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Home > Resources > Internet Marketing 101
 Internet Marketing
- Evaluating Your Competition
How to Use Your Competition to Help You Market Your Site
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Before you design your Web site you should check up on your competition. How sophisticated or unsophisticated are they? Here are some things to look for.
Sizing up your competitors' Websites - Checkmate!
Keywords & Key Phrases
First, determine what keywords and key phrases that your competition is using. Determine the top Web sites for the keywords and phrases that you intend on using. You can emulate their success and go one better.
Try one search engine at a time. Start with Google and note what Web sites are showing up in the top 20 rankings for keywords and key phrases you intend on using. Click on the first Web site. Eyeball the site for elements that might be causing the site to rank at the top of the list:
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- What keywords are they using?
- Where are the keywords listed on the Web site?
- Where do they appear on the page?
- top, middle, or bottom of the page?
- Are these keywords being used in the page title?
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| Use this information to analyze the page. Next, look at what is 'underneath' the Web site in the programming. Click on VIEW, then SOURCE in your Web browser to access the programming code. Can you see keywords and phrases used in Meta tags, Image "ALT" tags, and so on? If the page is well done, save the page's Source code. Simply cut and paste the code into a word processor file. Note what keywords and key phrases are getting results.
Once you have searched out one search engine move onto another major search engine and repeat the process. When you have researched a particular keyword, start again with Google on another keyword or key phrase set.
The key objective is to emulate the top ranked Web sites without stealing anything that is protected by law. Once you have captured the code and found the trends and layouts that are working you can begin to see why certain Web sites rank well.
One note about searching the competition: some Web marketers may be "cloaking" their source code. This means you that the code you view on their Web site isn’t the code that search engines are finding on their Web site. There are techniques you can utilize to determine this.
Design, Layout, Strategy and "Call to Action"
Next determine what page and design elements and site layout your competition is using.
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- What is their "call to action"? Can you determine what action they want Web site visitors to take?
- What attitude and feel does their Web site convey?
- What are they doing on-line to make it easier, faster or less expensive to do business with them?
- How are they positioning their brand?
- What are they doing on-line to create ongoing communications and feedback with their customers?
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What Web site structure, page layout, and design can you utilize to improve on what your competition is offering? Can you make access to information on your Web site better or make subscribing to an email newsletter easier or more convenient? Determine how you can make your Web site more "usable".
Go to school on your competition. Study keywords, key phrases, programming, layout and design. Then better your competition and you'll be on your way to on-line success!
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 Selecting Keywords & Phrases | Successful Website Design
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