SEO experts, daily, deal with the questions and myths regarding small sites and their competitiveness with big ones. It is possible to make your small site popular following simple steps and using practices recommended by leading experts in this field, such as Matt Cutts.
In his own words, Matt disagrees with the premise that you cannot beat this vicious system and elaborates on it in detail. Following his idea, we have decided to help you and debunk this myth in our blog.
Stay with us and learn what Matt Cutts says about this. Additionally, we will give you some insider tips from the industry on how to make your small site popular.
So let’s dive in!
How do Sites Generate Traffic?
It is well known that sites generate traffic using the basic SEO techniques available. According to the research, around 61% of B2B marketers stated that SEO and organic traffic generate more leads than any other marketing initiative.
As a site owner, you know that most users tend to keep their search on the first page of a search engine, while 86% of people ignore paid banner ads, choosing to only click on organic search results.
SEO Tactic
This brings us to the key statistics, which state that 70% of online marketers say that SEO is better than PPC for generating sales connected to increased traffic.
In this manner, the most relevant features to use on your site’s content should follow the SEO logic, which includes:
- Keywords
- Video and image-rich content
- Alt text used in the images
- Usage of both internal and external links
- Create high-quality content
- Use advertisements
- Exchange backlinks
All these features combined bring increasing visits to your website. What is essential is to do a thorough search and identify what your target audience is looking for. Choosing relevant topics based on the search patterns of your target group is very important.
Knowing the does and don’ts’ of the SEO world is very relevant in generating traffic. The SEO world has much more to offer, so we suggest you check out our blog SEO, PPC And SEM: Boost Your Business Online In 2022.
Matt Cutts on Small Sites and Generating Traffic
For those unfamiliar with Matt Cutts, we will briefly note that he is one of the biggest names in the SEO industry. He used to be Google‘s frontman regarding SEO and represents the mastermind behind the best tactics for better application of the SEO tactics.
He dealt with the issue regarding generated traffic of small sites. He noted how significant traffic is often perceived as a vicious circle of a regional or national brick-and-mortar brand whose higher traffic leads to a higher rank which leads to higher traffic ad infinitum.
Lessons Matt Shared about SEO on Small Sites
Responsiveness
Matt excellently noted how these big sites could not be as agile and responsive, which means they can quickly respond to new ideas and deliver great content. Large sites have one big disadvantage that is often overseen and can be used by small sites.
Large sites are typically slow to respond to new ideas, which is a place where small sites can outrank them and take the lead. Similarly, Matt Cutts observed and elaborated on another significant feature that helps small areas – content quality.
Quality of the Content
He notes that sites often become very big because they better focus on the user experience. Small sites add more value and do better quality content that is deeper and more analytical than the rest. According to Matt, over time, this will draw traffic to you.
Concentrate on Your Niche
Once you tackle this tactic, you tend to perform better and concentrate on a smaller topic area. Matt advises keeping your content close to one niche you cover well. This is a small, base step that you later expand to larger and larger areas.
Matt also uses the metaphor with calamari, that you roll up and get bigger. The same goes with your site becoming more authoritative and more reputable over time, which makes you later one of those big guys you run to outrank them.
Do a Good Job!
His message is clear: “small guys absolutely can perform the larger guys as long as they do a really good job at it.”
The most significant obstacle with smaller websites is that you do not have as much of an ability to create an internal linking structure. If none of the pages are link-worthy, you won’t be able to pass that authority through.
Tips for Ranking Small Sites in Search
Following the mastermind himself, Matt Cutts, we have decided to expand the discussion further and offer you some tips to improve your traffic and help you grow your reach.
Tip 1: Make Your Content Interactive
The plain text provides bad SEO results even if the content quality is exquisite. Therefore our advice is to provide images, charts, and videos that enhance the user experience and impact your ranking on the search results.
Tip 2: Create a Topic Group
As Matt mentioned, become an expert in a specific niche and further develop by providing solutions to the topics people are asking.
In this process, you might find it valuable to add an FAQs section or comparison tables provided to the pages if they are needed.
Tip 3: Build Backlinks
Building backlinks to your homepage by mentioning brands and building internal links make your site more reputable and more likely for new traffic to be routed.
Tip 4: PR
Often disregarded ideas by many site owners are PR stunts related to your business, including worthy mentions, scholarships, guest posting, and many more.
Tip 5: Fix Any Rendering or CLS Shifts
Assuring a clear page that is not blocked is key to successful traffic growth. We can suggest checking out:
- Pixels,
- Analytics,
- Plugins.
Tip 6: Google My Business
Think locally and then expand your business. Therefore target local audience and local search. The best way is to apply local SEO, register your business with Google My Business, and keep it updated.
Tip 7: Try to Make Your Site as Mobile-Friendly as Possible
Many surveys point out that people increasingly use their mobile phones to search on the web, which directly correlates to your site’s traffic. Therefore it is worth dedicating a few more minutes to analyze and apply standards that make your site mobile-friendly.
Tip 8: Remove Any Excess Code
In this manner, be sure to check:
- Fonts,
- Javascript,
- Backgrounds
Conclusion
We hope this blog helps you get motivation, insights, and concrete steps that will help you grow your business and generate more traffic to your site. In this way, we wanted to contribute to your success and act in the essence of our mantra, which is to grow businesses.