Competitors' websites, if analyzed properly, can give you all
sorts of information that you can use to increase the traffic
and the popularity of your site. Here is an article on how to
analyze a competitor's website.
Identifying the Leaders
Start off by identifying the major players. A good place to do
this is Yahoo's directory. It is good to view the major players
in similar fields to your own so that you have a better view of
your web site as perceived by others. You may want to print out
the directory to take a closer look. Check some of the bigger
companies and find out some of the innovative approaches and new
products offered.
Sites like Media Metrix 500 can tell you which companies get the
most traffic, and you can learn about the relative traffic by
using Alexa. It is a free add-on to your browser that ranks the
traffic for each site you visit and informing you whether it is
in the top 100 or top 1000 ranking. This gives you a rough idea
of where your competitors are in the ranking order.
Scrutinize the Leaders
The next step is to study the top 5 or 10 competitors very
closely. There is a lot that can be learned by looking at
competitors' web sites and analyzing them. These are the things
that you should look for:
1. Make sure you check to see what products or services
competitors offer, and note anything that's different from your
own offerings.
2. Look for gaps that you could fill.
3. Think about the look, feel and functionality of the
competitors' web sites.
4. Check the advertising campaigns and offers they are running.
5. Look at their strengths and weaknesses, from the customer's
point of view.
6. See if you can figure out their strategy.
If you are dealing with a public company then you can get
detailed information from proper sources and write down the
names of their key players. Then it is possible to look for any
interviews, articles or speeches they might have made about
relating to their web site.
Look for Strengths, Vulnerabilities, and Gaps
Now summarize the information you have found into few sentences
for each competitor, highlighting the strengths and weaknesses
of each one. Note down the strategies to be followed to counter
your competitor's offering.
With this research, you can create or modify your marketing
plan. Be sure to include how you intend to deal with
competition, and what steps you think you would require getting
top rankings in the search engines. On the basis of your
research on your competitors' websites, you need to make a
decision of either to compete with your competitor or walk out
of the competition and focus on other areas.
Don't get frightened away prematurely, though - make sure you
know what you are getting into before you start, and don't let
big companies intimidate you. Remember that you can move faster
than your competitors if you have confidence in your abilities.
All you need to do is offer your customers things that they
cannot find anywhere else.
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