Online search marketing has significantly grown in the past years as the online search continues to develop from a novelty to a standard and regular feature in our everyday lives. We, at 411 Locals, help small and medium business get as much online presence as possible and can tell a word or few about the advantages and disadvantages of small and big companies. Last year, Moz’s founder Rand Fishkin published a similar article which has got our attention. On this page here, we will summarize most of it based on our experience with hundreds of clients.
Big Site Advantages
- Domain Authority – Of course, the large players will already have a large number of high-quality external links which automatically boosts their DA score.
- Years of Trustworthiness – A large brand is supposed to have built quality associations over time, through advertising and keeping a good reputation. People already know that brand, like that brand, and they buy from that brand.
- Financial Resources – It is completely normal for big companies to spend more and more money on advertising. That is usually a well-measured investment, an investment a small company doesn’t usually afford.
Small Site Advantages
- Creativity – Rand Fishkin ranked creativity second in his article, but this is what we, at 411 Locals, are really trying to push up recently. Having the freedom to think outside the box is something a large business cannot afford that easily. Realize your craziest ideas, you are 100% allowed to do it.
- Speed & Flexibility – Whether you have a new idea or decide that you do not longer need to use a method you have been using until this moment, you can easily change directions without consulting layers of management. Try out new ideas, go back to old ones, and see what works best for you.
- Niche Appeal & Focus – Not only can a small business choose to focus its web marketing efforts on one specific thing but also easily become the authority in a particular niche. For instance, a large tire manufacturer such as Michelin that has a lot of partnerships with vehicle manufacturers, cannot afford to scale different vehicle models and brands. As a small business, you have various niche advantages. Keep reading this article to see how.
Use Your Small Business Advantages to Compete with the Big Players
- Keyword Targeting
Big brands often choose not to target specific keywords or are unable to use them for several reasons. The SEO keyword universe is limitless, and while the large companies are restricted to using specific ones by rule, a small business can take advantage of it. For example, a large leather clothing brand would definitely target keywords like “leather bags,” “leather outlet,” etc. As a small company can attract a more specific audience with long-tail keywords such as “red leather bags.”
Comparison keywords are also something large companies cannot go after. Michelin cannot afford to compare BMW and Porsche for instance. But as a small auto body shop, you can definitely do that. The same goes for editorial keywords. You can rank vehicle and tire brands and let your customers choose if they are going for a cost-effective or unreasonable luxury options.
- Brand Authority & Specific Niches
A large leather manufacturer will focus on history and how quality their products are. Your leather shop can focus on latest trends, the colors suitable for each season, etc. Give your future customers valuable advice and not just sales tricks. Get those undecided people’s attention by teaching them what is suitable for them, and not just make them believe how quality your brand is.
- 1:1 Relationships
While a large company has to rely on its PR team (which is probably well paid and trustworthy), you can build 1:1 relationship with your customers. You are the only person you need to believe in and people love down-on-Earth business owners. Build trust with your clients and while a large company will aim at direct sales, you can make your customers believe that you do not care how many visits it takes for someone to convert. You want to build trust and authority, no matter if it takes dozens of questions and 4-5 visits of a potential customer to actually buy your product.
- Quality Content
Finally, all of the above should be integrated in your website content. While large companies need to be really organic in their contents, as they cannot possibly cover everything that they do in small articles, you can invest 10 times more effort in a single piece of content. Set keywords that are extremely important for your business and create that quality content, giving valuable information, options, and building the trust of its readers.
411 Locals’ team has helped over 40 000 small and medium business reach a highly-ranked online presence, and with this small guide, inspired by Moz’s founder Rand Fishkin, we hope you will meet your goals as a small business owner.