As consumers, we are constantly looking for the next best thing, which isn’t too hard, since it seems like there is something new created every day. But trying to squeeze into a competitive market as a business, never mind rising above competitors, is no easy task. Successful businesses dominating the market likely know a thing or two about search engine optimization (SEO), the importance of reputation, and marketing tactics. While it’s important to know these things, you also need to know how to implement them strategically in order to see results. This is why we’ve put together some effective SEO strategies to help your business gain visibility in your competitive market, in order to attract more customers. 

Market for the Consumer and the Industry

It’s important for your business to gain visibility among your consumers as well as your industry when in a competitive landscape. A good place to start is by targeting commercial and informative keywords for SEO results. Informative (or transactional) keywords are what draw in potential customers. These terms target what the consumer’s search intent is, such as discovering brands, comparing costs, and finding more information about a product or service. 

Commercial keywords on the other hand are those that involve a degree of brand recognition. This is more difficult as brand names often dominate the market, so how can you position yourself with them? 

Branded Content

One way to get your brand in with the competitors is by targeting keywords that compare your brand to a well-known brand. This will not only associate your name with the industry, but can also position your brand as an actual competitor with top brands. 

Competitor Analysis

Competitor analysis is another important part of a successful SEO strategy. This includes looking at competitors best practices on both macro and micro levels to see what works and what doesn’t work for them. 

On the macro level, look for what top-performing websites are doing to develop a baseline for what your site needs to do in order to rank. Some examples include:

• Keywords they target
• Web design & structure
• Mobile optimization
• User experience
• How often they publish content

Micro factors will be less obvious but just as important. Here are some examples of micro factors:

• Internal linking structure 
• What their off-site strategy looks like
• Partnerships with local companies
• Marketing channels
• Whether they’ve optimized for Google My Business, etc.
• Reviews 

Multi-Channel Marketing

The reason competitive markets are difficult is because they move very quick, one day you’re #1 and the next you’re not. The tough part about SEO is that Google isn’t going to automatically notice you, which is why it’s important to circulate your content on as many channels, use keywords, and actively build your reputation. 

Having multiple channels to circulate your content across platforms can help your brand get the recognition it needs. This includes social media marketing, email marketing, content marketing, and paid search. All these channels can help to:

• Funnel traffic to your site
• Gain brand recognition
• Generate reviews 
• Gain a competitive advantage 

Knowing basic SEO strategies is good, but going beyond the basics can really help you stand out in even the most competitive of markets. By using these strategies, you can really break down what works well for competitors in your industry and put your own spin on it, use keywords effectively, and use a multi-level approach to reach consumers across multiple platforms.