Keeping an Eye on the Competition

Go to Google. Enter in a keyword term or phrase that you think a prospective customer would use to find your service/product (ie: if you are a Burbank Chiropractor, you might type in "Burbank Chiropractors").

Now, does your business website come up, or is it that darn competitor of yours that you can't seem to top? If you're seeing your competitor first then don't huff and puff about how much you paid your website designer, or just give up in utter dismay...

Instead try making a habit of visiting your competition's websites. Check them out, throughly. Look at the ones that are ranked above you. Don't get competitive during this research, just stay inquisitive. Take a look at their:

1. Navigation: is it easy to navigate around their site? Can you find exactly what your looking for within a click or two? Can you find your way back to the Home page without getting lost or pressing your "back" button a million times? Is there anything on their site that you can use to improve your site's navigation?

2. Aesthetics: Do your competitor's websites have great images? Do the colors they use seem more appropriate than yours? Is their logo clean, professional looking and easy to identify? Do their images stir up emotion that would drive a customer to contact them? Is their something about the way their site looks that you like and could incorporate into your site?

3. Contact Info: Is their contact information readily available on every page? Is your contact info as visible as theirs? Do they offer special customer service that you could incorporate into your business? Do they highlight or feature their customer service in a way that you don't?

4. Content: Is the text on your competition's websites keyword rich? Do they update it regularly? Do they have a blog? Do they have a newsletter? Do they have tips or FAQ's that you could add to your website?

5. Website URL: Does their URL have keywords in it? Does yours?

Those are just a few things to keep in mind when looking at your competition. Remember, reviewing your competition is about getting ideas for your own site. Look for things on their sites that speak to you. Try to look at the site through a customer's eyes. Don't critic what you don't like, just try and figure out why a customer would call them instead of you.

For more SEO tips read the SEO article posted on justBurbank.com.