The importance of SEO needs no introduction. Every entrepreneur knows its potential and return on investment. But getting ahead of giants who have been producing great content for couple of years may seem a herculean task.

There is no need to sweat though. There are ways to get past this and stay ahead in  the competition.

Here are 10 ways startups can compete with giants using SEO:

• Go Niche

Fighting for piece of the same pie will drain your time and energy. Instead, you could specialize in an area which have been explored not much. There are always pockets in the market which are not recognized by other players. Even if they are recognized, they are too small for the giants to focus on. This could be a good entry point for your page.

Talk about topics and aspects that the giants are not talking about. This strategy can be applied to your products, service, delivery channel, marketing channel and online content.

• Localization

Most of the startups want to tap in on the immediate locality. This is even true if you are selling a physical product. Why not specialize in just that? No giant will think about connecting with the audience based on localities.

You can rank number one for a locality by writing and promoting your content to location specific audience using Facebook. You can also participate in local community events or sponsor events that have a good online presence.

• Personalize

As a small business you must take advantage of more customer service available per customer. Huge customer base prevents big giants from having a one on one personal relation with their audience.

As start up on the other hand, you can have a close relation with the smaller base of customers. This can be deeply satisfying for many in the world of automation and machines. Use your small size to your advantage and engage in personalized conversation with your customers across various platforms.

• Great content

Fortunately not everything is about size and big money. Quality content is about getting into your audience’s mind and answering relevant questions consistently. Create more visual content in infographics and videos.

Keep up to date with the latest trends and deliver what the readers want. It may take some time to beat the competition but it is better to start sooner than later. You don’t want to be in the same search engine ranking three years down the line.

• Long tailed keywords

This goes with the strategy to go niche. Long tail keywords consist of keyword phrases that are much more specific than common keyword. For example- ‘Beach facing property in north Goa’ versus ‘Property in Goa’.

It is essentially a trade-off between volume and relevance. Long tail keywords will have lesser search hits but will be specific to what you are selling and mostly untouched by the big players.

Use tools like Google Keyword Planner or Webmaster Tools to find the right balance between volume and specialization.

• Develop an online personality

Just like humans, good websites and blogs also have a unique personality. What is your tone and mood? Maybe you want to come across as funny or authoritative? Witty or buoyant? Decide your personality and make it different from what your competitors have. As a start up you have more room to play around with and find your voice. So go ahead. Be different!

• Build a Reputation

Building a strong reputation and credibility will earn you a lot of backlinks and trust. Maybe you did a survey of your market that was never done before. You can also have industry experts as guest blogger on your page. Give data and information or any other content that is your forte.

• Be a step ahead

There is no easy way out here. You have to be sharp when you are competing with the best. Be smarter and faster. Study more of what your customers want and continuously keep improving on how you deliver that content.

• Take advantage of your size

Small is not always weak. Having small teams means less hierarchy which ultimately translates into faster action. It is a well known fact that close knit informal teams produce innovative ideas compared to a formal process driven teams. The startup culture has its own advantages and you must use these to fight in SEO war too!

• Market Intelligence

Do you know your competitor’s digital strategy? Where are they getting their traffic from? In the world of internet all the competitor’s moves are open to you. You can check the keywords they are targeting and the source of their traffic and following. Involving a digital and content marketing agency will give you deeper insights and infuse fresh ideas as well.

Conclusion

You can build considerable brand recognition, lead prospects, reputation, and sales conversions through SEO campaigns. Many multinational companies do not give focus on SEO as they want faster results by spending billions of dollars in marketing and promotional campaigns. You can use this to your advantage by investing more time in developing SEO strategies that give you sure success in the long term.