Running a small business comes with immense rewards, but also great responsibilities. One of those responsibilities is running a website that garners consumer traction and keeps up with competitors. In the business of running a company, tracking competitors can fall somewhat low on the priority list. Maintaining your own website is a job, let alone looking after others!
However, monitoring and strategizing around business competitors is incremental to the success of your own online marketing strategizing. Here’s why:
- Know which audiences your competitors are trying to reach. Maybe they’re not such a competitor, after all!
- Know which keywords web surfers are using to get to competitors’ sites. Use these in your site, too!
- What user experiences are your competitors providing on their sites? Are these superior to your own? Can you improve your own user experience?
How to find competitors:
- First things first, type in your own name into the Google search or other search engine bars of choice. Notice which brands pull up ahead of your own or in near proximity to your placement. If you are not yet placing on the top page, focus on top page results.
- Now try keywords that you would use to plug in to find your product or words that you imagine your consumers use to find your products and site. Repeat the same analysis of brands on the first page and those in close proximity to your own name.
Competitor research:
- Get acquainted with SEMrush.com. This website will change your online experience! Find out what keywords competitors are using to draw consumers to sites. Get an idea of who is investing in keywords and how an investment on your behalf might benefit you in the scope of competitive placement. It might not be beneficial, and that’s a valuable takeaway.
- Check out Builtwith.com. Find out what online marketing and web experience tools brands are using, and make sure you’re staying up to speed with competitive sites.
Overall, having an idea of how your competitors rank on search engines and with consumers gives you a better idea of your brand’s online position, how much work needs to be done or maybe, how remarkably you’re leading the pack!
