March 4, 2010

iStock_stand out(resized).JPG Stay abreast of what your competitors are up to on a weekly basis through regular research. This research should include searching on key terms, checking out your competitor's ad text, and visiting competitor sites regularly.

Questions you should ask yourself:
Are their ads more compelling? Do they have a sale going on or a new product that is a better version of yours? Does their headline standout more? If you want your company to be able to compete online, regular competitive research is essential.

Benefits of regular competitive research:

You'll be happily surprised when you see your traffic and sales increasing, if you regularly pay attention to these details to set yourself apart.

You may also be surprised how little most of your competitors update their own ad text---this will give you the advantage.

Plus, you will immediately notice when new competitors enter your market---something a company should always know.

Knowing your competition's position and pitch will allow you to give potential clients a better offer so that they will come to your business instead! For more ideas on how to make your company stand out, check out Caitlin Cook's article on creating a unique selling proposition for your company.

Also, a great system for keeping up with your competitive research is to keep a spreadsheet with a tab detailing information on each key competitor. Make note of major ad text changes or ad position changes, with dates, of course, and then look back at the reports for your own account and see how the data correlates.

In summary, staying on top of your competitors through research to make your company stand out can only help grow your business online!

We've recorded a few more AdWords strategies and posted a six-minute video to help you get better results with your online advertising.

Posted by Katherine Anderson, PPC Specialist at 10:47 AM

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Filed under: Online Advertising

Comments

Innes Donaldson, Fresco Creative said:

"a great system for keeping up with your competitive research is to keep a spreadsheet with a tab detailing information on each key competitor"

I do exactly this in an effort to see who really has got their seo campaign right in terms of on page results. I feel this is a great way to stay motivated and interested in constantly improving the traffic and conversion rate your website experiences.

July 13, 2010 4:20 PM