies, mapped to specific industries, to add social proof.

Estimated Number of Pages

450,000+ (300 common industries x 1,500 high-population jurisdictions)

Improvements Summary

Revamp city, county, ZIP, and state tax rate pages with targeted keywords, expanded content, structured data, and improved internal linking. Apply a scalable template to address thin content, missing schema, and weak on-page optimization.

Improvements Details

Tasks include updating title tags and meta descriptions with year and primary keywords (e.g., 'sales tax rate for las vegas nevada'), adding 300–400 words of supporting text, FAQs with schema, sortable ZIP-level tables, and an interactive calculator. Internal links will connect city pages to state hubs and related cities, while new content like tax change blogs and glossaries will support authority. Technical updates cover schema (FAQPage, BreadcrumbList, Product), canonical tags, image optimization, and mobile-first UX for calculators.

Improvements Rationale

These improvements directly address content gaps and technical shortcomings that keep high-potential pages from ranking on page one, despite strong search demand. By aligning content with transactional search intent, adding structured data, and strengthening internal links, the strategy aims to increase relevance, click-through rates, and organic sessions. Programmatic rollout across all location pages is expected to drive significant low-funnel traffic and qualified leads.