9 Ways To Dominate Your Niche On Google

To make it in the online world, like everything else in life, you’ll have to compete for it. Here are 9 surefire ways to help you dominate your niche.

Not only will these solid, brand-building, methods help you climb to the top of your game, but will ensure that you’ll never have to deal with any Google updates than can pull your rankings out from under you.

As always, we’re always on hand for free, no-bones, advice. If you want to try this yourself and just need a guiding hand, drop us a message here.

KISS – Keeping It Simple Stupid

There is a bit of a weird misconception in the web dev world that for something to be “so cool” that customers simply can’t resist the lure, it has to be bigger, brighter, bolder, and louder, than the last, similar, thing they looked at.

While that might be true in the natural world (think Anglerfish), on the web, it really couldn’t be further from the case.

When you have a visitor on your website, your only job is to funnel that customer from enquiry to sale as quickly and efficiently as you can and via the path of least resistance. With that in mind, we can assume the following is true.

The customer already knows what they’re looking for.
You provide that product, service, or solution.
You have around 12 seconds to convince them that you’re the man.

So, they’ve already searched for something, they know what they’re after, all you have to do is deliver it to them, like immediately. The last thing your website visitor should have to do is think about the process.

For instance, someone has just searched for a local emergency plumber so they’re probably not interested in your colour scheme or this cool, fancy, new interactive thing your website does.

As cold and blunt as it sounds – nobody cares. If you happen to be in the plumbing business, your contact details should either be the first thing they see or the easiest thing to find. What converts enquiries into customers is a lightning-fast, attractive, intelligently constructed website that’s easy to navigate. The end.

Always Play By The Rules

When it comes to websites and online search, what Google holds most dear, above all else, is its Webmaster Guidelines.

These guidelines are what all websites should adhere to keep the internet safe and search-friendly and Google is such a stickler for these rules that, on numerous occasions, it even got itself banned from its own search engine.

It seems that no website is beyond reproach either with massive entities such as BMW Germany & GoCompare either having their rankings pulled out from under them or, in some cases, being blacklisted from the search engine altogether.

Here is what you need to know.

Google Search is run by mindless bots and algorithms.
They don’t care who you are.
They never eat, sleep, or take a day off.
If you’re bending the rules, they will absolutely find you.
Once you’ve been flagged, it’s next to impossible to get unflagged.

This basically means that you could spend many years building up your online presence only to see it go down the toilet in a matter of seconds if one of these little terminators catches you doing something you shouldn’t.

If you, or someone on your behalf, tries to pull a fast one on Google for a short-term lift, unwittingly or not, it’s game over.

This is another reason why Outrun Web Dev NEVER outsource this work and another reason why you should always not only adhere to these guidelines but, if you’re not 100% sure what you’re doing, have a professional agency manage your SEO for you.

Google is a stickler for these rules and they enforce them ruthlessly.

Be Very, VERY, Specific About What You Offer

Like your website visitors, the last thing you want Google to do is have to think about what your page is about.

In order for Google to reward your page with high search rankings, it has to first be comfortable in knowing exactly what that page is about and, in turn, where it should land in its search results.

Google exists to fulfil a single objective – to deliver the best possible search result for any given search query. That’s it.

If you’re an online retailer and have a single page with 100 different items for sale, for instance, you can be sure that that page will never rank well for any of the items listed on it. If it even ranks at all.

On the other hand, if each item you’re selling has its own page filled with all the information you could possibly provide, such as specs, images, reviews, pros, cons, or even a video demonstration, then you’ll be in business.

The golden rule

1 product or service type = 1 page. And the more you feed the Google algorithm information on what that page is actually about, the higher the trust Google will have in serving that page to a user.

And trust = authority. And authority is good.

People Should Find What They’re Looking For – Instantly

There are too many bells and whistles on the internet. Some of the websites you visit look more like a Play Store puzzle than a source of easy-to-follow information.

Websites should simply flow in a path of least resistance and funnily enough, website designers in particular have an outrageous habit of making their own websites so awesome that they just end up confusing and difficult to navigate.

Remember, you have around 12 seconds to convince that customer to stay. Here’s what you should do:

You’re An Online Retailer

You sell red shoes. You have a single dedicated category page for all the red shoes you offer. Next to each listing, there are 2 buttons. One is for “more info” and the other is a big “buy now” button.

Always give the customer the opportunity to “click for more info” so if they want to navigate away from the page they’re on to view a particular item, they can. But it should always be accompanied by a very obvious path to the “buy now” page.

You’re A Service Provider

You’re in the moving industry and someone wants to relocate from one area to another. You have a dedicated page for the service you offer with some light content highlighting why that customer should choose you. Your contact details should ideally be in the footer of every page or, at the very least, be no more than a single, obvious, click away.

You’re An Information Outlet

Always start your article with what the visitor has searched for. They won’t scroll through hundreds of words to find an answer to their query, their search should be fulfilled immediately. This has been proven to keep them on-page for longer to follow the rest of the article but only after their initial search has been satisfied. People are impatient and don’t like to feel that you’re simply trying to hang onto them.

It helps to be mindful of the 1, 2, 3, rule.

A customer has searched for something on Google.
Google has sent them to you.
You fulfil the needs of the customer.

Everything after that is down to clever, but simple, ways of keeping them on-site.

The Goldilocks Zone

Just like the 3 bowls of porridge that Goldilocks helped herself to in a little cabin that didn’t belong to her, your online presence can also be too hot, too cold, or just right.

And yes, we all know the story of how Goldilocks mindlessly robbed 3 hungry bears, but how is that in any way an analogy for building an online brand?

Well, there are 3 starting points to brand building. These are:

Your website.
Your citations & reviews.
Your online activity & interactions.

But let’s look at each of these separately to get a better understanding of how they apply to you and what they have to do with a warm bowl of oaty goodness.

Your Website

This is where you introduce yourself to Google and to the world. It’s not only where people can find you via a search engine, but it’s also the hub that links you to everything else on the web that is, in one way or another, connected to you and your business. That’s why we call it the web.

It should be lightning fast, attractive yet logical and easy to navigate, and it should be informative but simple to follow and straight to the point. Getting over-enthusiastic about what you put on your website, however, can be seen as spammy and untidy and is a complete no-no.

Blog sites kinda get a slight pass on this but service providers and retailers don’t. Google has no problem demoting an otherwise good page for simply mentioning the same word or phrase once too often.

If you don’t mention a crucial word or phrase often enough on your page, however, you won’t make it into the top 10 search results.

This is why you need a professional to handle your SEO for you. There really is such a thing as the Goldilocks zone.

Your Citations & Reviews

Citations and reviews are critical for any brand trying to build an online presence. They tell Google that you’re a real business with real people and the more citations you have, lending you even more credibility, the better, right?

Nope, again, building too many citations too quickly can be seen as spammy and can hinder your journey upwards. You might also find yourself unwittingly building bad citations – business listings in what Google refers to as “bad neighbourhoods”.

In other words, business directories and the like who have gotten themselves a place on the Google naughty step for being, well, bad.

Here are some things to consider.

Building too many citations, too quickly, will hurt you.
Your business details must match across the entire web.
Toxic citations are definitely a thing.

So What Is A Citation?

A citation is basically a listing of your business details on an online directory such as Yell.com, TradeFinder, or Thomson Local. A business profile on Facebook is also a citation as is any other online listing that highlights, or cites, your business in this way.

For a citation to really give credibility to your business, the listed name, address, phone, email, and web address, of your business should match exactly those on your website across the entire web.

And What About Reviews?

Good question. Reviews show Google that you’re actively serving the customers who come to you. All online directories where you should have your business listed also have a review feature and people do use them to rate their experience with you.

Reviews carry even more weight when you respond to them too, even the bad ones, so you should make a point of responding to any reviews you receive in a professional, polite, manner.

Be aware, however, that the all-seeing eye of Google has hundreds of different ways of telling if a review is legitimate or not.

Genuine reviews are easy to come by too. All you have to do is ask your customers to leave feedback on their experience and they’re usually happy to do so. There should never be a need to try to game this feature in any way. If a bot catches you, you’ll be gone from the search results.

Your Online Activity & Interactions

Any online activity that Google sees across the web under your brand name such as forum posts, Facebook and other social media interactions, contributions to blogs or any other mentions of your business on platforms you don’t control are all brand-building tactics.

Google loves to see activity and this is one of the easiest ways to build some Google buzz around you and what you do. You also have the option of starting a Facebook group of your own where you can build an online community of people interested in what you do, for example.

A Facebook Group?

Let’s assume you’re a typical plumbing company. It’s unlikely you’ll get hundreds of customers joining your group to rave about what a great job you did fitting their new stopcock.

What you could do is build a community of other plumbers to share ideas, jokes, or general work-related discussion, or even build it out as an “Ask A Plumber” community for people who are going gung-ho on the DIY and just need advice.

Either would work and it really doesn’t matter who your community consists of, as long as it’s active and people are talking about things relative to the services you offer.

What About A Blog?

Yes. Another great way to create activity around your brand is to host a blog on your website. If you can write provocative or challenging articles related to any products or services you offer, people absolutely will respond in the comments to either agree with you, thank you for the info, or argue a point you’ve made.

Whatever your niche, you can write about anything that will attract people to your website, as long as it’s on-topic, and higher traffic means higher rankings – period.

What makes a blog such a powerful tool is that people do have the opportunity to respond to your articles. This, in Google’s eyes, is legitimate activity and rewards it as such.

In fact, there are hundreds of different ways to build buzz around your business and create a hub of activity around your brand – no matter what your niche. All of this clean, legitimate, activity gives credit to your brand and slowly, over time, builds a trust factor that will elevate you to the top of your game.

So, The Goldilocks Zone?

Too much, too soon, can get you blacklisted from search so you really do need to know just how much, too much, actually is. That said, not enough of something and you’ll have trouble climbing the Google ladder.

Building an online brand takes time, patience, and commitment, and there really isn’t a shortcut to the finish line either.

Site Speed – There’s No Such Thing As Too Fast

Google loves rapid sites.

The end.

No, really though, site speed is an absolutely crucial part of SEO and is one of the core ranking factors that Google considers when it is trying to figure out where you should land in its search results.

This is why here at Outrun Web Dev, we hand-code every website we build from the ground up. This is to make sure your website is not only lightning fast but there is zero redundant code or bloated javascript loading in the background to hinder your site speed.

Why Site Security Is Definitely A Thing

When we talk about site security, you’ll probably assume we’re talking about the difference between HTTP and HTTPS.

The truth is, although HTTPS is an important security feature, it only really applies to sites that accept on-site card payments or require login data such as a username and password – like Facebook or any of the 100 million email providers out there.

For read-only websites, such as those of service providers that you would normally interact with by phone or email, it’s not all that important.

Then What Security Are You Talking About?

Ahh, glad you asked.

We’re talking about the type of security that comes with handwritten code VS a CMS (content management system) like WordPress or Joomla.

If you run a WordPress system, for instance, you’ll notice that every few weeks there’s another new update released – which always includes security fixes.

But why should there be security fixes in the code at all? Well, WordPress, and other CMS sites like it, have so many features that the sheer volume of code used to build it is utterly mind-boggling to most people.

And of course, with such a volume of code written mostly in PHP by a hoard of different developers, there will always be bugs and vulnerabilities to exploit. Risks include:

People getting access to your server.
People adding content to your website.
People redirecting your users to a different website.
People just deleting your site for fun.

And this is caused by:

WordPress not being updated regularly.
Plugins not being updated.
Malicious or poorly written plugins.
PHP version not being updated by your host.

These are just a few of the many risks involved in running a CMS system on your domain.

How Does A Hand-Coded Site Compare?

With a hand-coded website, there is literally nothing to hack. It is built in HTML and CSS and any PHP that the code might contain is minimal, so there is zero chance of missing any critical security flaws.

Would You Ever Recommend WordPress?

Yes, we actually would. It makes it simple for a site owner to add their own content without needing any special skills so why wouldn’t we?

But only on these conditions.

You run a blog or eCommerce website.
Site owners keep the WP version up to date.
Keep plugins and themes updated.
Never install plugins not vetted by the WP community.
You have a lightning-fast hosting platform.

Static, hand-coded, websites suit service providers (local businesses) and information websites whereas blogs and eCommerce websites actually require a CMS to function.

Why Security Is Super Important

If a hacker finds a hole in your security, there’s a good chance you won’t even know you’ve been hacked.

Hackers today don’t normally delete files for fun. What they do, however, is add files that redirect your users to other websites that have also been hacked.

Of course, this is fixable, but how would you ever even know?

Well, Google Steps In

Here is the problem. You might not know you’ve been hacked, but Google will. As soon as one of its bots visits your website to check for updates and sees redirects and all sorts of other misbehaviour, your rankings, as well as any trust you’ve built on the search engine will instantly tank.

This is why it is critical for any website owner who uses a CMS system to keep everything backed up and kept up to date at all times. Hackers are ruthless.

Offsite Reputation & Management

This translates to a couple of things. Firstly, reviews and interactions from your customers that Google sees from across the web, and secondly, any interaction between you and a third party that lends credibility to your presence.

Let’s Summarise The Power Of Reviews

Simply, reviews tell Google that people are using your services and leaving feedback based on their experiences with you.

To get the most out of any reviews you have, you should keep tabs on any site your brand is listed on and respond to them quickly.

This builds your reputation, credibility, and transparency, and will definitely help build your brand into a trusted, reliable, entity.

How Do You Get Honest & Genuine Reviews?

Ask for them, it really is that simple. If a customer buys from you or uses any of your services, invite them to leave feedback on their experience.

This can be done by sending a thank you email after a sale is made or a deal is closed which also includes a link to your preferred review page. You can build reviews on the site of your choice but we recommend one or more of the following:

Google My Business (GMB)
Yell.com
Thomson Local
Facebook
Trust Pilot

These are major, trusted, sites when it comes to business so you can’t go far wrong with any of them.

Let’s Look At Other Online Interactions

For instance, if you’re using a YouTube channel to support your website, how many subscribers do you have? How many likes and embeds do you have on your videos? How many comments have been left on those videos? Did you respond to the comments? And did those responses earn further responses?

MOST IMPORTANTLY: Was your article/video/social media post the actual solution to someone’s query? In business, it’s all about making the sale or getting the lead but in reputation management, it’s about becoming a credible source of information in your niche.

The same goes for Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or any other social platform where people can interact with your brand.

As well as this, have you spent time commenting and responding to similar posts and videos on other people’s channels, under your brand name? If so, how often? How many likes and responses have your comments been getting?

At the end of the day, the more activity and interaction Google sees between you and, well, anything else you can interact with, the more credibility you build in search.

You’re a real brand, with real people, offering real products and services. Why wouldn’t you be across the web contributing to things that will help Google see you as such?

Whatever method you can imagine to lend your brand even more credibility (think PR) then you should consider testing it.

Mentions on high-value news sites, a high-value blog site writing about your innovative ideas or Social Media going nuts over the weird, unusual, products you sell – it all works.

Think outside the box, when it comes to brand building and reputation management, no idea is too outrageous.

Build Your Community – Build Your Brand

Building an active online community is one of the most powerful means of building trust and credibility around your business. This can be done using YouTube, Facebook, or any of the other Social Media platforms.

In fact, anything that brings people together can be developed into an active, online, community with Facebook groups clearly being the most popular – for the time being, at least.

How Do I Build A Community

There are many ways to build an online community to support your brand, way too many to list here but here are a few of the basics available to you from the get-go.

Decide which social platform suits you best.
Link to your community from your website.
Build a blog and funnel people into your community.
Collaborate with other group/community owners.
Join other groups and poach their members with top-notch information.

You don’t even need a large community as long as it’s an active one so as long as you’re posting regular content and interacting with your members, you’re good to go. Less than 1000 members is enough to trigger Google into thinking that people are buzzing about you and you know what you’re doing.

Stay tuned for an upcoming post which details everything you need to know and do if you want to build your own online community.

Regardless of your niche, sales/info/service, you can build out a popular following that, in turn, will help you build out a solid, trusted, brand.