Understanding your competition is important. When you understand them, you can position your business to stand apart. You can create an effective SEO and keyword development strategy. You can maximize your competition. And finally, you can position your products and services to sell.

When you put together your business plan, you probably performed a competitive analysis. If you didn’t, now is the time to do so. After you complete a thorough competitive analysis, your work isn’t finished. The market evolves, and your competitors do as well. It’s essential to keep up with these changes. While you shouldn’t overly worry about your competition, it’s wise to review them every six months or quarterly.

So…how well do you know your competition?

Here are five questions to get you thinking about your competition.

Question #1 – Are you aware of who your competitors are? Do you have an analysis of them? It’s hard to set your business apart if you don’t know your competition. Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP) is usually developed with your competitors in focus. You need to understand what you do better or differently to provide value and benefits to your audience.

Question #2 – How often do you presently analyze and evaluate your competition? Again, it’s not wise to obsess about your competition. However, it is wise to create an analysis strategy. Semi-annually, annually or quarterly are common periods to review your competition and update your analysis.

Question #3 – What are your competitions’ primary keywords? What are their Alexa stats? How do you compare? It’s important to know not only where your competition stands, but also where you stand in comparison. Create a chart or system to track this information.

Question #4 – Are you paying attention to your competitions content? Do you follow your competition on social networking sites? Do you receive alerts when they publish new content? Do you subscribe to their blog or newsletter? Simple strategies can help you stay abreast of your competition. You can collect the information and review it when appropriate. Or you can review it as you learn about it. Often, your competition’s actions and content can be helpful to you. Their actions might inspire a new content idea, product or service.

Question #5 – Does your competitive analysis and strategy include:

  • Keyword Analysis
  • Linking Analysis
  • Products/Service Analysis
  • Content Analysis
  • Advertising Analysis
  • SEO Page Ranking

Yes, your competition is watching you and you’re foolish to think otherwise, so you might as well return the favor. Take advantage of automated technology to track their activities. Create a plan to assess your competition and reassess your strategies and tactics. There’s a lot to learn from the people that challenge you. Your competition may be the motivating force you need to take your business and website to the next level.

So what do you think? What do you do to monitor your competition? Leave me a comment below.