Google’s Matt Cutts on Smaller Sites Outranking Big Sites

Occasionally we see small websites being able to outperform larger sites in Google search results pages. In Matt Cutts’ recent Webmaster Help video, he discusses the possible reasons behind the companies who have achieved this. This article takes a look at what he had to say on the matter.

Ultimately, whether a smaller site can outperform a larger site with more traffic or not, really depends on which sector the business is in and whether there are means and possibilities in which they are able to stand out from the larger competition.

Cutts begins by saying that just because there is a national brand, it doesn’t necessarily mean they will gain higher traffic or search rankings than a lesser known brand. Sites can be clever in the way they approach ideas, responding swiftly in a changing environment and creating superior content to the larger and more cumbersome sites. It’s in this way that these smaller sites may receive higher ranks in search results. By placing a focus on something that adds more value to the user, smaller sites can become big, look at Facebook and Instagram for example.

If you are doing it better than the competition, then you can expect to achieve greater results within time, whether you’re a big national brand or a smaller company. However, if you are a website that is managed by only one person and you’re up against a website maintained by hundreds of people, then it can be a struggle initially. Cutts advises, in this case, to focus on a niche area and ensure that you “cover it really, really well”, building up from a smaller topic area “until you become larger, and larger, and larger.”

Head of Google’s Web Spam team concluded by saying “The small guys absolutely can outperform the larger guys as long as they do a really good job at it.” Before reminding us – “don’t stop trying to produce superior content, because over time that’s one of the best ways to rank higher on the web.”

So, as we’ve heard countless times, the key to smaller brands competing with the big boys is to produce high quality and valuable content for users, creating innovative and unique ideas with visitor experience in mind. Concentrate on a niche, build trust and grow from there.

The video of Matt Cutts discussing this subject can be seen below.