{"id":13195,"date":"2022-02-14T20:47:05","date_gmt":"2022-02-14T20:47:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/02\/14\/do-small-sites-have-a-chance-anymore\/"},"modified":"2022-02-14T20:47:05","modified_gmt":"2022-02-14T20:47:05","slug":"do-small-sites-have-a-chance-anymore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/02\/14\/do-small-sites-have-a-chance-anymore\/","title":{"rendered":"Do Small Sites Have A Chance Anymore?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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John Mueller was asked if the search results are stacked against small sites, creating a situation that gives an advantage to large companies. Mueller acknowledged that big companies are hard to compete with. But he also showed how advantage isn\u2019t exclusive to how big a company is.<\/p>\n

As you will see, big sites have disadvantages that a small site can exploit for competitive advantage.\n<\/p>\n

Do Smaller Companies Have a Chance?<\/h2>\n

The person asking the question asked John Mueller if smaller companies have a disadvantage against bigger companies because of how advertising shown for certain search queries pushes organic search results further down the page, further obscuring the search visibility of smaller brands.<\/p>\n

The person in the Google office hours hangout asked:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u201cIn some industries, would it be unfair for Google Shopping ads to run alongside the ads displayed on the top of the search, as it pushes organic search results and smaller organizations further and further down the page?<\/p>\n

Do smaller organizations have a chance in competing with larger companies?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Competing Against Large Companies is Hard<\/h2>\n

The question was highly specific but Mueller\u2019s answer addressed the question from a more general perspective, as his answer didn\u2019t even mention the situation of advertising pushing down the organic rankings.<\/p>\n

Mueller\u2019s answer also addressed the idea of whether Google favors larger brands.<\/p>\n

John Mueller answered:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u201cI don\u2019t know\u2026 I think this is almost like a philosophical question.<\/p>\n

From our point of view, it\u2019s definitely not the case that we\u2019re trying to focus on big websites or anything like that.<\/p>\n

But from a purely a practical point of view, obviously if you\u2019re a small company and you\u2019re trying to compete with larger companies, then it\u2019s always going to be hard.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Competition Is Not About Size<\/h2>\n

Mueller next used the actual history of search rankings to show how competition has always been about the effort put into creating an optimized website and user experience and not about how big the site is.<\/p>\n

What he said is true. Smaller brands easily out-competed bigger brands because the big companies took years to recognize the value of SEO.<\/p>\n

Big brand\u2019s infatuation with Macromedia Flash didn\u2019t help their SEO but it was great for small sites that knew better.<\/p>\n

Mueller continued:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u201cAnd especially on the web, one of the things that I\u2019ve noticed over time is that in the beginning, a lot of large companies were, essentially, incompetent with regards to the web and they made terrible websites.<\/p>\n

And their visibility in the search results was really bad.<\/p>\n

And it was easy for small websites to get in and kind of like say, well, here\u2019s my small website or my small bookstore, and suddenly your content is visible to a large amount of users.<\/p>\n

And you can have that success moment early on.<\/p>\n

But over time, as large companies also see the value of search and of the web overall, they\u2019ve grown their websites.<\/p>\n

They have really competent teams, they work really hard on making a fantastic web experience.<\/p>\n

And that kind of means for smaller companies that it\u2019s a lot harder to gain a foothold there, especially if there is a very competitive existing market out there.<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s less about large companies or small companies.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s really more about the competitive environment in general.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Small Companies Should Focus on Strengths to Compete<\/h2>\n

While it might seem like big brands have insurmountable advantages, that\u2019s not really the case.<\/p>\n

A common reasons I find that a small company can\u2019t rank is because the person in charge of SEO essentially only knows \u201cinstructions<\/em>\u201d for how to do SEO. But they don\u2019t really understand how search works.<\/p>\n

While knowing rote instructions like \u201cput your keywords in the title and headings<\/em>\u201d are a starting point for SEO, it\u2019s simply not competitive against a company that has a more advanced understanding of how search engines work.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s like the difference between knowing a recipe and understanding how to cook.<\/p>\n

The person with a recipe will create their roast pork using cream of mushroom soup and a can of cola.<\/p>\n

With their limited experience they\u2019ll feel like they can cook.<\/p>\n

They know how to follow a recipe.\u00a0 But they don\u2019t actually know how to cook<\/em>.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s the situation some smaller sites that have trouble competing tend to be in.<\/p>\n

Some of the time (not always), it\u2019s because there\u2019s a knowledge gap that is keeping them from realizing their small-site competitive potential<\/em>.<\/p>\n

John\u2019s advice on how smaller companies can compete is helpful.<\/p>\n

Mueller continued:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u201cAnd that\u2019s something where you, kind of, as a small company, you should probably focus more on your strengths and the weaknesses of the competitors and try to find an angle where you can shine, where other people don\u2019t have the ability to shine as well.<\/p>\n

Which could be specific kinds of content, or specific audiences or anything along those lines.<\/p>\n

Kind of like how you would do that with a normal, physical business as well.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Small Sites Have Competitive Strengths<\/h2>\n

Mueller is right, smaller sites can have advantages and can do things bigger brands don\u2019t always have the speed or inclination to attempt.<\/p>\n

Speed is a small site advantage. But it\u2019s only useful when there\u2019s a good plan behind it.<\/p>\n

Another advantage is the audacity to build links.<\/p>\n

The bigger brands don\u2019t always have the nerve to beg for a link. A reluctance to take risks is a big brand disadvantage.<\/p>\n

Having built small sites that rapidly overtook bigger brands, I know firsthand how boldness is an advantage. There are top ranked sites across a variety of industries that started small.<\/p>\n

Do small sites have a chance competing with larger organizations? Yes they do.<\/p>\n

But competition in 2022 is harder regardless of the size of the company.<\/p>\n

Citation<\/h2>\n

Can Small Sites Compete Against Big Brands?<\/h3>\n

Watch at 38:15 minute mark:<\/strong><\/p>\n