Learn from your competitors' websites

Use your competition to your advantage.  They will be trying to do the same as you; but you are in an ideal position to understand both the problems and solutions they are experiencing.

A website is never finished and you need to think of regular improvements so that the site looks fresh and interesting to your visitors and search engines.  After a while it often gets harder to think of new ideas because you have already tried the main ones and  have developed a set view.

This is where your competitors can be so useful.  You can see alternative approaches and test out those you like. Find those that come higher up the search engine results and analyse the reasons for their strength.  This is not an easy process and you may well be left with only vague clues but even so that may generate priorities for improvement.

Of course, search engine rankings are only one part of the story - and not necessarily the most important.  Your site may attract fewer visitors but if it converts more of them to customers it will be more profitable.

Web usability testers say that tests done by as few as half a dozen people should reveal the majority of potential problem areas.  Ask some friends who are not involved in the business to complete some standard tasks on your and a competitor's websites.  They should be able to tell you which was easiest to use and why.

If you ask someone to test your site, DO NOT ask them what they think of it.  99% will give you a standard polite answer. That gives you no information you can use to make improvements.  You need to listen for the criticisms.  That is easier to elicit if you ask for a comparison between 2 sites.

Talk to you next month

Stephen Orr