Competing against much larger competitor

5 replies
  • SEO
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I'm trying to enter a market which is pretty much dominated by one huge entity. It's in the browser gaming world, I'd rather not go into specific site names etc.

I have some experience in the online gaming market (i.e. the fantasy football sites in my signature) but this is a new ball game for me.

Aside from their own website, which is ranked #1 for all relevant searches, there are dozens of satellite websites which are connected to the main one. The connections are mostly unofficial, as in, blogs, communities etc revolving around what happens on the main site.

Now, my goal is not to take over for them, as their budget dwarfs mine, but I have a site offering quite a few features that theirs doesn't have and, so if I can just make it to the first page of Google for a few relevant searches, I'm convinced I can gradually take over a part of their user base. My site is currently ranked around #40 for the most important search term after 3 months of activity (theirs has been active for several years).

Basically, in terms of Google ranking, I am not looking to compete against them, but against the unofficial sites that host discussions about their site.

I've done some link building from relevant sources, I've paid for sponsored stories within the niche, the SEO on the site itself is very good.

Any tips on competing in such an environment?
#competing #competitor #larger
  • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
    Honestly, for this kind of thing I would probably focus more on social media marketing. Build a brand. Get the name out there. If you do it right, you are likely to attract a lot of the same kind of attention and build up a following of unofficial network sites.

    Without a series budget in the gaming industry, you are likely to just flounder around unknown otherwise. Look at the money a game like Clash of Clans is throwing into their marketing. I see that thing on TV multiple times a day. A good social media plan can level that playing field a little bit.
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  • Profile picture of the author yukon
    Banned
    Taking a quick look at a random internal page on one of your forum sig domains, I don't see much on-page optimization going on. If that's anything like the site your talking about in OP, it needs a lot of work.
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  • Profile picture of the author Lyanna
    You did not mention any specifics so it's pretty hard to give concrete suggestions. From what I have observed from games, the easiest way to get noticed is to provide something that the gamers need/want.

    Like, for example, a website that I use for a game provides forums signatures to people (for free). They have a simple signature generator that is useful and fun. link here but its not my website - Warcraft Forum Signature Creator
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  • Profile picture of the author EvcRo
    Satelite small sites are easy to outrank. I guess you are around position 40 because your site is pretty new?
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  • Profile picture of the author SEO Power
    After 3 months of activity...not surprising. Continue doing what you've been doing for 3 more months and you might succeed in getting your site onto the first page. Ranking in Google is no longer as easy as it was. Now it's all about showing Google your site deserves to rank well.
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