What are Your Competitors Writing About?


Whether it’s for your small business blog or newsletter, researching what your competition is writing about will benefit you in two important ways:
  1. You will have something with which to compare your own content strategy and your execution of it.
  2. It’ll trigger new content ideas and topics to write about.
After you've assembled a list of blogs to inspect, these are the things to pay attention to:
  • layout and design (look and feel)
  • ease of reading and interaction
  • keywords and topics covered
  • writing style and formatting
  • frequency and consistency
  • the value offered
Now consider:
  • How does your content measure up?
  • What holes do you need to fill?
  • What can you do to improve? Make a plan.
You don't have any competition, you say? OK follow this same process and research others in your industry or servicing the same target market. You'll get the same benefits.

Click to Tweet this Article

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

If Efficiency is Your Goal, You'll Want These Tools

Image
“You’re assuming efficiency is my goal,” my good friend replied one day when I suggested a better way (to me) of doing something. Oddly, I might be inclined to say that about some parts of my own work (just not whatever it was we were discussing at the time). This is not a story about the dangers of assuming (although that could be another article). This time I want to dish out some advice about how to be more efficient (since Danielle doesn’t want to hear it). I’ve written before about my essential small business tools ( Part 1 and Part 2 ) but these ones below are especially important to my productivity . FreshBooks (aff) Immediately upon implementing FreshBooks, I saw an improvement in outstanding accounts receivable. Reminders are automated and I rarely have to follow up with anyone myself. No more wondering, "Did I already remind that client?" Canva I've been using graphics applications for over 20 years - for fun and work. Nothing beats Canva's ...
Keep reading »

Action and Email Don't Mix

Image
Reactionary Workflow – reacting to what’s coming in rather than being proactive. It’s a new term but a familiar feeling… and it sure did resonate with me. Being constantly connected means that it’s really easy for people to contact us. As a consequence, our ability to prioritize is crippled by the unending flow of communication. It has become harder to direct our work with intention. We’ve relinquished control over our focus. One of my own personal focus areas last year was to be, well, more focused. What I found was that just focusing on being focused didn’t cut it. I needed tactics… and discipline. Here are some things that I found useful: Blocking out time for specific tasks , especially tasks related to developing my own business. Turning off email for certain periods during the day – need I say more? Taking time to create , rather than just responding to emails. Yes, I might be suggesting taking more time. Adding value to my communications has resulted in many ben...
Keep reading »

The Bottom Line About Newsletter Bottoms

Image
There seems to be some thinking that getting people to read to the bottom of a newsletter is a most desirous goal. And, if getting people to read to the bottom (read the whole newsletter) is so important, isn't putting the really good stuff at the bottom the best way to make that happen? The short answer is that it doesn't matter. Oh, the placement of content matters but whether someone reads to the bottom doesn't... at all. If you think it does, you are thinking about your newsletter strategy all wrong. It's all about your reader finding value in opening your newsletter. That value might be in the form of useful information or it might be interesting reading or both. And it definitely shouldn't be hidden away at the bottom. In fact, it should be immediately obvious. Having readers discover value in hearing from you regularly is the goal. It doesn't matter how much they read. Your readers aren't thinking, "I have to read through all this other stuff be...
Keep reading »

Guest Post: 10 Ways to Figure out What to Write on Your Blog When You Don’t Know What to Write on Your Blog

Image
Frances Leary When I saw this blog post by Frances Leary, I immediately asked her if I could share it with you. Frances is owner of Wired Flare , specializing in SEO, Internet Marketing & Social Media for franchises and organizations in Canada, the U.S. and Europe. While she's blogging about blogging, all of these tips below work for newsletters as well... We've all been there. Complete brain freeze.  The only problem? You need, need, need to get this blog article out STAT. You've already pushed it to the last minute, and you’re down to the wire. It simply can’t wait.  So you’re in a predicament. What do you do?  Truth be told, we often find ourselves in this predicament, and when we’re in it, these are some of the things we do…hopefully they can be a starting place for you, too. Tell a success story – Think of moments big or small that have happened in your business recently that can be a celebration. Did a client give you a pat on the back? Can you gi...
Keep reading »

How to Make Smart Marketing Decisions

Image
Small business owners can spend a lot of time and money on marketing initiatives. Sometimes we're successful and sometimes not so much. I think of marketing as an experiment because - really - there are no magic bullets. There are best practices, there is good and bad advice, there are lots of experts and gurus. But we, the business owners, have to make the final decisions and... live with the results. Marketing isn't cheap (even if it's our own time) and poor decision-making can hurt more than our wallets - our reputation may also be at risk. So, how do we make decisions about things we have little experience with? How can we possibly know what all of our options might be when it comes to getting a new website? Or knowing which social media platforms will work best? Or building a content strategy? We can't... unless we put some extra effort into it. Step #1: Clearly identify the decision that needs to be made. Sometimes it'll be staring you in the face ...
Keep reading »

Brainstorming by Email

Image
Long ago and far away, when I worked for a multinational, sometimes I brainstormed with my team by email. I was working in Georgetown ON and had staff in Toronto, Regina and Abbotsford. Email was fairly new back then, and a welcome alternative to scheduling group conference calls across the time zones. I could start with a discussion question sent to the customer service reps, asking them to add comments and send onto the production planners. The planners would give their input and send it on to the warehouse staff. Eventually, I'd get back an email that loosely mapped out a process. I've never used email so productively since. Now, I don't have staff but I still have a team. And I'm usually brainstorming ideas, not processes. Here's the funny thing, I can sit by myself and scratch notes on paper... and get overwhelmed with ideas. So I start writing an email to my cohorts explaining and asking for feedback. And through that process, I often find clarity - wit...
Keep reading »

Here's How Writing Content Turns You Into an Expert

Image
There are many marketing benefits to regular blogging or writing for a newsletter. But other - perhaps more important - benefits may not be clear until after you've been doing it a while. Regardless of how much you know, sooner or later you're going to need to do a little online research. Does that article you just wrote really include all the important facts or items? Especially for checklist type articles, you want to make sure to include everything relevant. An item missed from a list of items to take camping in the winter could have dire consequences, not the least of which is your reputation. Does your article agree or disagree with others' advice or information? Finding other references that support your message is good - you can grab quotes or link to it. Finding others who disagree is important if there are a lot of them - you may need to justify your message in that context. Do you know the latest developments in your industry or affecting your target ...
Keep reading »

Using Pinterest To Create Brand Moodboards: Part I

Image
(guest post by Alison Knott) So you’re starting the process of making a brand or logo for your new business. Or, you’re about to hire someone to do it for you. Congratulations! It’s now time for the daunting task of articulating whatever the hell is in your head into something concrete. Eep! I’m here to help you help yourself. It can seem difficult to put into words how you do (and do not) want to represent your brand that doesn’t exist yet. So… how do the pros do it? We do research and create moodboards, which are a visual collection of images, colours and graphics to illustrate a certain mood . Now, as a brand designer I use Adobe InDesign and Illustrator to put final mood boards together for my clients. But you want to know what has saved me and my clients so much time? Having clients send along their own little Pinterest brand modeboard collection to help me get inside their head. Yes! That thing you’ve been using to save 783 pictures of living room renos you’re nev...
Keep reading »

Write without "I"

Image
It's surprisingly difficult to write a blog article without using the word "I". Removing "I" completely is not your goal. But whittling down its use could be. How do you know when you have a problem? When every paragraph starts with "I", that's a good signal. (Guilty here.) We want to connect with our readers and that will involve sharing our thoughts, feelings and experiences. Hard to do without using "I" sometimes. But remember,  this is marketing and it's not about you . Here are a few things to consider: Bury the leading "I" , especially at the beginning of a paragraph, by reorganizing the sentence. Don't substitute the "I" with a past participle. For example, "I wrote in my journal" is still better than "my journal was written in". Put yourself in your reader's shoes. Come at the topic from a different angle. Think about how a reader might retell your message to some...
Keep reading »

How Long should a Newsletter be?

Image
@DaleyProgress How long should a newsletter be in this day and age? — Lino (@LinosVersion) December 5, 2013 The ideal answer is: as long as it needs to be to give value. The real answer is: it depends. Here are some of the things it depends on: Frequency Typically, the more often you send your newsletter, the shorter it will be. In my experience, though, that tends to be a function of the work involved with preparing it. Is there such a thing as providing too much value? Goals If one of your goals is to build your reputation as an expert, your newsletters will need to include a fair bit of content in the form of original articles (or images). If you have well-defined goals, these will always help you decide what to include and what to leave out. When in doubt, ask yourself if any of your goals are being met by the content you’re considering. Your commitment The perfect strategy is to put out as much amazing content as you can. Your actual strategy will depend...
Keep reading »