How To Outperform Your Competitors Online
25 years ago, most businesses had no online presence, you could outperform your competitors simply by just having a website! But today, almost every business has an online presence, whether that’s a website, a Facebook page, or a YouTube channel. This crowded market can make it hard for your business to stand out online.
One way of standing out is simply to pay for exposure. This includes methods like using PPC ads on Google Search to drive traffic to your website or paying to promote your posts on a platform like Instagram. However, there are some things you can do which can help you outperform your online competitors.
Check For Basic Errors On Your Website And Social Profiles
You probably think you can skip this one – you can’t! When a client brings us their website or social profile to look at, there is almost always at least one critical error which is either costing them money or customers. Examples of these errors could be things like:
- Important links on a website that are broken (e.g., a customer clicks a button saying “contact”, but the link is broken, and they go to a 404 page).
- Your contact details have not been updated (e.g., your website has your new phone number, but your Google My Business or Facebook profile still has your old number).
Post Content Regularly
Search engine algorithms will favour websites which regularly update their site with new, high-quality content. An effective way of doing this is to regularly post blogs and article on your site.
Post Better Content
If you are already posting blogs or articles but not seeing results, consider if you could improve the quality of the content you are posting. Your blogs should ideally be at least 750 words and feature genuinely informative, interesting, and useful information. Are you including images in the content you post? Are you formatting the test in a way which is easy to read? Even if the written content is great, the way you present it can let it down.
Engage With Your Audience On Social Media
Most social media platforms will favour profiles which engage with their audience. Make sure that you are replying to comments, liking posts which mention your business, and answering customer questions online.
Make Sure You Are Mobile Friendly
Your website needs to perform well on mobile because most users will be looking at your website on their mobile. Google Search is also “mobile first” meaning that your website’s search ranking will mostly depend on the performance of the mobile version of your site. When we work with new clients, we often find they have websites which perform well on desktop, but which are clunky, hard to read, or broken on mobile. Our web developers are able to fix this for them and make our clients’ sites mobile friendly, which almost always increases their search engine ranking.
Use Videos In Your Marketing
Many people think that making video content take a lot more effort than creating other types of content online. A while it is true that a fully edited video with music and titles will take you longer to put together than a written blog – that isn’t always what’s needed. Many times, you can make just as much of an impact by taking out your mobile and filming a quick 30 second clip. As an example, if you run a restaurant, you could record a short video on your phone detailing one of your recipes.
These short video clips can be easily shared to social media and will likely generate more engagement than any piece of written content would.
Or… Partner With A Digital Marketing Agency
If your main reaction reading the list above is “when will I ever find time to do all that?”, it might be time to consider partnering with a digital marketing agency. A digital marketing agency can help you promote your business online through a combination of search engine optimisation, online ads and social media marketing.
At Carden Digital, we’ve spearheaded online marketing campaigns for a wide range of clients. Our team are always happy to discuss your marketing goals and how we can help you reach them. Speak to our team today to learn more.
