In the world of online business, there is no shortage of competition. This means you need to constantly look for new SEO strategies. And our web design agency can help you there.
There are well-established brands that have been around forever that have a solid customer base, and brand new startups are popping up all over the place looking for their own audience.
And since starting an online business is so easy these days, you can expect to always have competition vying for your customers.
If you want to make it in the seemingly cutthroat business of online retail, you’ll have to turn the tables on your competition and steal back customers that have wandered off.
And it’ll help if you convince some of those people that aren’t your customers and make them your own.
After all, it’s not really stealing if you can show people you’re the better option.
Today we’re going to take a look at some strategies for stealing customers from your competition and making them your own, so you can continue to grow your business and boost your success.
#1. Ask Questions
One of the first SEO strategies you need to look at when trying to convince people loyal to other companies to make the switch to you is to find out why your competition is a success.
You can start by creating a list of questions that will direct your research:
- What does the competition offer people that you don’t?
- What are people saying about your competition and why?
- Is there something you offer that’s better, or a completely different solution?
- What makes the competition stand out?
- How does your business stand out from the competition?
To answer these questions, you should start by checking out your competition’s websites and social media accounts.
Here, you’ll see what type of content they’re publishing, what people are saying about them, and what kinds of products and services they have for sale that you can compete against.
Knowing why your competition is a success and how you can stand out from them is the first step in stealing customers and making them your own.
#2. Do More Research
After you learn the basics about your competition, it’s time to start digging deeper. One of the best SEO strategies to do this is to tap into the online tool SEMRush.
When you enter your competition’s website into SEMRush, you can find out valuable information such as:
- How much traffic they get
- The number and type of backlinks they have
- Their top organic and paid keywords
- The competition they’re facing
- What they’re ads look like
- Referring websites
- Their top landing pages
The great thing about this information is that you can use it to improve your own marketing efforts to drive traffic your way instead.
For example, find out what their top keywords are and use them in your own blog posts (that are more informative, valuable, and entertaining) to outrank them in search results.
This means more clicks on your website than theirs.
In addition, use their ads (that are obviously working for them) as inspiration for your own pay-per-click ads to boost click-throughs and hopefully sales on your own website.
In the end, researching your competition is all about how you can use what’s working for them for your own bottom line.
#3. Go Above and Beyond
There’s no denying that everyone out there is interacting with customers, generating leads, and trying to secure more sales and subscribers on their website.
The goal is to go above and beyond your competition to show people why, when facing two very similar options, your business is the better choice.
Not sure how to do this?
Let’s take a look.
Build Brand Awareness
Rather than focus on bothering your competition’s customers, and risk appearing like a slimy salesperson out to steal people away, focus on building a strong brand for yourself.
To start, work on developing a visual brand people will recognize even when checking out the competition.
You can use a free online tool like Canva to create a unique business logo for your website.
Choose from dozens of pre-designed templates and customize your logo’s colors, fonts, layout, text, and more.
In addition, make sure you buy a domain name that relates to your industry. It should be unique enough to stand out from the competition, but relatable to your brand.
And don’t forget, a good domain name is simple and easy to remember. You want people to be able to type it into their browsers when they want to buy something you sell.
If your domain name is the first one that comes to mind when people are ready to buy, even if they were a customer of your competition in the past, they’ll come your way instead.
Interact with People
You should know that interacting with your existing customers on your website, in forums, and on social media is essential.
After all, retaining current customers is how you continue to succeed.
But it’s important you step out of that box and engage with people that are currently customers of your competition too.
To do this in a non-intrusive and effective way, follow these tips:
Add comments to social media and forums and introduce your product when someone asks for a recommendation or seems unhappy with the brand they currently use
Get involved in conversations on your competition’s blog posts and recommend they check out your brand too
Offer people free consultations, product samples, or service quotes to further explain why you’re better than the solution they’re currently using
Reach out to industry professionals that have a large audience and ask if you can guest post on their blog and mention your business as a way to entice people to switch brands
The goal of reaching out to people that are current customers of your competition is to introduce yourself and your business, show them an alternative to what they’re using, and convince them that you’re better.
#4. Build Better Relationships
Other great SEO strategies to steal customers from your competition happens right on your own website.
Think about it. How many people do you know that surf multiple websites and price compare?
Probably a lot.
In fact, you probably do it yourself when you want to buy online.
This is even true if people have been loyal to one brand for some time. No one wants to miss out on a better deal. And there’s no better way to find deals than to check out a lot of websites.
The key to getting people to stick to your brand, and not go back to the one they’re used to buying from comes from the experience people have once on your website.
Here are some of the best ways to leave a good impression on people once they arrive on your site to see what you have to offer:
- Make sure your website loads fast
- Have an easy to navigate menu so people can explore your site
- Include high-quality images and a solid value proposition on your homepage
- Regularly publish valuable content that shares news, product and
- service information, and more
Lastly, have a visible way for people to subscribe to your newsletter on your website.
96% of people are not on your site to buy the first time they visit, especially if they’ve been using another brand up until now.
But having a subscribe box on your website, so you can deliver discounts, deals, product information, and industry news – straight to your subscriber’s inbox – is the best way to make a competitor’s customer your own.
You can use an affordable solution like MailChimp to create a subscribe form for your website.
From there, launch email campaigns to keep people that show interest in your brand up to date on your business’ happenings.
This can all be done through The Weblab’s web design agency. Contact our web design agency to learn more
