INTRODUCTION
We all know that it is imperative that we use good marketing tactics when we are putting together our websites. A website that appeals to consumers is one that gets a lot of business, after all.
Yet it's not always as simple as putting together a fabulous website that's been constructed by the greatest design team on the Internet. Sometimes you need another boost. A boost to the algorithms of the mighty Google.
This boost generally only comes in one form. SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is the method millions have used over the past few years to get a boost on Google search results. It's no secret that the best way to get visitors to your website is by having the proper algo boosts that get you on the first page of search results related to your proper keywords.
For example, someone who runs a website offering legal services in San Diego would want to make sure that their website shows up in the top three search results for "San Diego lawyer" or something to that effect. This way when prospective clients search for these words, they are seeing you and hardly anyone else. They will be a lot more likely to click on your link, read about your services, and then contact you to make an arrangement. Boom. Client gained.
But these days it's not enough to simply practice good SEO, such as using good keywords and providing good backlinks to your website. You have to go above and beyond now, both because everyone is using SEO and because Google is always changing their rules. What was okay to use a few years ago is certainly not okay to use today. Things change so fast that you'll get whiplash trying to keep up with them.
So what can you do? In the marketing world that seems so hopeless sometimes, there are some rays of light. For one, using competition analysis and proper market research are both great ways to boost your SEO campaign. Don't have a campaign scheduled yet? Good. This will give you some time to practice the other suggestions before letting them all unfold.
Proper market research and competition analysis are both crucial for running any business, especially online. If you're not sure what they are, don't worry. Today we're going to go over both and help you discover how they can tie into a fantastic SEO campaign. By the time we're through, you'll have the tools you need to get ahead of the pack and change your website's destiny.
COMPETITION ANALYSIS
Before you started your business, you probably scoped out the competition. Let's say you opened up a flower shop. Before you did so, you went through your neighborhood or small town to decide how well such a business would do. Perhaps there are no other florists in town. In this case, you're probably providing a much needed service for your community.
But things rarely work out that way. More likely there are a few other florists the city, many of which have been around for years and have their established customer bases. They started their websites early on and fit snugly into their search results on Google. This may have been even how you found them. Did you go to Google and type in a search for florists in your area? Those first three results are the most telling ones. They are the most successful, the most driven, and probably the oldest around. How can you beat them?
Find Out Why People Love Them
The first thing you need to do with analyzing your competition is find out why they are so successful. This may be as simple as polling some of your friends if it's a neighborhood company. Other times you'll have to do some more research.
Start by checking out the store for yourself. Before you go, make a list of things that you want to watch out for. The following is our suggested list:
- Friendliness of the staff. Are you greeted warmly from the moment that you walk into the store? Does the staff seem eager to help you, and answer any question without making you feel stupid? Having a friendly staff on hand is one great way to make people love you and turn them into repeat customers. They like going somewhere that feels like a second home to them.
- Knowledge of the staff. How well can the staff answer your questions? It is not just a matter of friendliness. Can they actually answer them with alacrity and in an assured manner? You should be able to have your specific questions answered without much research on the other person's part. The better you can do this, the more the customer will trust you.
- Location. Is the store in a central location that is easily accessible to most of the community? Is it near other services, such as banks, grocery stores, schools, and post offices? For example, the most successful independent pharmacies are those that are able to be in a downtown location next to grocery stores and banks. Many customers may not go out of their way to visit your store, but they'll pop in to see if you have what they need.
- Store cleanliness. Is the store clean and sanitary? You can have the greatest staff in the world, but if the customer doesn't feel comfortable there, they will go somewhere else.
- Waiting time (if applicable). How long does the customer have to wait to be waited on? How long are the lines, and is the store understaffed? Long waiting times have a tendency to drive customers away.
- Prices. This one goes without saying, but if a store severely undercuts you, they have a much bigger chance of succeeding, especially if it doesn't hurt their bottom line. Sometimes there isn't much you can do about prices, but most stores in a similar location and selling similar products will have similar prices in return.
Tell Customers What You Do Better
Now that you have scoped out the competition, you are ready to find out what sets you apart from them. Take a look at the list you created when you visited the other stores. Or in the case of an online business, make a list comparing websites that offer similar services to your own of the same size and caliber.
There is no such thing as a perfect store or company. Where one store will radically succeed, it will be lacking in another. This is your chance. Find out what you can do better than the other store and capitalize on it.
Perhaps the other store has long waiting times. Cut yours in half and sell yourself as the business to go to when someone is in a rush. Does the other store have incompetent, rude staff? They can have the best prices in town, but it won't be enough to take customers away from your polished and intelligent staff.
How does this play into SEO? Before your campaign you should focus on these factors that make you better than your competition. Make sure that you have content on your side that plays up to your strengths. Highlight what great waiting times you have at your store. Feature profiles and even articles written by your staff, so visitors can get to know them before they even stop by. Be mindful of your keywords and don't be afraid to play them up without keyword stuffing.
Before you know it, this vital information will be showing up in your campaign. By the time your campaign is through, you will be showing up at the top of the ranks for what exactly your customers are looking for. You may not be able to beat out your competition on price or even location, but you can offer a better service and a better amount of time.
This is of course just one example. Everyone's situation will be different, and part of good competition analysis is knowing exactly what your situation is and how it applies to your SEO campaign. A competent campaign manager can help you setup your website to best exploit this for you. Give them the information that you have researched, and they will be sure to give you stunning, relevant content that will be boost in the algorithms unlike ever before.
MARKET RESEARCH
It is not simply enough to study your competition. You must also study what the people want from you. Only by directly affecting the consumer will you be able to make the right decisions for your business, and in return receive only the best results.
Market research, like competition analysis, is something that every young entrepreneur needs to be aware of. It will also factor heavily into your SEO campaign depending on how you go about it.
Market research has changed a lot in recent years. Even if you own a brick-and-mortar store, you'll still need to turn to the Internet to find out what the consumer really wants. Today we see a perfect merger of the real world and the cyber world. How you go about balancing that is entirely up to you, but we have some things that you should consider below.
Go To The Source
To find out what the consumer really wants, you need to go to their source. This includes using some keywords of your own to search for them. Ironically, you'll need to rely on your consumers using good SEO themselves to find out what they really want.
Begin by going to your search engine of choice. Search for blogs, forum posts, and even personal websites that are talking about the sort of business you run. It doesn't have to be about any certain brand or company, but it doesn't hurt to look if you need to narrow down your search results some more.
Now to your research. Find out what these consumers really want from your line of business. Do you make custom signs for a living? Find out from businesses that need signs what kind of service they are looking for. Do they care the most about speed? Price? Or accuracy? Consider the triple Venn diagram that highlights it's almost impossible to have all three. Of course, the average consumer will want to have all three, but you can't provide it. Instead they will have to compromise with only two. This is where things get interesting.
Perhaps you have one main competitor in town. This person is known for being highly artistic and accurate. On the flipside, they are quite speedy, staying up all night to work on their commissions. But the average consumer will have to pay dearly for it. After all, this sign maker has put in a lot of work in order to fulfill a high demand order in such a short amount of time. Even though they are fast and make beautiful signs, a lot of businesses simply won't be able to afford them. They will bemoan this, and it will be your chance to swoop in and pick up some clients.
So now you know that in order to have an edge over your competition you need to have an affordable price. However, you must now choose between time and accuracy. What do you think your client base would most appreciate? Will they be able to sacrifice time for accuracy? Or is a beautiful sign so important that they will be willing to wait for it if they don't have to pay as much for it?
Let's assume that you choose the latter. Now you can market yourself as a sign maker who creates beautiful works of art for a fraction of the cost of your competitor. Sure, it may take you a while longer to do it, but you'll still put stars in the eyes of your consumers. As long as you don't take an excruciating amount of time to complete the project, you will have reviews pouring in from satisfied customers who hail you as a professional who doesn't charge an arm and a leg.
This is true for anything of this caliber. Not just signmaking. It works for graphic designers, artists of all kinds, and anyone who can use the triple Venn diagram to describe their services. Sure, there will always be those consumers who need a very quick turnaround. That's what your competitors are for.
Market Research And SEO
Now you know what edge you have over your competition, but how do you tell the world? When you are preparing your SEO campaign, work with either your web designer or your manager to come up with content and metadata that reflects your strengths. Just like you would after doing your competition analysis, you must make sure that the search engines pick up on these strengths.
Begin by writing relevant and unique content that reflects all of this. Focus on how passionate you are about providing quality artistry that the humble masses can afford. Be careful not to tear down your competition. This doesn't have to be a bloodbath, and there are even suggestions that doing so may cost you some algorithm ranks.
The keywords you choose and the kind of unique content you offer will either make you or break you. Be mindful of what you put on your site before you begin your campaign. These first few articles on your site, and even the ones on your about page and testimonials, will be what Google picks up on first. You want to make sure that they are pristine, carefully edited, and offer nothing but truthful and unique information that appeals to what exactly your ideal customer is looking for.
CONCLUSION
These days you have to take any edge you can get over the competition, especially when it comes to SEO. Never before have so many people been using search engine optimization to try and give themselves a boost on the search engine algorithms. What these other companies don't know, however, is that there are some key things that they could be doing to up their chances.
But now you know. Competition analysis and proper market research, two things that are as old as commerce itself, are your two most powerful tools to launching a successful campaign. We guarantee that not many other companies are thinking along these lines. They are caught up in the latest rules and regulations that govern SEO, and while they are things that you should consider as well to make the most of your campaign, they are not the be all end all of modern electronic marketing.
Know what your competitors are offering and how you can be better than them. You may not be able to be better all around, but there is one area that you can surely surpass them at. Use this to your advantage, and make sure that it is something that the consumer wants. Then tell the world through your successful campaign!
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