Get found on the Internet if you’re a manufacturer or supplier.
When it comes to search engine optimization (SEO), there are a lot of big dogs in the pen all vying for a first-page appearance on a Google search results page. If you’re a small business, a start-up or a business targeting a very niche segment of consumers, getting seen on the Internet could seem like an impossible battle.
Whether you’re trying to be seen by people searching for baskets woven from tumbleweeds or architects searching for a pavement in a specific hue of red, trying to be seen by a very specific consumer could feel like being the needle in the haystack.
Snap has some tips for manufacturers and suppliers trying to make it big with niche marketing SEO.
> Own it: Shout your unique selling proposition from the rooftops.
The Internet is flooded with manufacturers and suppliers. How will a customer—an architect searching for a specific type of stone, a contractor needing roofing, a designer seeking the perfect accent tile—find you? And, more importantly, once they find you, why will they choose you for their purchase?
The folks at searchenginepeople.com agree. They put pushing your USP as one of the most important things to do to reach people within your niche market in this article. We couldn’t agree more: Stand out from the competition so consumers can find you, recognize you and remember you and your USP.
If you scream your USP from the rooftops, and place it unmistakably at the forefront of your site, niche consumers will notice. These are people who know exactly what they’re looking for. If your crème de la crème is a type of mulch that’s green and smells like roses, become the master of that domain on the Web. When a designer or architect looking for such a product plugs it into Google, you need to be the manufacturer or supplier that pops up first and not some secondhand copycat.
> Don’t make a niche consumer do all the heavy lifting.
Chances are, a consumer searching for a niche product or service has already jumped through hoops to find your site. That same consumer searching for that specific mulch mentioned earlier has probably already spent a good deal of time trying to find you — they might be frustrated, exasperated by endless search engine inputs or fatigued by looking at page upon page of nothing they want.
Once they find you, don’t make them work harder than they have to on your site. If they finally find that you manufacture that green mulch they’ve been searching for, don’t make them search through endless links and pages on your site.
Make your specific product easily accessible. The more accessible your niche product is, the more apt your weary consumer is to convert to purchasing your product. That green rose-scented mulch they’ve been searching for has finally turned from mirage to reality, and they’re ready to pounce on it. Be sure to meet them there at the point of conversion.
> Be the authority for what you manufacture or supply.
As important as it is for a consumer to be able to quickly find and purchase your niche product on your site is the importance of a consumer being able to find you in the first place.
One way to get the consumer to notice you as the premier manufacturer or supplier of a niche product or service is to be the authority on what you produce or supply. Establish what you manufacture as your forte through interesting content, unique ideas and open conversations.
Having a way to blog or post frequent articles or stories about your products is a way to build a rapport with your consumers: The more information you post about what you manufacture, the more the consumer will see you as the authority for that product.
The more content on your site about your products, the better. If your site for mulch is full of information and keywords regarding mulch, the better your chances are of showing up on the first page of Google search engine results. Google “crawlers” (the robots which crawl billions of Web pages and analyze their content) will scan all of the relevant keywords on your site and rank your site accordingly. The more relevant content on your site, the closer to page one of search results you’ll end up. The best way to premium SEO for your niche product is to have regularly updated blog posts or articles littered with information about it.
In addition to regularly adding content that can be crawled and ranked on SERPs, you’ll want to be sure to include relevant backlinks. The more times you can link to related and credible websites (going with the mulch example, maybe Bob Vila has some words to say about scented mulch you could link to), the higher Google will rank your site as it will see it as a more and more credible resource that your niche consumers can count on.
This article concisely describes the importance of market-relevant keywords in your content.
If you’re a manufacturer or supplier looking to sell to a niche market, yet your site has no relevant content for that specific consumer, odds are you will rarely be seen as you sit on page 10 of Google search page results.
> Walk the walk, and talk the talk.
When trying to reach a specific subset of consumer, it’s crucial to do as they do, go where they go and speak their language. Use keywords within your content that a contractor might use (if that’s your audience). Use the words of the trade — as an architect types the language they know into a Google search bar, the more credible (and likely) your site will appear if the language aligns with theirs.
Not only does aligning language and sentiments matter, but so does location. Just like a punk-rocker is more credible hanging around grungy basements than pristine boutiques, niche consumers will find you more credible if your site is in an appropriate setting. This is where walking the walk comes into play.
The more your site links to potentially bigger or accredited sites in a similar market, the more likely your consumers are to find you and, more importantly, trust you. For example, if you manufacture mulch and are vying for the dollars of landscapers, the more your site links to broader sites or articles by landscaping experts, the better.
Conversely, the more other sites link to yours (these are called backlinks), the more credible your site is to Google, thus ranking you higher as a search engine result. A good way to get cited by another website is to add more content — informational or otherwise — to your site regarding your product or service (remember shouting your USP from the rooftops?).
> Build a broad network.
Being linked to other people in your similar market is a good thing, even if it’s a competitor. If you establish yourself as a credible and informational source, a competitor may even cite your website as a resource. Consumers searching for your product may come to you from the site of the competition, which is always a good thing.
Furthermore, it’s important to research others in your network. Study their keywords, their USPs, their links and where they’re backlinked. Keeping a close eye on competitors is good practice: This allows you to see where they may be hitting the mark and where they’re missing it. Also, the closer you watch the competition, the more you’ll know how to market your unique product.
As a manufacturer or supplier, the more you watch your competitors, the more you’ll be able to see what they have to offer and better market your unique products. If you see your top competitor only offers red granite while you offer both red and orange granite, you then know to better market your orange granite — it’s your unique product! Contractors searching for orange granite can then easily find you if you know to emphasize your bounty of orange granite being manufactured.
If you had never kept a keen eye on your competitor, you never would have known how unique your product was to the marketplace. You never would have known to emphasize your orange granite and contractors desperately seeking your unique product would have never seen your site.
Time to Bust Out.
As a niche business SEO marketer trying to reach a very specific crowd, you have some more work you have to put in than companies offering more generic products. However, if some of these tips are followed, Snap believes you’ll be able to reach your specific subset of consumers with more ease than you thought.
> Emphasize your USP
> Guide your niche consumer to your product
> Be the authority in your niche
> Speak to your consumers in their language
> Build a broad network
If you’re a manufacturer or supplier looking to target and draw in a specific consumer, such as an architect, designer or contractor, following these tips will lead those hard-to-target consumers to your Web page.
Along with these niche SEO marketing tips, remember that good SEO form should always be followed as part of SEO basics. Snap knows a thing or two about good SEO, so here’s a solid checklist to make sure the basics are covered before diving deeper into your niche arena. Once you solidify your status on the front page of Google search results, sink your teeth into the meat of conversion optimization. Getting found and being ready for people to convert to sales without even thinking is a dream come true, and Snap can make that dream a reality for you. We can guide you to getting found, converting consumers and growing your business. Even if you think your manufacturing or supply business is too niche to make a big splash in Google search, think again. Good luck and happy optimizing.