According to a study conducted by Crayon, <a href="https://smallbiztrends.com/2020/01/competitive-intelligence-statistics.html" target="blank">94% of businesses</a> invest in competitive intelligence. __Competitor analysis__ is the first step towards understanding the market and the gap your organization can capitalize on. This includes keeping track of your competitors’ websites and learning the strategies they use to improve their digital presence. 

The insight gained from this analysis can help improve on existing strategies and create new ones. This article will talk about the tools needed to monitor and track the performance of competitor websites.

# 5 Tools To Help You Track Your Competitors 
Many tools can analyze the state of your competitors’ websites and give you meaningful insight on aspects such as keyword mentions, backlinks, website changes, and even social media. The following are some examples of tools used to analyze your competitors and how they work towards helping you with insights for improving existing strategies.

## Fluxguard
Fluxguard is a tool that allows you to crawl a competitor's website, find certain web pages and monitor these pages for activity. The software can constantly crawl your competitors' websites and return meaningful insights. The data obtained from <a href="https://fluxguard.com/how-to-guides/monitor-website-changes-with-fluxguard" target="blank">monitoring website changes</a> can include cookies, headers, network activity, and the frequency of visits to the competitor's website.

This data can help you understand the types of keywords the competitor is using, the types of tracking software they have, and how they are being used to target customers. This insight can help you make specific changes to your website that will drive more traffic and result in better performance.
![Fluxguard](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/523eJpQgVyzl1kzNNeiLAo/6006256172509c5a43a680e432de5d62/Fluxguard.png)<div><center><a href="https://fluxguard.com/" target="blank">Source</a>
## Owletter
Owletter offers data about your __competitor's email marketing strategies__. It allows organizations to automatically capture emails sent to their mailing list from a website. The software then takes screenshots of this data, stores it, and analyzes it. 

The tool also alerts you about the email based on preset parameters. This process will help you learn about your competitors' email behavior and offer insight that can be used to improve your existing __email marketing strategy__.

Owletter can help you figure out the types of emails to be sent, the frequency of emails, and content ideas for future newsletters. All this data is constantly tracked to empower your email marketing campaign.
![Qwletter](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/2YP0sXs5MTinBxxpXj9gSr/81f671a09a3abfde8b84ea4574f5a999/Qwletter.png)<div><center><a href="https://www.owletter.com/" target="blank">Source</a>

## Social Blade
Social blade is free to use and mainly tracks your __competition's content__. If they have a YouTube channel, this tool will fetch data about subscribers, views, earnings, and growth. 

Moreover, it also allows you to search analytics on your competitor's Instagram, Twitch, and DailyMotion accounts. This data can serve as meaningful insight and set a benchmark to surpass your competition.
![Social Blade](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/55jXbcp2QdDeD2labbIgCk/cc92327ddd1020e4ae0c2e2890898e5f/Social_Blade.png)<div><center><a href="https://socialblade.com/" target="blank">Source</a> 

## Nozzle
Nozzle is a competitive analysis tool that lets you track the __top websites in the industry__, see any <a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/featured-snippet-competitor-analysis" target="blank">featured snippets</a> your competitors may have, find who owns <a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/google-local-rank-tracking" target="blank">local listings</a>, and even find <a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/video-rank-tracker" target="blank">video content</a> that is performing well.

This is an effective tool to monitor competitor __keyword lists__ on a monthly and quarterly basis, <a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/finding-your-top-serp-competitors-across-all-your-keyword-groups" target="blank">keeping track of organizations within your industry</a> and the global SERP landscape. It can also show you the highest-ranking URLs in your niche, so you can analyze them using SEO tools for on-site optimization and backlinks. This should allow you to focus on specific keywords and work accordingly to improve your ranking. 

![Number of Domains with Featured Snippets within a specific Keyword Group (2)](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/1EUKu30N1IqRd05WTCfgWK/befb0c9053d7c5323718315eefa446cd/Number_of_Domains_with_Featured_Snippets_within_a_specific_Keyword_Group__1_.jpeg)

## Semrush
SEMRush helps conduct a competitor analysis based on __search engine marketing strategies__. It allows you to track keywords used by your competitors and see how these keywords are ranked on global SERPs. 

Each keyword is accompanied by data such as domain authority, ranking difficulty, and the countries where it ranks the highest. If you are confused with your keyword research and want to look at some strategies that have produced results, SEMRush is your go-to tool.
![Semrush](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/1H6S1lZTpFZIfPIJrYMUGx/39067d85a53429afe7f69726e875d86d/Semrush.png)<div><center><a href="https://www.semrush.com/" target="blank">Source</a>  

# Importance Of Tracking Your Competitors' Websites
A competitor's website can give you a clear picture of how they are performing and the strategies and keywords they are using to improve their ranking on SERPs. Getting a strong ranking on search engine result pages is primary if you want to improve your traffic and customer base. Doing this can require several strategies that need to work in unison for the results to be successful and give you a favorable outcome. Creating a strategy from scratch might not always work, and even if you do put in extensive research, it is always good to analyze any data you can extract.

A competitor doing well in the market is a clear indication that whatever they are doing is working for them. Tracking the movement and changes of successful competitors can help you gain enough data to devise your own strategy or improve on your existing one.

Competitors can give you a clear picture of how the industry is functioning, and analyzing their data can offer the following benefits:

- Get competitive insights that can be incorporated into your strategies
- Find pricing and inventory gaps to capitalize on and capture the market
- Understand what types of strategies work in your niche
- Stay aware of industry trends
- Identify and plan for new competitive threats

## Wrapping up
Businesses worldwide are looking for ways to improve their marketing practices and get the word out to more people. According to a study, <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/17515631111106821/full/html" target="blank">90% of Fortune 500 companies</a> conduct competitor analysis to find out what others are doing to achieve these goals. The resulting data is then used to devise branding and marketing strategies that deliver results faster than shooting in the dark.

Experts believe that the best way to see if a strategy works is by seeing if someone else is doing it and how it is performing. Learning from the performance of your competitors can help you tweak your own strategies and eventually produce similar - if not better - results. Several tools in the market can track the competitor's website and precisely track each aspect of the competitor and how they are going about their daily operations.

When done right, competitor analysis can be a shortcut to explosive growth and lightning-fast sales for new businesses


Competitors

The following are tools used to analyze your competitors and how they work towards helping you with insights for improving existing strategies.

The tools needed to monitor and track the performance of competitor websites.

Get One Step Ahead Of Your Competitors - 5 Tools To Help You Track Their Movements

In the pursuit of doing the best SEO work we can, one thing that may be overlooked or undervalued is optimizing for voice search. 
![voice recognition](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/7GbHFiFrUOoRh3w2K5zths/729723c516067c1ad0f4c0aff9ba22c6/voice_recognition.png)

Here is a list of things you can review to make sure you are getting the most out of the voice search capability.

# Have you read the official guides to voice search for each major platform?
Who loves to read the official “how to”s published by companies? Anyone? I didn’t think so. In this case though, it might be a great place to start so you can really understand the ‘behind the scenes' of voice search.
![read official guides](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/6qrvUv7b4MKCDPdyNYrwUK/2cf475bfbe818916d09563603bd1ceae/read_official_guides.png)
Google's <a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/guidelines-eyesfree/evaluation_of_search_speech_guidelines_v1.0.pdf" target="blank">Evaluation of Search Speech - Guidelines</a> might be a great place to start. 

__Follow that up with guides from:__
- <a href="http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/getstarted-cortana-tips" target="blank">Cortana</a>
- <a href="https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/2940021?hl=en" target="blank">Google</a>
- <a href="http://www.apple.com/ios/siri/" target="blank">Apple</a>

__Also these guides to commands from CNET:__
- <a href="http://www.cnet.com/how-to/the-complete-list-of-siri-commands/" target="blank">Siri</a>
- <a href="http://www.cnet.com/how-to/the-complete-list-of-cortana-commands/" target="blank">Cortana</a>
- <a href="http://www.cnet.com/how-to/complete-list-of-ok-google-commands/" target="blank">OK Google</a> 

# Do you understand your customers and their devices?
Have you evaluated the generation that is your targeted audience? 

Think about the Gen Zers versus the Baby Boomers. Is there an infant out there that doesn’t know how to navigate their parents' smartphone? On the other end of the spectrum, a lot of the Baby Boomers limit how they use their phones, yet they seem to use personal assistants, such as Siri and Alexa, more.

In the <a href="https://www.salesforce.com/form/pdf/state-of-the-connected-customer-2nd-edition/?d=7010M000000uQVWQA2" target="blank">State of the Connected Customer</a> report it shows the differences for each generation.
![generation voice search graph 1](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/4QsaadULZbvEXMhRoT5kie/bb00b095c36106b03c27e01cb5a3413a/generation_voice_search_graph_1.png)
While 39% of Baby Boomers “love or like” personal assistants, only 10% of them use or prefer it when communicating with companies. 

Whereas 64% of Gen Zers “love or like” personal assistants and 35% use or prefer them when communicating with companies.
![generation voice search graph 2](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/xWbca8qjXjwaAFo0UK165/4ed2fe2245a2ea9289b2257dff341940/generation_voice_search_graph_2.png)
Understanding the behavior of who you are targeting, and with what device can help you focus on, and market to the right group of people. 

# Is your content personal and compelling?
Why are customers going to look for your services/product? What are their pain points that you can solve or answer for them?

Compel your audience to engage with your product by reaching them on a personal and informative level. Because people’s emotions are touched more visually, you should have relatable pictures to accompany the text.
![personal and compelling content](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/2BZsUbxvG3dmF7FH7PwKNw/a37697ffa6f9e8ec98fe6b95df2da97e/personal_and_compelling_content.png)
Ask a question they may have and then answer it in a succinct way that reaches their emotions. Feel free to elaborate more after that and incorporate the keywords that you are targeting. This format is attractive to <a href="https://www.searchenginejournal.com/search-engines/algorithms/" target="blank">Google’s ranking algorithm</a>. 

# Do you use conversational words?
![use conversational words](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/6sts5XbiwW3UKcgSBFbjcB/71269e8225a8774ec809e5e03f3c67cc/use_conversational_words.png)
To optimize for voice search, optimizing for conversational queries is a must.  

Think about when you __type__ in a search versus using __voice__ search. With voice you tend to use more specific and conversational speech such as “show me” or “what do I need for” rather than just using a short phrase. It gives a direction for your answer to take you.

What are some questions your audience might ask?

For example, if they are searching for information on pruning fruit trees you may optimize for these questions:

- How do I prune fruit trees?
- When is the best time to prune fruit trees?
- What equipment do I need to prune fruit trees?
- Can I prune fruit trees if the leaves are still on?

Another great resource for thinking of targeted questions is using the People Also Ask (PAA) boxes to see what people are actually asking Google about your niche. <a href="https://nozzle.io/" target="blank">Nozzle.io</a> is a great resource for this. They generate a <a href="https://nozzle.io/paa" target="blank">PAA report</a> with all of the questions asked related to your keywords.

# Have you focused on long-tail keywords?

Now that we know that people’s voice search is more natural than a typed search is, long-tail keywords should be your focus, as they will be what those using voice search will use more. 
![long tail keywords](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/10uKEgUrL96z2dBG4M2vtd/418e01c95f97e995b4d1f4e3bb421224/long_tail_keywords.png)
This is where the <a href="https://nozzle.io/paa" target="blank">PAA report</a> comes in handy. It shows search term variations people are looking for. You can also use <a href="https://moz.com/blog/a-beginners-guide-to-the-google-search-console" target="blank">Google Search Console</a> to discover the queries that are bringing people to your site. 

Another resource is using questions people have asked your customer support.

Your content pages based on these questions should contain long, conversational terms.

# Have you built an FAQ page?

Do you have a Frequently Asked Questions page?

![build faq pages](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/2dWsj4nNn8ErN6gKXU1vWz/9cea5341a8e6b74612dce70daa8ac987/build_faq_pages.png)
When you use voice search I’m guessing it starts with the word “Who,” “What,” “Where,” “When,” “Why,” or “How.”  You have a need, and you want it answered quickly.

"FAQ pages are also vital to organic performance. As they answer prominent questions of current and prospective customers, they lead them down to the path of solving their problems. Eventually, it may be a conversion for the business." according to <a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/2-underutilized-onsite-optimization-strategies#FAQ_Schema_Markup" target="blank">Bernie Wong</a> of <a href="https://social-stand.com/" target="blank">Social Stand Limited</a>.  

To provide this information have a FAQ page that answers all of these questions (don’t forget, conversationally) for your audience. <a href="https://developers.google.com/search/docs/advanced/structured-data/faqpage" target="blank">Google loves FAQ page</a>s and often uses them in the SERP.

<a href="https://www.zendesk.com/blog/the-best-faq-page-examples-and-how-to-make-your-own/" target="blank">Here are some tips for writing a good FAQ page</a>:
1. Use data to pick the right questions
2. Form clear criteria around responding
3. Offer multiple solutions
4. Track your progress
5. Make your FAQ page easy to find

# Have you claimed your Google Business Profile and is all of your info up to date?
A key factor in optimizing for voice search is building your local listing and presence. <a href="https://www.webfx.com/blog/marketing/voice-search-digital-marketing-2019/" target="blank">Over 55% of people</a> use voice search to find local businesses.
![google my business profile](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/7BOh9KACJShAzlGTnLZW9V/cd7e915f6b54e8e328d5b70b16e53e72/google_my_business_profinle.png)
If you haven’t claimed your <a href="https://support.google.com/business/?hl=en&_ga=1.197736111.1817838323.1480536666#topic=4539639" target="blank">Google Business Profile listing</a> yet, you need to. This is where you add your business’ information such as hours of operation, address, phone, services, reviews, pictures, link to your website and a short bio about your business. The more information you share on your listing the more confidence people will have in your business and the easier it will be for someone to choose you.

<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/how-to-rank-better-in-google-maps-in-2022" target="blank">These are suggestions by Patty Malowney</a> from <a href="https://www.badasswebgoddess.com/" target="blank">Badass Web Goddess Agency</a> to optimize your Google Business Profile:
- Use your keywords in your GBP name
- Fill out your GBP completely
- Add photos
- Post updates
- Ask clients and customers for Google Reviews
- GBP Behavioral Signals

Don’t forget to use keywords related to your business while setting up your information. Also, take into account the regional slang or dialects that might be pertinent in your area. For example, in Utah fried dough is called a “scone” but is referred to as “fry bread” in most other places. In Wisconsin a drinking fountain is called a “bubbler”.

# Have you added microdata?
![add microdata](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/W03Kg383nHnX5FvYprLME/82e9a294a3499f4f9ed8f14d14394a71/add_microdata.png)
Who remembers Jerry Maguire’s famous line, “Help me, help you.”? That’s what microdata does for Google.

 “You’ll need to submit a sitemap to Google including information such as: prices, directions to your physical location, store hours, your address and phone number. Next, use microdata to help Google understand what this text means. Create markups for various use cases.”  according to the <a href="https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/seo-how-to-optimize-for-voice-search" target="blank">Digital Marketing Institute</a>.

Helping Google to help you answer people’s voice search.

<a href="https://developers.google.com/search/docs/advanced/structured-data/faqpage" target="blank">This is an example from Google of microdata.</a>

# Does your brand have an abnormal spelling that you need to take into consideration?
How well can people pronounce your brand? Does it transcribe well? Is voice search going to recognize it easily?

We’re all familiar with the company Xerox. They’ve been around for decades, therefore recognized by Google, but what if it was a new company that no one was sure how to say their name? 

Be aware of the limitations that Google might have in recognizing uniquely spelled brands. You could add a pronunciation guide to help.

If your brand name is a bit ambiguous, at least try to make the product memorable, unique and easy to search for.

# Have you optimized your schema markup?
Again, “Help me, help you.” with schema markup. This helps make sense of your content and make your site discoverable to search engines.
![optimize schema markup](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/3fyrfgnV8BoA4xhPXxTP1j/388291590af1999f009fea5929eefe13/optimize_schema_markup.png)
Structured data can be used to mark up all kinds of items from products to events to recipes. It is most often used to provide additional information about the following:
- Creative work
- Event
- Organization
- Person
- Place
- Product

A full list of items you can mark up with schema is available <a href="https://schema.org/docs/full.html" target="blank">here</a>.

"Each type of information has properties that can be used to describe items in more detail. For example, a "book," which falls under the category "creative work," can have the properties "name" (title), "author," "illustrator," "isbn," and more, depending on how fully you want to describe it. Similarly, an "event" can be classified as anything from a "businessevent" to a "theaterevent." according to <a href="https://moz.com/learn/seo/schema-structured-data" target="blank">Moz</a>.

Have you adopted schema markup for voice search by including an indicator of intent and relevancy to your site?

# Does your website load fast and is it mobile friendly?
![website speed](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/5MpR1gt8tqmPe1VuIKHGsg/1822fd1780848354f08e282ef3a8d7e9/website_speed.png)
A big factor to bounce rate, especially in relation to voice search is your load speed. Who wants to sit and watch a circle spinning when you have lots to do?

If you’re using voice search, chances are that you are busy or in a hurry. Google is too. They will offer sites with greater loading speed and with less bounce rate.

<a href="https://neilpatel.com/blog/speed-is-a-killer/" target="blank">According to Neil Patel’s research</a>, 47% of consumers expect a website to load in no more than two seconds.
![every second counts](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/4CyXyRAqbOYReIpLWIAqCG/9a89022c299670e57d204d9912cf7804/every_second_counts.png)
Every second afterward damages user experience. Viewers don’t want to wait for your page to load, and they’ll often bounce to find another business with a better user experience.

In a study cited by <a href="https://www.crazyegg.com/blog/speed-up-your-website/" target="blank">crazyegg.com</a>, the relationship between load times and conversion rates showed a <a href="https://conversionxl.com/blog/testing-tools-site-speed/" target="blank">25% decrease in conversion rates</a> with just one extra second of load time.
![loading time impact](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/5Ly3ngvfiWvqUvRtqNGEwz/171e96e9ebd63ebe64405862b48f7465/loading_time_impact.png)
It’s clear that putting in the effort to increase your site speed — even by one second — could have a major impact on conversions.

<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/mistakes-in-seo-that-can-lead-to-google-ranking-drop" target="blank">Stephanie Long</a> from <a href="https://stephaniemariemarketing.com/" target="blank">Stephanie Marie Marketing</a> says: A tool I like to use and test my website for speed regularly is <a href="https://developers.google.com/speed" target="blank">Google’s PageSpeed Insights</a> (PSI) because it shows how fast your website is loading for both mobile and desktop. It also provides detailed solutions on how you can fix any issues, plus it also gives you a grade from 1-100, with 100 being the best. The tool that I think does a great job on showing what images are too large and are causing slow loading times is <a href="https://www.screamingfrog.co.uk/seo-spider/" target="blank">Screaming Frog</a>.

“In the summer of 2015, more Google searches were carried out via mobile than desktop for the first time ever – and you’d better believe they’ve only gone up since then!” according to <a href="https://www.websitebuilderexpert.com/building-websites/how-to-make-website-mobile-friendly/" target="blank">WebsiteBuilderExpert</a>. 

<a href="https://www.websitebuilderexpert.com/building-websites/how-to-make-website-mobile-friendly/" target="blank">To make your website mobile-friendly, you’ll need to</a>:
1. Choose a mobile-responsive theme or template
2. Strip back your content
3. Make images and CSS as light as possible
4. Avoid Flash
5. Change button size and placement
6. Space out your links
7. Use a large and readable font
8. Eliminate pop-ups
9. Test regularly

So, is your site updated with the fastest speeds possible?

Is it mobile friendly?

# Is your content scannable?
Do you know what the very best guarantee is that I will exit a site just as fast as I opened it? If there are a lot of ads or sign-ups that pop up before I can even see that homepage. I’m gone and won't return.
![scannable content](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/3AVpBnGWJ7Yy4rsDsL06Ka/555584880bdfd5cf437a902002bb7969/scannable_content.png)
If I’m using voice search for something, I want to be able to scan the content quickly and easily without interference.

Is your site easily scannable with headers and links offering information that is easy to grasp? Will I find answers easily just by scanning your homepage? 

Need some ideas to get you started? <a href="https://www.bigdcreative.com/5-ways-to-make-your-sites-design-scannable/" target="blank">Here are 5 from bigDcreative</a>.
1. Design With Visual Hierarchy in Mind
2. Make Your Navigation Menu Easy to Spot
3. Take Advantage of White Space
4. Write for Brevity
5. Use Numbers Where Possible

# Do your videos rank in Google?
![videos rank in google](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/2m3xoudiSsGmbq25CIcodk/f4a5d809abb371c1a468529a46f3d0f0/videos_rank_in_google.png)
How well do your videos rank in Google? In SEO you need to utilize every resource you have available, and a big component of that is video. People love to be visually stimulated, and most people learn better through being shown. 

If you’ve never made Beef Wellington before, are you more likely to use the recipe from the blog with the video tutorial, or relying on the typed out recipe?

Most sites can find a place for useful videos and then optimize them so they will draw people in. 

If you’re not sure if YouTube is something worth investing in, you should know that YouTube is owned by Google. Perhaps that is why <a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/youtube-best-practices-for-beginners" target="blank">over 80% of the videos that rank in the top ten for video-related searches in Google are from YouTube</a>, as opposed to other video platforms, embeds on websites or natively hosted video.

According to <a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/content-marketing-for-small-businesses-and-coaches-2022-edition" target="blank">Thomas Anthony</a>, an organic marketing consultant: 
- Videos have higher engagement than written content
- The average consumer spends 100 minutes a day watching video
- <a href="https://blog.hootsuite.com/youtube-stats-marketers/" target="blank">YouTube is the world's second most visited website</a>
- Views increase as more people work from home

## In conclusion
Optimizing your site for voice search will help increase your traffic and decrease your bounce rate. It’s worth taking the time to do.

<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/2-underutilized-onsite-optimization-strategies#Optimize_for_Voice_Search" target="blank">Paige Arnof-Fenn</a> of <a href="http://mavensandmoguls.com/" target="blank">Mavens & Moguls</a> said:

"Websites must be optimized for voice search adding usability/functionality to your site making it accessible to all users including those with limitations/disabilities. It’s not just about complying with the ADA/responsible web design/CSR goals but it is also good for the bottom line by reaching a broader audience."


voice recognition

Optimizing your site for voice search will help increase your traffic and decrease your bounce rate.

Optimizing your site for voice search will help increase your traffic and decrease your bounce rate. This is a check list to help evaluate your voice search optimization.

Voice Search Optimization Checklist

# Content Marketing For Small Businesses And Coaches [2022 Edition]
The online coaching space is mutating faster than the coronavirus.

If your small online coaching business wants to make money in 2022 you need to market yourself differently.

Differently means standing out among the other <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/26/what-is-a-life-coach.html#:~:text=ICF%20estimates%20there%20are%2071%2C000,Global%20Coaching%20Study%20Final%20Report." target="blank">71,000 coaches</a> out there. To do so, you can't take any shortcuts.

The preferred shortcuts of so many other coaches involve paid ads and DMing on Instagram and LinkedIn.

But these marketing channels just don’t work for small businesses. 
How do I know? 

Because I've tried them and I've gotten burned.

You don't need to invest heavily and fail to realize that paid ads and cold calling don't work. 

Just think back to the last time that you responded to an email from a stranger or clicked on an ad on your Facebook feed. If you're struggling to recall a time in which you gave into disruptive advertising, then I've made my point.

Back in 2012 I started <a href="https://emlovz.com/" target="blank">emlovz.com</a> (a dating coaching site) and applied every shortcut I could.

We tried:

- Google AdWords
- YouTube Ads
- FB Ads
- Cold outreach

Nothing worked.

We were about to call it quits before I decided to try one last maneuver: <a href="https://thomasanthony.co/whats-the-difference-between-inbound-vs-outbound-marketing/" target="blank">inbound marketing</a>.

__Inbound marketing__ is all about attracting attention through high-value content. 

Think <a href="https://thomasanthony.co/articles/" target="blank">articles</a> that answer a searcher's burning questions, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHO8hSNDfi8" target="blank">YouTube videos</a> that potential clients can binge for hours, and a podcast that they're dying to listen to every morning on the way to work.
![Outbound vs inbound marketing](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/1o0DLeygQw7B8v1RRH1Q21/36b664bdaf79d72a2b7a42b73b3c2535/Outbound_vs_inbound_marketing.png)

We decided to invest heavily in creating unique content that addressed our ideal client's pain points.

Five years later and emlovz has experienced a sea change we could only dream of.

Nowadays emlovz.com is one of the largest coaching sites in the dating space.

In fact, emlovz.com sees enough traffic for me to claim we're a 1% website with regards to traffic.
![Inbound marketing](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/5Y5rdfHWwNrqvQVvkKaES4/3502a2a2a39663727386d7005ef40c30/Image_2.png)

As you can see from the screenshot above, we've racked up just under 3 million clicks from May to September of 2021.

But has this translated into earnings?

Yep.

emlovz is also in the top <a href="https://www.ziprecruiter.com/Salaries/Online-Coaching-Salary#:~:text=While%20ZipRecruiter%20is%20seeing%20annual,annually%20across%20the%20United%20States." target="blank">5% percentile as far as online coaching revenues go</a>.
![top 5 percent](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/Oqtcp4pciQQmZ1WW6Og2Y/e8aca0bfc60ac8dc9b0885090c1737b3/top_5-.jpg)

*So how did we go from 0 traffic and 0 revenue to a top 5% coaching company?*

It was because I decided to stop skipping the line and we decided to start adding value to peoples' lives with evergreen lead funnels like high-quality articles and YouTube videos.

In this article, we'll break down everything you need to do to launch an effective content marketing strategy even if you’re a coach or small business. 

## Content Marketing For Small Businesses
"In this day and age, a big part of <a href="https://technerds.com/how-ai-can-transform-content-marketing-in-2022/" target="blank">content marketing</a> is connecting with the customer on a personal level. When done correctly, content marketing can go a long way in building brand trust and adding value to your business."

It doesn't matter if you're the personal finance messiah, if you don't have a quality marketing strategy to connect with people and spread the green word, no one will know you exist.

In the first portion of this article let's take a look at the vehicles you'll use to attract potential customers.

### Blogging Up The Traffic 

Blogging isn't an activity reserved for teenagers and soccer moms.

Creating high-quality written content is the best way B2B, B2C, and coaches like yourself can attract users to your website.

Google Search is where people go when they want to learn something and/or want to spend money.

With a market share of over 90%, it's no surprise that <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/18/how-does-google-make-money-advertising-business-breakdown-.html#:~:text=More%20than%2080%25%20of%20Alphabet's,ad%20spending%20globally%20in%202021." target="blank">Alphabet makes 80% of its earnings through ads</a>. 

With all eyes on Google, ranking on the first page (but specifically within the first three results) can bring serious traffic to your business.
![organic keyword research](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/39GAnFHdCUM2hpcxlfMO8u/da9bd93a30b4fdccb8495f3e4fd7fe1c/organic_keyword_research.png)

Getting to the top of Google means your website and brand is an authority.
Being an authority is exactly how to make money through content marketing in 2022.

By landing at the top of a <a href="https://www.wordstream.com/serp" target="blank">SERP</a> and providing a future client with helpful information, you're building trust, respect, interest, and ideally a following.

__This is something that paid ads just can't do.__

I should also mention that creating targeted content is also more pocket-friendly than throwing money at paid ads.

To generate the same traffic with paid ads (which we don't use at all) that we do through our blogs we'd have to spend $36,800 every month.
![organic research](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/4SpaZGpUDJ7j0fgHQYY4C5/bb58b66c9d00688306e64dad3908b04e/organic_research.jpg)

Instead, we spend just a fraction of creating viral pieces of content that thousands of people read every day.

### YouTube Videos That Are Binge-Worthy

Blogs aren't the only content strategy for small businesses. 

YouTube is the #2 best evergreen lead source you can find on the internet today. 

However, many experts think that <a href="https://quoracreative.com/article/video-vs-written-content" target="blank">video is the future of content marketing</a>. 

They say this because:

- Videos have higher engagement than written content
- The average consumer spends 100 minutes a day watching video
- <a href="https://blog.hootsuite.com/youtube-stats-marketers/" target="blank">YouTube is the world's second most visited website</a>
- Views increase as more people work from home

When you're blogging - you're catching an evergreen traffic funnel of "__readers__." 

When you're pumping out youtube videos - you're catching an evergreen funnel of "__viewers__."

Generally speaking, there are lots of people who consume content either/or.

For example, about <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/09/21/who-doesnt-read-books-in-america/" target="blank">25% of Americans haven't touched a book in the last year</a>.

You can bet the first $10k you make from online coaching that those same people prefer watching your content to reading it.

By only creating written content you're refusing to speak to a large portion of potential clients.

But hey, even if your ideal clients love reading, who doesn't like watching a video every once in a while.

Speaking of which…

At emlovz, before we meet with a new inbound client. we automatically email them a form to complete - and we ask them where they found us.

Many say <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHO8hSNDfi8" target="blank">YouTube</a>.
![keyword strategy session](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/FsjLun9ZC05SZaRjZUeJf/6e810c355d30e65d47ad81ea176027e4/keyword_strategy_session.png)

Only choosing a certain type of content means only speaking to certain customers.

Create evergreen written and video content to cast a wide net and speak to as many potential clients as possible.

### YouTube/TikTok Educational Shorts 

Nobody has time or patience to watch a 20-minute YouTube video anymore.

As we've seen with the rise of TikTok, YouTube Shorts, IG reels, and yes even Quibi, consumers are beginning to favor short-form video.

Refining your content marketing strategy means creating targeted short-form videos.

After you write a 2k-word blog post and then repurpose it for a long-form YouTube video, you now want to make bite-sized videos clips.

Here's an example of what a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpStGznWoLM&feature=emb_title" target="blank">YouTube short looks like</a>.

So how did this YouTube Short perform?

Take a look at the analytics provided by YouTube below.
![YouTube analytics](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/74tyX3QLJC2gwWu6RVicyi/670650efb26d1d7f09eb88592062011f/YouTube_analytics.png)

3 YouTube subscribers in just 287 views.

Think about that for a second - you take 1 minute to create a short, upload it to youtube, and 3 new subscribers in a matter of a day or two.

Remember, __one subscriber today could turn into a $5k client of yours in the coming months__ (after they follow you for a bit). 

### Guest Posting Boosts Perceived Value Of Your Website

Guest blogging, also called “guest posting” is the act of writing content for another company's website.

Generally, guest bloggers write for similar websites within their industry in order to attract traffic back to their website.

Guest posting needs to be a marketing tool you use -- not only will you be introduced to another company's audience, but any do-follow links that you embed in the guest post will <a href="https://moz.com/learn/seo/backlinks#:~:text=Backlinks%20are%20especially%20valuable%20for,from%20one%20site%20to%20another.&text=If%20many%20sites%20link%20to,worth%20surfacing%20on%20a%20SERP." target="blank">BOOST your domain authority</a> -- just make sure you're guest posting on sites with a higher domain authority or Alexa ranking.

You can use tools like SEMRUSH and AHREFS to confirm a website's domain authority.

## Think LONG TERM From The Start

Creating a quality content marketing strategy involves understanding who your target audience is and which areas of content creation are worth investing in.

All your content creation efforts won't be worth a thing if you don't first establish your ideal audience.

### Select A Niche!

There are over <a href="https://ilifecoachtraining.com/life-coaching-is-currently-a-2-billion-industry/#:~:text=There%20are%20currently%2020%2C000%20coaches,second%20only%20to%20Information%20Technology." target="blank">20,000 coaches in the USA</a>20,000 coaches in the USA.

Most are defined as __"life coaches."__

A life coach is pretty explanatory, it's a coach that helps someone get their life together.

The issue with this is that our lives are layered, nuanced, and all our problems can't be fixed by some life guru that magically has all the answers.

To stand out you must define your niche.

What kind of coach or small business are you?

You could label yourself as a generic "life coach" but what sets you apart from all the other coaches out there?

Either way, you'll need to define your niche.

Emyli for example isn't a life coach, she's a __dating coach. More specifically she's a dating coach for men that targets men in urban areas that are upper-middle class and between the ages of 30-50__.

You may think that by creating a super-defined niche you're turning your back on a large swath of people.

That's true, but it's only one way to think about refining who you are and your target audience.

I like to think that by creating a specific niche you're able to create more meaningful services and content for the audience that your coaching skills can best serve.

### Side Hustle Until You’re In The Green

Be sensible when starting off.

I understand your desire to ditch your corporate job and dive headfirst into the water - but not everyone knows how to swim and even fewer of us know how to swim using the correct technique.

Don't be afraid to build your small business and make money through online coaching as a side hustle to start.

Hell, Emyli didn't leave her corporate job until our revenue was close to $70k.
Take your time to learn the ropes and build a sustainable business before <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/leadership-lessons-from-alexander-great-hern%C3%A1n-cort%C3%A9s-jay-harrison/" target="blank">burning the ships</a>. 

### Delegate And Build A Small Army Of Creators

Being an entrepreneur is a lot like running a country - albeit an incredibly small one.

As the president of your newfound country, you can't possibly imagine doing everything yourself.

How are you supposed to run each branch of your country, build the infrastructure, and make diplomatic visits to other countries all by yourself?

The best entrepreneurs know how to delegate.

Your first appointments as an entrepreneur should be to hire a:

- Ghostwriter
- Social media intern

This is certainly the case if you're building your business as a side hustle and don't have 5-10 hours a week to create new content and execute an SM strategy.

## Research and Build Your Small Business Program BEFORE You Launch

Whether you’re a coach or small business owner you first need to understand your target audience before launching.

Jumping into the fire that is being a small business owner will only work if you first know what you’re getting yourself into.

Don’t get burned by refusing to do your due diligence in learning both about your competitors and target audience. 

Use SEO tools like SEM Rush and Ahrefs to figure out what type of content your ideal client is interested in learning about. 

During the nascent stage of your company, it’s important to identify your ideal client and understand their pain points. You can do this by interviewing those you think would be interested in your business. 

Understanding their psyche and pairing that with keywords they’re looking for is a recipe for creating amazing content. 

If you have more questions about content marketing for small businesses and coaches feel free to check out my website and <a href="https://thomasanthony.co/" target="blank">contact me for a brief strategy call</a>. 

content marketing for small business

A break down of everything you need to do to launch an effective content marketing strategy even if you’re a coach or small business.

Content Marketing For Small Businesses And Coaches [2022 Edition]

# Video SEO
<br>
I posed the question to SEO professionals what they thought was the most underutilized SEO strategy or tactic. I got over 100 responses which I broke up into <a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/44-underutilized-seo-strategies-and-tactics" target="blank">8 categories</a>, and 44 sub categories. This is part 7, which highlights the underutilized strategies related to video SEO.

__Video SEO Sub Categories:__
- <a href="#Optimizing_YouTube_Videos/Website_Videos">Optimizing YouTube Videos/Website Videos</a>
- <a href="#Audio_and_Video_Transcription">Audio and Video Transcription</a>
- <a href="#Product_Videos">Product Videos</a>
<a id="Optimizing_YouTube_Videos/Website_Videos"></a>
<br>
## Optimizing YouTube Videos/Website Videos
![Optimizing YouTube videos](//images.contentful.com/z8uwv83tofbw/1akswNx3yqXOfWvGGBpw5b/5c10d71d611957be0faf948456cc30da/YouTube.png)
__Alex Shute, Editor-in-Chief of <a href="https://faithgiant.com/" target="blank">FaithGiant</a> shares his thoughts on why you should optimize with videos:__
"Videos are one of the SEO tactics that often get overlooked but can significantly impact your website and brand performance. It is a digital marketing tactic that isn’t used to its full potential by many businesses. YouTube in particular is one of the most consumed forms of content available today. People spend a ton of time watching videos, and data shows users often watch several videos during each session. YouTube videos are favored heavily by Google and it is also favored by millennials.

"Videos are great for tutorials, demos, client testimonials, firm overviews, and more. It increases engagement, boosts conversions, and increases revenue. It’s actually a good idea to conduct keyword research before producing videos so you can make sure there is an audience for the video topic. Use Google Trends to determine how a keyword topic is trending and to see what other variations you may want to use. Be sure to optimize your video content for accessibility by including video transcription, subtitling, and captioning."

__A great example was given by Thomas Anthony, Founder at <a href="https://www.thomasanthony.co/" target="blank">thomasanthony.co</a>:__

"Repurposing content + embedding YouTube videos into blog articles is an under-utilized SEO tactic that can help niche websites OUTRANK big brands. One of my clients, <a href="http://emlovz.com/" target="blank">emlovz.com</a>, was seeing ~225,000 monthly readers on their blog about 8 months ago. That’s when they started repurposing their blogs by converting them into scripts, then filming a YouTube video, and then embedding that video into its associated blog. Their traffic has jumped to nearly 275,000 readers since then."

__Julian Lloyd from <a href="https://www.mindsetmedia.ca/seo-search-engine-optimization.html" target="blank">Mindset Media</a> tells us how he does this:__

"What I typically do with clients as part of my larger SEO approach is I create a YouTube channel for them (if they don't already have one) and create some quick videos to post on it.  Honestly the quality of the videos doesn't even matter that much as far as I can tell - but that doesn't mean I'm putting garbage videos up for them.  You still need to keep in mind that bad videos can hurt their brand image if they get lots of people to go to their YouTube channel.  But I see the technique working regardless of quality.

"For example, one of my clients in the mental health industry has written many blogs on a large area of topics so what I do is take that content and repackage it and send it to someone on Fiverr to create a 1-minute cartoon animated video.  They have someone read out the script that I've created from the blog and they animate it to keep viewer attention.  Once it is approved by the client I take the video file and upload it to YouTube and choose my title and description carefully.  Sometimes I literally have the title of the YouTube video match the blog title and other times I vary slightly.  Within the description of the video I put a lot of information about the topic and even include a reference to the fact that we have written a more in-depth article about it on our blog - at which time I backlink over to our blog using rich anchor text. Just for kicks, I like to also embed this video in the blog itself. This is something I consider very simple to do but nobody seems to be taking advantage of it.  Another separate benefit of this is that you can re-use the video for your social media as well."

__Charles Leduc, Chief Operations Officer at <a href="https://www.bustmold.com/" target="blank">Mold Busters</a> also touts using YouTube videos to rank:__

"Google ranks relevant Youtube videos very high on the search page. Any business looking to take advantage just needs to create compelling video content, and drive traffic to their website through Youtube. Not only does it drive traffic toward your business, but it builds authority on your industry, and we are the go to authority for mold and indoor air quality as a result."

__<a href="https://kevinmiller.com/" target="blank">Kevin Miller</a>, a digital marketing expert, who was recently named "Entrepreneur of the Year” for the 2021 American Business Awards states:__

"I believe an underutilized SEO strategy is to post videos on your website. Videos are great for both entertainment and education. The best part about it is that video content ranks really well in search engines, so you get two benefits for the price of one. In addition, it keeps people on your website for longer periods of time. Not only are videos beneficial to SEO, but they also have the power to go viral across social media platforms. If you own an eCommerce store selling products online, adding instructional videos will help with your sales by providing educational content in the form of short films. And lastly, video marketing helps you rank in search results organically instead of using PPC ads."

__Paula Glynn, Director of Search Marketing & Digital Strategy at <a href="https://pixelstorm.com.au" target="blank">Pixelstorm</a> also recommends:__

"Create short videos to let people know about your site and how it can help them, then post those videos on YouTube and other sites. People love watching videos online. Videos are more personal than text, and they're great for conveying your message quickly and efficiently."

<a id="Audio_and_Video_Transcription"></a>
## Audio and Video Transcription
![audio and video transcription](//images.contentful.com/z8uwv83tofbw/23jrYqsOc9xMggameB95tg/976e11d3fde5d5a3a5fd195d09f593b1/audio_and_video_transcription.png)
"Audio transcription is an SEO strategy that helps you stand out from the competition but is one of the most neglected SEO strategies", __says Imani Francies, a digital marketing expert with <a href="https://clearsurance.com/" target="blank">Clearsurance.com</a>__. 

"The process of translating various audio and video products into text files is known as media transcription. Audio and video recordings are incapable of doing so, and subtitles beneath them are sometimes insufficient. Subtitles can be created from transcribed material. The videos become more intelligible and accessible to a larger audience as a result.

"Having your podcast or video transcribed ensures that it receives the same SEO advantage as, for example, a blog article. So viewer engagement can be increased by using transcriptions. Basically, it ensures that you have covered all of your SEO bases."

__Jignesh Gohel, Founder & Marketing Head of <a href="https://www.olbuz.com/" target="blank">OLBUZ</a> agrees__:

"Getting Your podcast/video transcribed is a great way to make engaging media and to make sure that it will get the same SEO benefit as say a blog post."

__Lauren Amor, Organic Search Specialist for <a href="https://tandem.buzz/" target="blank">Tandem Buzz</a> explains:__

"By transcribing the audio of a podcast or video, not only are you catering to ADA compliance (which contributes to SEO's E.A.T standards) but you're also getting those keywords on your site/content that wouldn't otherwise be there. Without a transcription of your audio, you're trying to pack in keywords into your title and description (which shouldn't ever be too long)." 

<a id="Product_Videos"></a>
## Product Videos
![product video](//images.contentful.com/z8uwv83tofbw/6nAY0QUeU07uciJUGKAjjr/6bc4abdf1597aaef32163a014264c946/product_video.png)
<div><center><a href="https://www.videosforeveryone.com/product-videos-production/" target="blank">Image Source</a></center></div>
<br>
__The benefits of using product videos is explained by Jeff Neal from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/TheCritterDepot" target="blank">Critter Depot</a>:__

"One of our favorite digital marketing strategies is product videos. Some of our best selling products are live worms and crickets. And having a tutorial video on what it's like to get worms in the mail has been great for boosting on page retention and time on site. These metrics have helped us earn first page rankings for making our highest converting products.

"But its benefits go beyond our site. Because now we have a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/TheCritterDepot" target="blank">YouTube Channel</a> that provides supplemental income to our main site.

"So we emphatically express that product videos are amazing."

### In conclusion:

Perhaps focusing more efforts on audio and video resources will be just what you need to up your SEO game!

<br>
<br>
__Other Categories in this Series:__
<br>
<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/1-underutilized-keyword-research-strategies" target="blank">#1- Underutilized Keyword Research Strategies</a>

<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/2-underutilized-onsite-optimization-strategies" target="blank">#2- Underutilized Onsite Optimization Strategies</a>

<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/3-underutilized-content-strategies" target="blank">#3- Underutilized Content Strategies</a>

<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/4-underutilized-link-building-strategies" target="blank">#4- Underutilized Link Building Strategies</a>

<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/5-underutilized-technical-seo-strategies" target="blank">#5- Underutilized Technical SEO Strategies</a>

<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/6-underutilized-local-seo-strategies" target="blank">#6- Underutilized Local SEO strategies</a>

<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/8-miscellaneous-underutilized-seo-strategies" target="blank">#8- Miscellaneous Underutilized SEO Strategies</a>


video seo

This is what the experts say are the most underutilized SEO strategies regarding video SEO

#7- Underutilized Video SEO Strategies

Video SEO Keyword Strategy - YouTube SEO Strategy


![44 Underutilized SEO Strategies and Tactics](//images.contentful.com/z8uwv83tofbw/3Fl6DS4NzmZwOc5OJECq2X/fb00d3f59ce36fc2efb316c467b304e2/44_Underutilized_SEO_Strategies_and_Tactics.jpg)
Recently I asked marketing and SEO professionals what they felt the most underutilized SEO strategy or tactic was. With over 100 responses I was able to compile them into these calegories:

<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/1-underutilized-keyword-research-strategies" target="blank">#1- Underutilized Keyword Research Strategies</a>
<br>
<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/2-underutilized-onsite-optimization-strategies" target="blank">#2- Underutilized Onsite Optimization Strategies</a>
<br>
<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/3-underutilized-content-strategies" target="blank">#3- Underutilized Content Strategies</a>
<br>
<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/4-underutilized-link-building-strategies" target="blank">#4- Underutilized Link Building Strategies</a>
<br>
<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/5-underutilized-technical-seo-strategies" target="blank">#5- Underutilized Technical SEO Strategies</a>
<br>
<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/6-underutilized-local-seo-strategies" target="blank">#6- Underutilized Local SEO strategies</a>
<br>
<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/7-underutilized-video-seo-strategies" target="blank">#7- Underutilized Video SEO Strategies</a>
<br>
<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/8-miscellaneous-underutilized-seo-strategies" target="blank">#8- Miscellaneous Underutilized SEO Strategies</a>

My intent is to shed some light on a strategy or two that you haven't focused on yet, or perhaps remind you of some SEO basics that you haven't thought about in a while. Who knows? Implementing one of these underutilized strategies may be all that you need to push your rankings to the next level.


44 Underutilized SEO Strategies and Tactics

In response to the query, "What is the most underutilized SEO strategy?" I received over 100 responses, and here they are organized into 8 categories.

Blog - Video SEO