Competitive research sounds like a negative term, but it is not! It is essential if you want to grow as a business. It is simple as this; if you’re going to be on top of the industry, you need to know who you are up against.

Having a look at what others are doing and how it is working for them is never a loss. Your rivals can be your best teachers. You don’t necessarily have to replicate it as it is, but you sure can pick something.

You know what it even better? Researching on a thriving competitor. There must be a reason they are so successful why not model them?

This research is a part of a business strategy, and there is nothing wrong with conducting it. We understand it may sometimes feel like you are stealing or doing something illegal. Well, there is nothing like that, and it is perfectly fine to have a peek at your competitor’s success.

The significant benefits this research can get you are:

• Time-saving
• Learn from others’ mistakes
• New opportunities
• Chance to be different and be better than your competition
• Dominance in the market
• Agility
• Performance comparison

Competitors analysis

This is a scary term ‘competitors’ analysis,’ but don’t let it intimidate you. You don’t even have to a lot a big budget for it or hire a team. The process is straightforward and the best part; it is online.

The process can be divided into five significant steps:

• Setting goals
• Identifying competitors
• Gathering information
• Data analyzation and finding areas to improve
• Action and implementation

However, we would like to clear one thing. This is not a project that you can work on and then forget about. You are never going to be done with it because you are never going to be competition-free. The process will go on and on…

You need to be on guard, always like ALWAYS! If you sense anything that can disrupt the industry, be ready to act. Remember, you snooze you lose.

Steps To Follow

Let’s discuss the steps mentioned above in detail now…

Setting Goals

You have to be clear about the purpose of your research. There is no point in conducting a detailed analysis if you are not sure why you need it. If there is no plan in your mind to execute the results derived from the research, better not waste efforts.

Identifying Competitors

Consider this as the first obstacle you have to encounter. This may sound easy, but it can get challenging. However, there is no need to worry because we have different techniques to identify the contenders.

Gathering Information

Keep a close eye on your competitors once you have identified them. You need to collect data about their strategies and things that have worked for them.

Data Analyzation and Finding Areas to Improve

We don’t have to tell you this, and the collected data is of no use if you don’t know how to use it. Analyze their every move and identify what you need to execute to reach the highest point of success.

Action and Implementation

Use the analysis for your benefit. It should help you in gaining dominance in the industry.

Analyzing Your Competitors

There are many ways to examine, here we are listing some of the easiest.

Examine the Websites

This is the easiest thing to do. All you have to do is visit the websites of your competitors. You need to inspect the site for the following items:

• Website elements and design
• Inspect how their homepage and landing pages are
• Look for trusted logos and social proofs
• Color, fonts, and text placement
• How enticing they are to be clicked
• Pages in the navigation menu
• Deployment of social sharing buttons
• Their social media channels
• Methods of contact provided
• Client support
• Imagery
• List building elements
• Live chat or chatbot
• Pages listed on the footer

These are the things that you can check visually. There are some other essential things to check too, like:

• Time website is taking to load
• If the site is optimized for phones or not
• Themes and WordPress Plugins used

Every website out there is different, but taking notes from industry leaders is beneficial. It will make designing your site secure. You will also be able to come up with ideas that can make the user experience amazing.

In case you already have a website, you may not revamp it entirely, but you will learn about new optimization opportunities.

Website Traffic

This is important because, well, online is all about increasing web traffic. Information about their visitors will help you determine whether replicating them will work for you or not.

This is how you can do it:

Determine the locations their traffic is coming from

This will help you decide if it is going to work for your potential customers, too, or not. Knowing about possible customers aids in creating products, offering services, and you will also be able to develop resonating content.

Devices used by visitors

If you are replicating a website, then, of course, you will have some visitors. Knowing about the tools they use, you can optimize your site for them correctly.

Sources of Traffic

You should uncover which sources are used to drive more traffic. They can be sources like paid, referral, organic, direct, or social. Determining these sources will help you decide which to focus on more.

The Content

Do we have to elaborate on the importance of content? Examine the content on your rivals’ webpages and ask the following questions:

• Do they have a blog page?
• Which topics are they covering?
• What do you need to make your content quality better than theirs?
• What type of content is more highlighted?
• What is the frequency of posting content?
• Are visitors engaging in the comment section?

The answers to these questions will clear what strategy you need to one-up your rivals.

Good luck!

Author Bio

SHAEEL AHMED is an enthusiastic who provides search engine optimization services professionally. Writing about websites requires to be up to date with trends and new technologies. Only reading can help in writing and following different tech blogs is the best favor you could do to yourself in the online world. Keeping track of all the information and knowledge gained by reading becomes easier when it is converted into a well-written piece. This writer is on a mission to learn all that is there to learn about websites, their domains, and web design. The writer tries really hard to make dull web discussions interesting for everyone even for those who are not developers or designers.