Most Prominent Ways for Website Analysis in 2021

We often talk about how important it is to focus on your project and not get distracted by others. That’s true. Even so, sneaking a peek at your competitors’ website analysis isn’t a bad idea, especially when it comes to getting feedback.

New content can be written, new ideas can be gotten for what to try, and new opportunities can be found. In addition, you can track competitor data without having to spend a lot of money on different tools.

You can analyse your competitors’ sites to get ideas for your own by following these simple tips.

What can I learn from my website competitors? 

Word to the wise: Before you open up the firehose of information, determine what you want to learn from the competition. Without this, looking at your competitors’ websites might become a real time-waster, where you compare yourself to them and feel more and more self-doubt. Don’t fall down that rabbit hole!

How do I find my website competitors?

You might already know who the competition is. You might see them across the street right now. However, your competitor may be in your neighbourhood or on the other side of the world in many industries.

• Make a list of ten or so websites similar to yours (similar business size and target audience). The free version will only show you a maximum of 10 competitors. Enter your website URL or that of a competitor you already know, then choose “Similar Sites.”

You can also do this the old-fashioned way by typing in some of your top keywords into Google and seeing what results come up. Low tech, yet free and effective.

• Find out which websites are the most successful from your list of competitors. When you type the URLs into SimilarWeb, you’ll get an overview of their traffic and other statistics. You will also be able to see where their traffic comes from (e.g., social media, email, search engines) and where they receive referrals.

This is an excellent way to get the lay of the land, and you might discover that the website you thought was viral doesn’t get that much traffic at all (or vice versa).

Prominent Ways for Website Analysis

Evaluate your competitors’ website content

It does not mean that a competitor has won the website game because they get a lot of traffic. Sometimes a website receives traffic for content that isn’t very good!

Please pay close attention to their brand

Do they have a logo? What are their brand colors? Are they consistent in how they give themselves? Perhaps they are trying to go for a specific type of personality–sophisticated, playful, expensive.

When you know your competitors’ brand identity, you can either emulate it or make your brand unique. By getting a logo for your brand, you can give it the polish and professionalism you need to stand out.

Find out what website tools they’re using

Examine the tools and plugins your competitors are using on their websites using a free service like Built with. See where their website is hosted, and what email services they use. Maybe you can get some ideas for tools you can use on your site.

Monitor competitors on social media

There are many tools available for monitoring social media. Beware of valuable software that will take up too much of your time.

For a basic overview of your competitors’ social media activity, you can follow them and observe what’s going on in their feeds. Perhaps you can focus on a different social media channel if they’re primarily on Facebook.

Which of their posts is performing well? Is there anything you would do differently? Are they posting 100 times a day? How is their response time? These problems will help you craft your own social media strategy.

Look at their pricing page

Take a look at your competitors’ prices. What features do they offer? How do their prices compare to yours? Are they using any discounts and promotions?

If they don’t have a pricing page, that’s an excellent opportunity for you. If your competitors haven’t staked out their prices, it may be scary, but transparency in pricing is a good thing. Plus, you can offer features and perks your competitors cannot. Ha, few tips for designing your pricing page.

Get a photo of their SEO strategy and traffic

The number of tools out there to dig into your competitors’ backlinks, keywords, referrals, and more is ridiculous.

Beginners should focus on free SEO tools like SEMRush. Type in the URL for your competitors’ websites, and you’ll find out the keywords that are bringing organic traffic (traffic from search engines) to their sites. (The free version of SEMRush has a restrained number of searches and results, but it’s a great way to get started).

Become a customer

While you might hate the idea of spending money on a competitor, it’s important to swallow your pride and do it. Sign up and make a purchase.

What was the process like? What worked well and what didn’t? Look at their checkout flow, the information they’re gathering, and the tone of voice of their brand. Could you take advantage of any shortcomings their company has (for example, maybe their shipping times are too long)?

Subscribe to their newsletter if they have one so that you can stay informed of their updates. Get in touch with customer service and see how they respond to your common question.

Everybody makes mistakes, even that competitor’s website that looks all shiny and nice. When you’re a customer, you’ll see what gaps there are (and what opportunities there are).

When should I do competitor research?

Don’t get bogged down looking at the competition. A good time to do this is when you’re starting a new website, contemplating a redesign, seeking a blog topic or something to write, or just as a regular housekeeping task.

In the end, most competitor research won’t tell you anything you don’t already know: that building traffic and achieving online success means sticking to the basics:

• Writing good content,
• using social media and other PR tools,
• building links, and
• taking advantage of your SEO tools.

Conclusion

A competitor’s website is a tool to make your site better, not something to be scared of. With these free methods, you will gain insight into who your competitors are, what their traffic looks like, as well as benchmarks and ideas to apply to your website. Moreover, you will begin to see opportunities for filling these gaps on your site.