Size doesn’t matter: How to compete with bigger companies online

One of the most undercelebrated aspects of the internet is how it has levelled the playing field between large organisations and smaller businesses and ventures. In the not too distant past, the big boys held the power – they had the finances to fund IT and marketing departments and access to the latest technologies and innovations to propel their business into the stratosphere. They had the human resources to devote to growing and developing their business in a way that smaller businesses could not compete.

Nowadays, the digital landscape has shifted, and David has Goliath firmly in his sight.

Websites are now an affordable platform that is a business necessity rather than a luxury. Smaller businesses are no longer limited by the physical location of their store or office, the level of local demand for the goods and services that they offer, or by the skills that they have in-house. Doors can be opened to new markets.

Your website can compete by being:

Every aspect of your website needs to add value to its search capabilities. A great looking site will not get you visitors. A technically optimised website design will rank higher in the search engines 'results pages by giving the bots the data that they need.

The content that you publish is your secret weapon. You have the benefit of not having to jump through corporate hoops or stick to using a specific tone of voice. You can inject your personality into your brand to distinguish it and project it above the competition. Your content needs to be optimised for search by using metric informed keywords naturally placed within the text helping searchers find your site organically through the words that they already use. Regularly publish informative and quality content to boost ranking. 

Desktop search has been replaced by mobile devices as the primary tool consumers use to access information. Your website needs to be able to respond to different screen sizes. Responsive web design means that you are not losing visitors by limiting how they access information about your business. User experience is critical toy our website’s success.

Google has a habit of periodically updating the algorithms that it uses to rank websites. This can cause even highly ranked pages to plummet into the Google depths until adjustments have been made. To remain competitive, your site must be responsive to algorithm updates.

If your website takes longer than 3 seconds to load, chances are high that the visitor will get frustrated and click away. Image load times, complex coding and the server your web hosting company uses can severely impact the load time of your website. A website audit identifies where your site is leaking upload energy.

However, having success online is more than having a great web design, or hiring a local web developer in Christchurch to create a website that meets your business needs and industry standards. Your digital presence can be deployed to appeal to a targeted audience who traditionally would have looked to be served by the industry Goliaths.

Growing your business online is an ongoing process, but here at Digital Presence we provide website packages that are tailored to your business needs and provide you with the same opportunities as the larger competitors. With set costs, you can manage your budget and stress levels knowing that your website is maintained to appease the latest Google updates and please your target audience – we don’t just level the playing field, we smash it!

Digital Presence is a Christchurch SEO and digital marketing agency that specialises in helping small and medium sized businesses boost their online visibility and generate leads. Click here for more information.