So… What Is Your Competition Up To?
Keywords: home business, competition, keyword research
Running a home business takes some serious work. You have to keep track of how your business is progressing, whether you’re making or losing money, think of things you can do better… the list goes on.
One step that is easy to skip is paying attention to what your competition is doing. There’s nothing wrong with this, so long as you keep things legal. Keeping an eye on your competition can motivate you to work harder and may even give you new ideas.
I don’t mean ideas necessarily stolen directly from the competition. However, you can look at what someone else is doing and think of something with your own twist. Or you might spot a market segment you’d missed.
One easy way is to use the RSS services of sites such as Google News. Drop your competition’s name and/or website into a search there, then put the RSS feed into your feed reader. You’ll be updated any time there’s something new with the competition or any time someone says something about them that makes it into Google News. You can also sign up for emailed Google Alerts, make Technorati watch lists, search Yahoo News… think about where you are likely to find the information you need.
While perhaps not as revealing as they once were due to waning popularity, you can sometimes figure out what keywords your competition is targeting by looking at the meta tags in their website’s source code. These are now only minimally used by search engines, but many people still take the time to drop in at least a few keywords.
Google Alerts are good for more than just keeping an eye on what people are saying about your competitor. They’re also good for keeping an eye on who’s linking to them. Google does not list all links, however, so this is not 100% accurate. It is a place to start, however. Yahoo also provides a link search. In Google, type link:domain.com, or in Yahoo type linkdomain:domain.com in the search box to see the results.
While there are a variety of tools out there to check link popularity, I like DigitalPoint’s Keyword Tracker. It’s easy to use and stores your data. You have to sign up for a free account and you need a Google API and install a script on your server to track Yahoo and MSN rankings, but that’s all pretty easy.
No matter how interesting an idea you find your competitor working on, you need to be ethical and not steal the idea directly. Don’t go making an exact copy. Figure out how you can do better. Tighten the niche, add a little more to the product or service, offer more information… you get the idea. Or decide that it’s not a direction you need to go because it’s a distraction from your core business. You never know.
Pay much more attention to your business than to that of your competition. You don’t want to be distracted from the work you need to get done. Your business will grow at its own pace and there’s only so much you can do about it in your particular situation. You may have limitations on time or money the other business owner does not. Or you might be doing amazingly better, in which case you need to avoid complacency.
Stephanie Foster blogs at www.aspectsofhomebusiness.com on issues relating to home business. Read her blog at www.aspectsofhomebusiness.com to learn more about traffic generation tactics.
Previous Articles Highlighter:
Advertising Balloons Rentals - A Broader And Effective Ads Strategy (1)
Renting the twice or thrice larger than life Inflatable balloon during corporate launching allow maximized visibility of visitors and other viewers. Incentive goes with the offer of complete design and services, from booking, operations, and final turn over.
Finding The Right Online Training Program (2)
The guidance offered for online computer training should be practical in nature. If you are planning to enroll in online IT training, you need to evaluate the certification programs, to determine if they are worth the time, energy and money.
A Career In Image Consulting (3)
Tony Jacowski is a quality analyst for The MBA Journal. Aveta Solution's Six Sigma Online ( www.sixsigmaonline.org ) offers online six sigma training and certification classes for lean six sigma, black belts, green belts, and yellow belts.
Effective Online Six Sigma Training (4)
Online training is the best answer to all these problems. It is cost effective and flexible. The aim behind implementing Six Sigma is to design near-perfect business processes, which will boost overall business performance.
Writing Effective Emails (5)
Headlines hook prospects and lead them to the next line. There you start to build their interest to ensure they read the next sentence... and each subsequent one.
How Do GMAT Scoring Algorithms Affect You? (6)
It is important to note that there is no simple relationship between the number of questions answered correctly during a single GMAT session and the associated cumulative score. Each question in each section of the GMAT is assigned a unique weight and earlier questions in the section are worth more than later questions while quantitative questions are generally worth more than verbal ones.
Four Tips For Effective Article Marketing (7)
It takes time for this strategy to start generating results. Many people get started with article marketing just to quit a few weeks later. It is going to take several months of hard work before your articles finally start to make their rounds.
Getting The Best Golf Bags For Your Clubs (8)
Most golfers don't have the benefits of a caddy like the professionals, and it can be a long way around the course. Choosing golf bags that can carry all your equipment easily and are comfortable and easy to move around is important.
Choose The Right Golf Balls For Your Game (9)
Balls for distance Many of the golf balls on the market today are designed to give players more distance than ever before. These balls are hi-tech and can fly through the air at incredible speed.
Know Your Site Builder Affiliate Program (10)
No one can do it all for you. That is a big lie we have all seen over the years in many business fields. A very few companies do have the goods to show you the way.
Newer Articles Highlighter:
Importance Of Moisture In Air Purification System (1)
- If the moisture content of air goes below 40%, the chances of nose bleeding are more. Thus you will have to see that the moisture level is around 50 and 60 percent to prevent this problem.
Chiropractic Careers (2)
Most of the discomfort that pregnant women experience is due to hormonal changes and sudden weight gain. Chiropractic treatment can be used to relieve the usual back pain or joint pain that occurs during pregnancy.
A Career In The Cleaning Services Industry (3)
To prevent any kind of conflict, the client should be given a clear idea about the working of the management. Some people opt for independent work, if they have a thorough knowledge of the working of the industry, and ample experience to take up jobs on their own.
Wireless Home Theatre Systems. The Time Has Come. (4)
Before those Big Bucks leave your wallet, do some research. Get your best value on an investment that is intended to last a few years and be able to evolve as new technology comes along.
The Four Foundations Of Online Success (5)
I say instead that The RIGHT Knowledge is Power. If knowledge alone were enough then these things would be true. University professors would rule the world. Politicians would stay home and we would run the country.
A Home Theatre Projector (6)
Cost alone is worth considering. A 'Big Screen', whether Plasma, LCD or Rear Projection can easily cost thousands of dollars, the larger, the higher cost. Even at 6 or 7 thousand dollars you may be restricted to 70 inch diagonal width.
FICO Credit Scoring (7)
Each of the credit reporting agencies has developed its own version of the credit score intended to compete with Fair Isaac's score. Although not as widely used, these scores (for example Trans Union's "TransRisk" score or Experian's "ScoreX" score) are less expensive than the FICO score.
Slide Into The Sleek Bold Look Of Contemporary Design (8)
Elements such as texture are used to bring depth and dimension to otherwise neutral arrangements. This aim is manifested in the recent popularity of textured fabrics, dimensional rugs, and frisee carpets.
4 Key Strategies To Reach The Top Of The Search Engine Rankings (9)
There are tons of 'ugly' sites making very handsome amounts of money. Once you've been successful in getting to the top of the search engines, you must keep working to keep yourself there.
Overview Of California Sales And Use Tax (10)
Out of the fifty-eight counties of California, twenty-four counties impose individual optional SUT levies that among other purposes are used to fund local programs such as schools, hospital services, public libraries and transportation projects.