If you’re a startup, you probably know SEO is a great way to command targeted traffic that leads to sales. But what can you do when your competitors have a head-start on SEO?
Many new businesses face this problem. Your competitors likely have dozens, hundreds or even thousands of pages ranked in search engines. You’d need to invest astronomically to catch up, and all the while they’re adding to their cache of ranking pages.
One strategy is to optimize for keywords they haven’t – the longtails that pull the fringe searches. But maybe that’s not good enough for you. After all, if you want to sell “Widget X,” then why invest time and money optimizing for “Widget Y”?
Fortunately, there’s a faster way to get in front of your target audience: amazing content. With the right content, you can leapfrog your competitors by piggybacking on sites that are already SEO heavyweights.
How to leapfrog your competitors by piggybacking on authority sites
Here’s how it works:
- You create amazing, authority content
- You share it with the top influencers in your field (the people your audience read)
- They share it on their sites
- Their audiences trust their recommendations and flock to you (no SEO required!)
The idea seems simple, but pulling it off takes some work. That’s because a ton of great content already exists, and influencers are inundated with pitches every day. You must truly stand out to make this strategy work, but if you can pull it off the rewards will be mighty.
Here’s a (simplified) step-by-step guide:
STEP 1: Create ultra-valuable, unique content
You should have a solid understanding of your industry and the type of content people respond to, but think deeper into your processes and knowledge base. Use your expertise to uncover valuable information your competitors have not shared and that has not been covered by the authority sites in your industry.
Then, develop content that brings that information to life.
Not sure where to begin? Start with data. Data analysis will help you discover unique and interesting insights. Look for gems no one else is talking about, yet are highly relevant – perhaps earth-shattering – in your field. What kind of data are you uniquely positioned to collect and analyze?
If you don’t have your own data yet, you can find unique insights by studying data others have published. Identify cross-sections that lend fresh insights you can spin into a compelling article.
Your goal here is not SEO, but establishing yourself as an authority – nay, THE AUTHORITY – in your field by publishing truly unique and thought-provoking content.
Publish that content on your website.
STEP 2: Identify key influencers in your industry
You might already know who some of these people are: journalists, bloggers, social media stars and others who routinely cover your industry and are consistently in front of your audience.
If not, do some research: run searches for popular topics in your field and see who writes the articles, who creates the videos and who shares them on social media.
Make a list of everyone who seems like a good fit. Find their email addresses and Twitter accounts. Study their content to identify common themes that can be tied to your business.
Prioritize your list. Which influencers seem like the best fits and have the largest audiences? Those are the people you’ll reach out to first.
STEP 3: Reach out to your key influencers
A lot of content is centered around establishing relationships. That can be good, sure, and many influencers will agree a good relationship can go a long way toward getting you considered. So yes, read your influencers, share their posts, comment on their articles and email them to tell them how much you enjoy their work.
But more importantly, give them something unique and valuable. That’s where your content comes in. Give them a fresh angle and insight they can use to make their own content unique and interesting.
It’s tempting to simply blast every influencer on your list, but resist that temptation. Instead, see if you can cultivate relationships with top influencers. Email them individually and ask if they would be interested in taking a look at your content. Make it clear why you’re reaching out: the reasons you thought they might be interested and why it’s a good fit for their platform and audience.
It’s a good idea to study their content and explain how an article around your insights will fill in any gaps (pro tip: leave a few tidbits out of your content that can be added to any coverage you receive. This gives influencers the opportunity to inject unique takes that can’t be found elsewhere).
If you’ve gone through your priority list and don’t have any takers, don’t be discouraged; now, you can send an email to everyone on your list to see if it yields results.
Influencer outreach can be a bit tedious, but if you can land coverage you’ll enjoy immediate exposure to a large audience that will follow links back to your original content – and that’s how you can leapfrog competitors with content. Not only that, but the combination of an authority mention, backlink and the resulting click-through’s will enhance your on-site SEO.
There are many more nuances to this approach than we’ve explained in this simple post, and it’s true that success can be fleeting if you’re not consistent, but this should at least get you thinking: what content can you create that key influencers in your industry will want to cover?
If you’re able to craft killer content like that, you can leapfrog your competitors by piggybacking on high-ranking influencers – no SEO required.