Taking Advantage of Your Competition’s Shortcomings

Eric Brantner
SEO Writer

I realize I’m running the risk of sounding cut-throat, but one of the keys to managing a successful business is to take advantage of your competition’s shortcomings. By figuring out the areas in which they’re lacking, you can hit them where it hurts, taking market share from them.
How does this relate to internet marketing? It’s simple. Study the online marketing techniques of your main competitors to determine which areas they need to improve on. Then, simply outperform them in those areas.

Copywriting

For example, you can begin by viewing the copy of their website. One of the biggest mistakes companies make on their websites is to talk only about themselves. Their copy is filled with “we” and “our company” while rarely mentioning how it affects “you.” Customers don’t care about your company. All they want to know is what’s in it for you. If you can connect with consumers better than your competitors, you’ll stand a great chance of nabbing potential customers.

Keywords

Unless your competition has been following an active SEO strategy for several years, chances are they’re missing out on some quality keywords. Analyze the sites of your 3 main competitors to figure out which key phrases they are targeting and, more importantly, which ones they aren’t. Now, you want to make sure the phrases they’re missing are worth targeting and that they aren’t cheap keywords. The key is to find key phrases with decent search volume that others are missing out on.

Social Media

Has your competition jumped aboard the social media bandwagon yet? Or are they waiting to see if Twitter is a fad or blogging is a waste of time? The web is an interactive platform. Regardless of whether or not your competition is involved with social media, your company needs to be. You can connect with potential clients, existing customers, and important industry leaders. If you’re lucky, your competition hasn’t gotten wise to social media marketing, and you can exploit their oversight by establishing a strong social web presence.

There are several more ways to take advantage of the competition’s shortcomings. PPC, off-site article promotion, and link building are just a few of them. What tips would you add to this list?