Semalt About Possible Promotional Strategies For A New Site In A Competitive Niche
Most of us take a dim view of painting a picture of ourselves. The reality of what needs to be done is a bit more complex, and usually, most of our good ideas were thought of first by someone else.
So what do you do when you enter a niche where there are already experienced players? Do you have to have a big budget to succeed and crash into the top search results? Is it a losing war, or will it be possible to achieve results with good planning and successful implementation?
If you've already gotten to know Semalt, you probably understand that it's a network of optimistic people who believe that with the right work, budget, investment, and perseverance, it's possible to produce achievements in almost any field. So how do you approach a competitive environment where veteran sites operate and succeed in promoting your brand organically? Let's get to work!
Action №1: Acquire and merge other sites
This is perhaps the most important action you should consider before embarking on an SEO project in an environment where veteran sites operate. Sometimes the fastest way to promote a website is to use shortcuts.
When I say shortcuts, I'm talking about buying a domain with experience in the field and restoring it. Or buying an active and functional brand, merging with other niche players, combining multiple brands under one roof, and many other actions whose main objective is to take an existing business that works permanently in your niche and leverage it for your business needs.
Just before you try to walk with your head against the wall and promote a new brand from scratch, stop for a moment and think: in terms of profitability, is there a way to reduce some of the mileage you have to spend to promote your brand?
In quite a few cases, you may find a major player in the niche, who is interested in operating on other channels, wants to focus his/her efforts on other channels, and is interested in making an "exit" on the brand he/she has developed. In such cases, you can have an active and functional site, which will give you a foothold in the area in question. How to contact publishers? By email. Look for their email address on the sites themselves and, if not, via WHO IS.
Action №2: Perform keyword research that will locate the phrases worth investing in
Even when you're fighting monsters, it's important to remember that these leading sites don't actually rank first on all the relevant niche phrases. In this case, you just need to look for the same flaws, the same phrases that, for some reason, the top sites are not ranking on, and try to analyze why. Is there not enough content on the relevant pages? Is the content present but not meeting the search intent of the users? Is the content format outdated? How current is the content?
With the help of keyword ranking and research tools such as the Dedicated SEO Dashboard, you can create an action plan that will allow you to focus on the phrases where you are most likely to succeed. Thanks to the various functions of this tool, you will have all the means at your disposal to generate real added value and relative advantage over your competitors.
Action №3: Better layout and organization of content
In some cases, the fact that the main competing sites in the niche are old indicates that the format of the content embedded in them is also old. In recent years, Google's search engine has changed the way it accesses content and presents it to users.
For example, in the zero results, answers are often presented that are detailed in dedicated, targeted paragraphs of content embedded in the corresponding pages of the site. The configuration of section indexing to which Google has moved allows its search engine to find relevant content that optimally answers the user's query.
What is needed in this case, in order to succeed and give a real battle to these old sites, is to correctly format the content of the site. This can be done by means of tables, diagrams, structured data, paragraphs of targeted content, headings and subheadings, numbered and highlighted lists, etc.
Action №4: Investment in quality site infrastructure
Older sites are also steeped in history. There is not always the will and resources available to move the site to a more modern infrastructure, rewrite it, and improve parameters such as loading speed, display stability, user interactivity, and other parameters of the user experience world.
As a person working on setting up a new website and promoting it on Google, this is your opportunity to make a positive difference in your favor, among other things by relying on excellent web hosting services, which will allow you flexibility, maximum speed, excellent availability, backups, information retrieval services and more.
Action №5: Better adaptation of the site to mobile
Today, it is hard to find top websites that are not adapted for use on mobile devices, that's for sure! But there is a big difference between adapting an existing website to display on mobile devices and clear and early planning for the customer journey on mobile devices.
When you design and build a new website, you have a real opportunity to adapt it to different mobile devices, and to create a new graphic language adapted to these devices. In addition, it allows you to design the user experience accordingly and to position buttons and menus correctly to enable their use. For example, using large fingers, deploying images, comparison tables, and action buttons correctly, determining the best display distance from the user, improving the conversion rate, etc.
Action №6: Activity in complementary channels
In order to create an authoritative reputation in the field, you need to work with other channels that signal to Google and other search engines that you are a stable, well-known and accepted brand.
To do this, work on social networks that are suitable for communication with your target audience. For example:
- open a dedicated Facebook page and post brand content on it, invite users who come to your Facebook group;
- post videos on Tiktok, build a target audience on Instagram, and more.
These actions will not only help you prove you're out there and build your name, but will also help your social profiles succeed and rank when people search directly for your brand name. If your social profile is invested enough and creates real value for internet users, for example, by providing relevant tips and information, the very increase in the number of followers on the profile can be a positive sign for the search engine and thus pave the way for you to improve the organic positions of the brand.
Action №7: Invest in video
Videos are a very important sign of quality: when you make a video (of quality, of course), you are essentially signaling to search engines that you have the needed resources in production, photography, content, set design, make-up, acting, localization, sound, and basically any sub-field related to video production or video series, to produce a quality solution for your target audience.
Video can also help you to move up in normal search engine searches, and of course rank on YouTube. When people join your channel after a video that has added value to them, they are affirming that you are a quality, authoritative brand in the field.
Video is also a much more viral format. More people tend to share quality videos than any other format files. In addition, video improves important metrics such as time spent on the site, reduces abandonment rates, and increases engagement with the site later on. These are metrics that have a positive impact on the organic promotion process of the site. Of course, don't forget to add video schematics.
Action №8: Field Collaborations
Want to increase the chances that Google will associate you as a key and influential factor in your niche? Collaborate with colleagues in the field. These can be professional clients, suppliers, or complementary businesses. You can share leads, channel paying customers for complementary services, help each other via content distribution mechanisms to mailing lists, and... in this context, the sky's the limit.
Ultimately, Google will be able to see that such collaboration is taking place, whether it's through a review of shared mentions of brands on the web, articles that link back to you and other brands, traffic tracking in the Chrome browser, and of course, many other ways. These collaborations can also have real organic value.
Action №9: Fast service and customer response
Good customer service can also have a positive effect on organic site promotion.
What is the connection between good service and organic promotion?
Well, it is when you get back to the customers immediately and offer great availability during all business hours. Also, save the customers from having to continue to the next search result. You allow the customers to tell themselves and Google that your brand has shown attention and given them a quality answer to a query they made.
Action №10: Manage an advertising campaign to drive brand name searches
There is no doubt that large, long-established brands have an indicator that significantly differentiates them from less popular competing brands in the niche: direct searches on the brand name by Internet users. Direct brand name searches can be a real indication of the level of interest in the brand's solutions.
If you are entering an arena saturated with experienced competitors, one action to consider is to try to encourage people to search directly for your brand. In this way, assuming you are working to increase the number of direct searches on the brand name, you will create a positive reputation and an image as an authority in the field in which you operate.