Originally posted on https://www.omegadigital.com.au/seo/how-can-a-small-business-compete-in-a-highly-competitive-industry/
So you’re a small business and want to start pushing the limits with your marketing online?
Maybe you’re a new business or you’ve been around for a long time and are looking to refresh your business plans and get your name out there. Well, you’ve definitely come to the right place.
Okay, how do small businesses compete in a tightly competitive industry? How do you stand out above the rest?
In order to do this, you need to be prepared to put in the hard work, nothing comes easy, especially when it comes to marketing your business to potential and current customers. So to be number one, you have work to do.
The key to this? Provide long-form content! This will give you the opportunity to be the best to show your audience you know what you’re doing.
What do we mean by long-form content? So blogs, articles and any form of copywriting on topics related to your business. These blogs will inform your customers on “how to” or just provide interesting information that will resonate with the audience as well as give your business more visibility online.
Now you’re probably thinking, why do I need to provide long-form content? Firstly, to engage with your audience, to provide your business more interaction and to be a trusted brand who knows what they are talking about. You need to provide long-form content to improve your SEO (search engine optimisation) and overall be visible.
To get the maximum benefits, we will help you set this content up and how to generate ideas on what to post. So you’re now probably thinking, well how often do I need to post? The answer, at least once a week to get the most engagement, if you have more you want to talk about, produce more! Just remember you need to balance quality and quantity, so make sure the content is of a high standard.
As for your topics, your business will have all kinds of different topics you can write on, but sometimes it is hard to brainstorm. You want to have unique topics, as well as topics people want to know more about.
Okay, so now you want to start brainstorming ideas. It is probably a good idea to start brainstorming a few different topics so you have some ideas in your bank and can start producing a range of different articles. So where do you start? Google.
Google is a great platform to get some great ideas on what people are searching for and therefore what people want to know. This will give you the upper hand to becoming the number one business consumers go to. To get the best results, write what your business offers followed by tips and the words “how to”.
For example, you are a plumbing business. So you might write into Google ‘plumbing tips’ “how to”’. This is a gold mine for content. Look at what other blog articles or businesses are writing, if you don’t agree or have a better way, write the content to suit your knowledge.
Another great way to find content ideas, type in your business topics into the Google search bar and scroll through the suggestions, this is what people are asking for and this is the types of content you can provide to your audience.
Google also offers a service called Google Trends. On this site, you can type in your business topics as well as “how to” to get all the related topics people are searching.
After you have your desired topics from search terms, you might think of ideas that aren’t being searched but is very useful information to your audience, well write about it!! This is where your business can make a huge impact in the market and with long-form content you can really become competitive as you become more visible online.
What do you need to remember when producing content? Make sure you make it easy to digest the words, break out your paragraphs with pictures and if you can video. Videos are very engaging and attract readers who want a quick answer.
Always focus on user experience, language that is easy to understand, looks appealing to read and use buzzwords in your article. At this stage of your content marketing you don’t have to be too hung up on producing keywords throughout your article like “plumbing in Sydney”, just focus on buzzwords that will be searched, but stress less about ensuring the city you work in is throughout each article written.
You also want to ask questions in your content to engage with the audience. Making them feel included in your articles will provide a higher engagement rate as well as building a trusting relationship with your customers.
Now you have your content, what next? You want to promote your content. Social media is a great platform to do this, even with a limited budget. Highly target your blogs by targeting the audience you wish to promote to, your potential and existing customers. Make sure you share your piece of content on all of your available platforms.
When sharing on social media, post also using long-form content to engage and tell a story, this way your audience has come contact around the content on offer! Even ask them questions to engage in conversation.
As well as social media, you can use Google Ad Words to promote your content. Use words that are less competitive but still targeted enough to create brand awareness and give attention to your business. You have the ability to choose these, or Google can for you.
Now, let’s think outside the square, how else can you get maximum exposure for your content writing? Collaboration is also a huge market you need to tap into. Connect with bloggers and other non-competitive sites, pitch them content to use on their blog and with enough trust, they will start referring you to their audience. It’s all about networking.
Finally to go the extra mile and get to number one, ensure your website is easy to use, stylish and branded. For inspiration look at the competing sites, see what everyone else is doing and use their ideas to make your own!
Register your business on Google and Bing Business tools as well, keep these lists updated and use other directories relevant to promote your business online.
Content is your strategy, it is your way to a number one stop, but it isn’t easy. You might even need help from freelancing tools like Fiver or Freelancer to get compelling content for a small cost.
Build your team, build your brand and provide your audience with content they will love!
Ask yourself, why should I be number one?