Relevant content is key to generating online sales

5/11/2011

As recent comScore reports have suggested, consumers are increasingly leveraging search engines to find the information they need on the web, with more than 18 billion queries conducted in the month of March alone. If small businesses operate a website, they need to ensure the content on their homepages is both relevant and topical or else they may lose prospects to competitors.

Speaking with American Express OPEN Forum, internet marketer Tom Merchant suggests the best way small businesses can make content that sticks out is by identifying a niche and then exploiting it. This will enable entrepreneurs to reach a select audience and really connect with them.

"[Merchant] took those niches and researched their potential for development and user loyalty. The bigger and broader scale content is what is already excessively covered, whereas niche topics proved to be more of safe place to grow," the source notes.

Similarly, developing a business concept around an under-served niche can be profitable. For example, one company specializes in creating ergonomically correct office chairs.