Staying Competitive With a Competitor Analysis: Keys to Stay Ahead

Your competition could be getting ahead and you might not even know it. How do you give yourself a competitive edge and make yourself stand out? A good place to start developing a business strategy is to study your competitors, learn from their weaknesses, and implement their strengths. 

This can be accomplished by putting together a competitor analysis. Competitor analyses are great for gaining useful insights into your competition and helping you stay ahead! Here are some things incorporate into a competitor analysis:

Identify Competitors

You might already have a general idea of who your competitors are, but it’s important to be thorough by analyzing both direct and indirect competition. While indirect competitors may not be selling the same services you are, they can help provide a bigger picture of who may be competing for your customers. 

It’s also important not to overlook the “small fish” in the pond of competition. While seemingly unthreatening, every successful company had small beginnings. You want to make sure you’re not caught off guard if a smaller competitor grows and steals a piece of the market.

Analyze the Online Presence of Your Competition

There’s a lot that goes into analyzing the online presence of your competitors. One of the first things you should evaluate is how functional their websites are. How easy is it to request a service? What types of services do they offer? A website is often considered to be the online storefront of a business, so it’s good to get an idea of how your competitors present themselves.

In addition to their website, be sure to check their social media pages. How frequently do they engage with their audience? What type of branding and voice do they use? What are their strengths and weaknesses? What do their reviews say? Online reviews give insight into the customer experience a company is providing. Reading competitors’ negative reviews can help you understand what went wrong and prevent similar situations. 

User Research Tools

When you get deep into doing competitor analysis, it can be difficult to keep track of all the info you’re gathering. Luckily there are many online tools to make the process easier. Some we use and recommend are SEMrush and SpyFu. 

User research tools will expand your abilities to track a wide range of data and make more informed decisions. You’ll be more organized and save time in your research. It’s important to take advantage of all the valuable tools available to you to stay ahead.

Start Getting Competitive Today

Creating a competitor analysis isn’t a one-and-done type of deal. As your company (and your competitors) continue to evolve, it’s important to know what’s working and not working on a regular basis.

The opportunities to grow your business are endless! Having a strong competitor analysis will help you take advantage of all the opportunities your company has to grow and reach its goals. To learn more about creating a competitor analysis, be sure to reach out to the team at Spot On Solutions and we’ll help you get started!