Small businesses often have to win the trust and loyalty of their clientele. Bigger companies have an established brand and a steady stream of customers. You have fewer resources to work with, so how can you compete against major corporations? There are a few tricks you can use to gain an edge against the companies who threaten to take your business. One of the most important arenas to market your business, in fact, is on the web. With the right tools and approach, you can utilize your web presence to establish and maintain loyal customers.

The following are four strategies you can use to make the most of your small business’ website and ensure that you are making a good impression on potential clients. Whether you are a small boutique or a dog-walking service, these are some of the best ways to compete against bigger companies so that you can still reach the customer base you need to thrive.

Differentiate Yourself

You might hesitate to draw attention to the differences between your company and bigger competitors. If you are going to win over the business of customers considering who to choose, though, that is exactly what you need to do. There is a reason why customers should choose you over your competitor, and you should highlight what those reasons are. Be careful to phrase them in a positive light rather than simply speaking ill of competitors, though. Rather, you should differentiate your business from others by illustrating your ability to meet and exceed all of your customers’ needs.

Represent Yourself Effectively

Your website is one of your most valuable marketing tools. Many small business websites contain minimal information, basic design and uninviting content. Such websites do not meet their potential and may even result in loss of sales from would-be customers. You need to avoid this by representing your business accurately and effectively. You know that you can provide the best service to clients—better than that of your competitors—so you need to develop a website that proves this. You can do so by investing in design and developing content that appeals to your visitors.

Facilitate Relationships

Small business websites should also act as a tool to convert visitors to customers. A person who is browsing your website has probably landed there by using a search engine, and they may or may not have heard of your company before. Perhaps they are also looking at the website of your competitor, a bigger company they have almost surely heard of before. Your website should invite customers to contact you. More importantly, though, it should establish a relationship rather than initiate a transaction. As a small business, you can offer a relationship to your clients that competitors simply cannot.

Incentivize Conversion

Lastly, you need to use your web presence to incentivize conversion. Though you want to avoid looking as though you are simply selling a product to customers, you should encourage them to take the next step in closing a sale. This might require more than just encouragement, though—it may require an incentive. You can turn website visitors into customers by offering them a reason to do so. It should be a reason, too, that competitors cannot match. Think about deals, specials and other great offers that might motivate clients to make the jump and contact your business.

These are just some of the ways in which you can leverage your small business’ website to boost sales and command control of your market. Big competitors might be intimidating, but you are offering a different—and often superior—experience to your clientele. When you use your website to demonstrate this, you can expect the sales to roll in.

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