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Let’s start this blog with a little hypothetical scenario. (Yes, this is a hypothetical situation.)

 

Your rankings are going down, your content is always insufficient, and your conversions aren’t enough to keep the business going. So, you find yourself sitting in a conference room, conducting your brainstorming session, and conceptualizing ideas for your company’s content. Then for some unknown reason, the universe’s power is not enough to squeeze your brains for any concepts or creativity. Then suddenly, you Google your keywords and saw that your competition is the first result, and you’re nowhere to be found in the first page. Hmm… quite irritating, right?

 

You do know that the only way to know how they are ranking better than you is to know what’s on their website. But, you know too that accessing their website will just increase their site’s traffic, which can be bad for you and good for them. But because you are desperate enough to get your ranks up, you couldn’t help but look…

 

And just like that, you are feasting on your competitor’s site and studying their strategies so you can keep up.

 

Now, let’s try to dissect this scenario: If you were in the shoes of that ‘losing’ company, would you do the same thing? Would you stalk your competitor to see how you can be better? For us, yes! Knowing your competition can give you an edge in the battle. It’s like when you are in the middle of a war: if you know the plans and strategies of your enemy, it would be easier for you to do a counter-attack. In the world of search engine optimization, it’s not really a matter of who posts it first; it’s a matter of who had the most views. Especially in this age where the content plays a big role in making your website relevant, you have to give extra effort in making sure that you provide the best, if the not the most popular, content.

 

 

There are millions of ways to identify and analyse your competitors, surely. But, stalking them is one of the most effective of all. Why? Here are some benefits that might convince you to open that dark window and visit your enemy’s website:

 


 

You Will Already Know What Works And What Doesn’t

When you visit their website, you can see all their content, right? Thus, you already know what your audience and potential customers like to engage with. From the design to the layout, down to the content, you can already identify the ambiance of which the customers are attracted to. Isn’t it great?

 

Also, there are tools where you can identify which posts gained the most views and most shares. From those results, you’ll know which topics are work and which topics don’t get a lot of engagements.

 


 

You Will Know How They Conceptualise Their Content

By comparing one blog article to another, you can easily identify how your competitors plan their content. You can get inspiration on what topics to use or expand for your website, and you can also plan which articles need more reworking. After stalking their content, you will have a better idea if they are really exerting effort in creating blogs or they are just writing for the sake of having something to post on a daily basis – you know, it’s basically quality over quantity.

 

 

You can also study how they maximise the use of keywords and titles. It’s easy to spot a pattern based on their daily blog, so there’s no need to actually tally those sensible articles against those that are posted to add fluff. After all, you don’t need to have a massive content library to become a frontrunner; what matters is you resolve the customers’ needs.

 

It only means one thing: you can build more valuable resources based on their gaps. It’s another advantage!

 


 

You Can Create Original Content

Since you would be around some of your competitors’ websites already, you can easily spot identical contents and ideas. Stalking gives you an edge in creating a more relevant and unique topic. We all know how the World Wide Web becomes saturated with websites offering the same products and services, right? Through the power of stalking, you can easily redesign your whole website and overhaul your content to become more original.

 

 

We agree that it’s really tough to stand out with all the information available on the Internet. But if you already know what’s out there, it would be easier for you to create something that people haven’t seen yet.

 


 

You Will Own The Battlefield

Once you see through your competitor’s strategy and plan, you can begin owning the battlefield. You practically have a 360 view of what they are doing and how they are doing it, so it’s time for you to plan your attack the way they least expect it.

 

The next step is targeting the audience or customers. You can also identify the type of people engaging to their website and contents. For example, if it’s on social media, study their customers’ key demographics and you’ll know how to better penetrate their market.

 

Their people/viewers are their strength. Steal them through stalking and strike where and what they like the most.

 

 


 

All Hail The Stalkers!

Online stalkers are a thing now – may it be in the professional or personal aspect. Other than feeding our curiosity to know what is already out there, stalking your competitors (or anyone else) gives you the edge to succeed on your next steps (or plans).

 

Sure, stalking takes too much of your time – a LOT of time, to be honest. But its benefits are more rewarding – and will take you miles ahead of your competitors. Just make sure to do it smart: do incognito.

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