The competition for search visibility has intensified over time. User-friendly tools that make it easy for people to design their own website have become fairly accessible. It has never been easier to create your own professional online identity than it is right now. This is why SEO is crucial for businesses trying to keep up with the overcrowded landscape. It is just as important as ever.

Businesses that incorporate SEO tactics are a step ahead of ones that don’t, but the thing is, most successful businesses are diligent with the technical, back-end website maintenance that is necessary to maintain their high rankings. This is a whole new pool of competitors with whom you are trying to outrank. How do you get a step ahead on these competitors?

The key is to grasp the concept of nuanced messaging and apply it to how you design and reveal the content on your site. There is a balance and harmony that you should strive to achieve with your creative placements so you can communicate key content only when it is relevant to the specific stage of the user experience. Sounds easy, right?

Ok, maybe a bit difficult to grasp at first, but here are some simple steps to steer you in the right direction.

Step 1: Identify Yourself
Let your audience know who you are and what you can do. What are you all about? What services do you provide? What industry are you in? What demand do you supply? It should take them seconds (not minutes) to figure out gist of who you are.

Don’t answer every single question above, or else you will end up force-feeding your users and driving them away. Instead, give them a single answer to the question that best defines how you want to be seen. This gives you the opportunity to control the journey of the user by setting up the different pathways they can take.

If they do not need the services, you provide. They will most likely leave your page. But if they do need whatever it is that you are selling or providing, you’re happy to guide them further down the rabbit hole, slowly giving them bits of useful information and enticing opportunities at a pace that is comfortable, convenient, and easy to digest for the user.

Step 2: Aim to Do Something New
Developing an SEO-friendly site and balancing key messaging by priority throughout the customer journey sets you up for tons of success, but those who want to go even further need to tap into their creative side. This is the time to reach outside of the box to bring add some flare to your site to make it one-of-a-kind. Whether it is creating an interactive tool on a landing page, designing a customized layout that makes people take notice, or embracing a unique tone for your brand that is not like everything else out there, there are many ways to enhance the user experience in this way.

Step 3: Cast Your Net Wisely
When you are designing your website and mapping out your marketing strategy, it is better to target a specific audience that you know is in demand for what you offer, rather than trying to cast too wide of a net. Develop a solid base of niche customers first, then slowly branch out strategically. When you try to target too big of a pool of potential customers, you begin to dilute your messaging in attempts to appeal to a broader audience. Stay true to what you specialize in and grow from there. This not only benefits the quality of your website, but also builds trust with customers as a true authority in your industry.

It is a lot of work to keep up with SEO trends and content strategy, but these three steps are great places to start. Begin here and continuously apply tweaks and changes to your site. Your website will be a finely-tuned traffic-generating machine in no time.