Check your competition online

It’s clear that as more and more people move online, small businesses will have to do so as well.  Even if it’s just a small basic website that allows people to see what you offer, where you are, and how to contact you, an online presence isn’t a luxury anymore, it’ s a must have.  But once you do have that page up and start to drive traffic to it, either through online or offline means, it’s important to also monitor your competition.  For example, if you’re one of four pizza shops in the town you operate in, you have to assume that your competitors also have a site, and are working to drive traffic to it.  If you’re not monitoring your competition, then you’re doing your business a disservice.  Even customers going to a competitor’s site to check a phone number could be business that you might have gotten otherwise.

But how?  Well that’s the subject of a recent post by Bridget Ayers on the “Get Smart” blog.  Ayers lays out three tools that you can use online to not only monitor the competition, but also identify the competition’s search marketing strategies to better understand what you should be doing to keep up and get out in front.   It might be a scary proposition to have to not only run your business but also manage your online marketing and search efforts, but it’s something that must be done.  Sites like compete.com and tools that Google offer can make all the difference.

By using these online tools to better monitor your competition to see how they’re doing, you can truly succeed and begin to reap the benefits of your website in ways you didn’t think were possible.