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Free Website Content
Staying Ahead of the Competition
Competition
By Sharon Housley
Staying ahead of the competition can be
an on-going struggle. While it is not healthy for a
company to focus too much time and attention on the
competition, it is important to stay abreast of what
your competition is doing. When evaluating the competition,
assess the industry giants and companies closest to
your space. But be sure that you don't exclude the small
companies in your assessments. Sometimes a small competitor
can have innovative ideas or marketing concepts, but
may lack the capital to really benefit from the concept.
This may present you with an opportunity.
When evaluating the competition pay attention
to the following:
1. Pricing
Evaluate your competitor's pricing scheme
and price structure. What is the price point of your
competitor's products or services? Are your products
better or inferior? Do the product differences justify
any cost difference?
2. Meta Tags / Search Engine Optimization
Evaluate your competitor's website. View
the meta data of competing websites. Look at their Alexa
ranking, and review who links to their website. Are
there links you are missing that might be beneficial
to your website?
3. Search Rankings
Perform generic searches in the major
search engines (Google, Yahoo, MSN) for critical phrases.
Determine how the competition stacks up in the search
listings. Do any of your competitors own important rankings.
Consider your search engine strategy and how you can
better compete in the search engines.
4. Specials / Marketing Campaigns
Access your competitor's special offers
and any marketing campaigns. Determine how they are
defining themselves. Evaluate any niche marketing --
perhaps they have located an untapped market that might
be ripe for you as well.
5. Advertising
Where do your competitors spend their
advertising dollars? Watch for trends -- an increase
in spending may mean that a competitor has seen a significant
return on investment, and it may represent a channel
that you should also consider advertising in.
6. Evaluate Links
Determine who is linking to your competitor's
websites. By using the special Google search feature
links: domainname.com you can see the indexed web pages
that link to a specific domain. Are you missing any
important link opportunities?
7. Evaluate USP
Evaluate your competitors USP (Unique
Selling Propositions). This will give you an idea of
how a company sees themselves, and what they feel their
strengths are. How does their unique selling proposition
differ from yours. Are there areas within your company
that need work so you can compete more effectively?
8. Industry Authority Assessments
How do industry authorities view the competition?
Are they considered industry leaders, or is the space
wide open with an undefined leader? Understanding how
you stack up compared to your competitors will help
you assess your strengths weaknesses, and define your
business.
Knowing your competition is an important
aspect to your business, but it should not be the sole
factor that dictates your decisions. Educate yourself
about your competitors so you can make informed decisions
and compete effectively.
About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com
software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds
and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for
RecordForAll http://www.recordforall.com
audio recording and editing software.
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This article may be used freely in opt-in
publications and websites, provided that the resource
box is included and the links are active. A courtesy
copy of the issue or a link to any online posting would
be greatly appreciated send an email to sharon@notepage.net
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