3 Surefire SEO Strategies To Penetrate Highly Competitive Markets

Washington, DC is not only the seat of the federal government in the US. It is also one of the fastest-growing economies in the country. It has an increasing number of professional and business service providers operating in the city, which is why business owners who want to break into these sectors must work harder to become industry leaders. To assist them to reach their business objectives, working with a reliable Washington DC SEO company could be their best option. 

Trying to enter a highly competitive market in Washington, DC, can be a tough job. Most of the time, the dominating companies in your industry may already know a thing or two about the most efficient SEO tricks. If you want to thrive in your field, here are several SEO strategies to remember to let your business outrank your biggest competitors. 

#1: Combine Consumer and Industry Marketing 

In highly competitive markets like Washington, DC, you must ensure that your business gains visibility among your target customers and in your industry. It is crucial to boost your brand name recognition at the customer level and within your niche. So you must make it a point to target informative and transactional keywords together with commercial keywords when doing strategies with your Washington DC SEO agency. 

Both the informative and transactional keywords are often used to attract potential customers. It usually answers “what is” and “where to get/buy” in the search engine queries. On the other hand, commercial keywords use terms that involve some form of brand recognition. 

#2: Conduct a Competitive Analysis at All Levels 

Another key factor in all types of SEO strategies is competitor analysis. But it is essential if you belong in a highly competitive niche because you need to develop a strategy that depends on the one used by your competitors.

When conducting a competitive assessment for a densely competitive industry, you must look at the ranking signals from both the micro and macro levels. 

When analysing at the macro level, you need to observe what the top-performing websites are practising to determine your site’s components to boost your rank. The common top-ranking signals include: 

  • Keywords targeted by your competitors
  • Their site structure
  • The local SEO strategies implemented
  • Mobile optimisation strategies
  • The efficiency of website security
  • The user experience (UX) 
  • Number of links
  • Frequency of content publication

For the micro-level, you must observe the hidden factors that may affect the rankings of your competitors. It may include: 

  • The structure of the webpage and their blog content
  • Structure of internal links
  • Site authority
  • Components of the off-site marketing strategy
  • Partnership with the local businesses
  • Voice search optimisation
  • Google My Business listing
  • Online reviews and feedback

#3: Develop and Control Your Reputation Online 

Updates happen rapidly in highly competitive industries. As a result, there will be instances when websites reach the top spot, and then they will suddenly drop without any warning. It is because the competition in these niches is usually neck-to-neck in terms of digital marketing and SEO. 

To ensure that you will remain in the top ranks, you need to ensure that you can build and manage your online reputation properly. 

Always make it a point to keep track of the reviews about your business on the leading review sites like Yelp, Google My Business, or the Yellow Pages. You also need to respond to negative reviews immediately to address the issues and ensure that your competitors will not control the narrative. 

Learning these basic SEO tricks will allow you to have higher chances of penetrating the highly competitive Washington, DC market. It will let you attract the attention of your target customers and encourage them to try out your brand instead of the leading forces in your niche.