When developing your own business, I think it’s important to spend most of the time focusing on just that – your own business.   After all, every business is unique and you are part of the team that drives yours forward.  And sometimes it’s hard enough to figure out what you are supposed to be doing, without trying to keep up with everyone else.

But, once in a while, it’s worth taking a look at what the competition is up to.  It’s important to understand what is expected in your industry and what the standard offerings are, because this can help you to create something different, something unique, something that differentiates you from the rest of the market.   This is absolutely key in the case of content creation / content marketing.

Let’s start with your brand. It’s a busy world out there, and you want to get noticed.  But how do you get noticed with so much noise, so many tweets, so many Facebook posts etc.?

Well, it might surprise you that even if you don’t have a big budget, you will be able to compete in a particular niche and for a particular strategy.  Of course, you are not going to dominate every channel and every platform, at least not from the outset, but you can make an impact by focusing on a niche/strategy combination.

Let’s take your niche and apply the strategy of content marketing.  Here’s where the competitors come in.  Why?  Because if there is not much competition, you have a fantastic opportunity to make an impact very quickly.

I regularly take a look at different sites within a particular niche and what is interesting is that there often is not that much activity in the realm of content. There are many, many sites with a blog section that hasn’t been updated within the last 6 months or even a year. Many sites that don’t have any audio clips or videos.  Many sites have a nice design but are very thin on content.

Now, I wouldn’t claim to know the exact ins and outs of the Google Search Engine Algorithm, but it doesn’t take a big leap to see that if you are putting out high-quality content on a consistent basis in a niche like the one I have described above, then you are going to be ahead of the curve.  And a few months down the line you should start to see really good results.  An increase in traffic to your site, more time spent on your site because visitors are actually reading your articles (which they can’t find anywhere else), and ultimately more engagement and higher sales.

So, why don’t more companies publish quality content on a regular basis?  I think the answer to this question can vary quite a bit.  For some, they don’t realize the benefit of having a frequently-updated site.  For others, they know what they should do, but with many other entrepreneurial tasks on their plate they just don’t find the time.

One thing is for sure.  For those who do make the effort, set aside the time, and develop an effective on-going content creation and distribution strategy the rewards are big: a front page Google entry awaits, bringing with it an increase in traffic and a more successful business!