5 Things Your Competitors Can Teach You About Website Design

DIY Sprocket Solutions

This article has been updated on 9/28/2021 with the article entitled “5 Design Tips You Can Swipe from the Websites of Your Greatest Competitors.” 

Let’s face it -we’re not all best buddies here in the business world. We may work alongside each other, we may share similar passions, we may have the same goals, etc. We are also competitors. Instead of distancing yourself as much as possible from the competition, why not try to learn a thing or two about what you can do differently than them? Perhaps even better than them.

Specifically, let’s talk about 5 things your competitors can teach you about website design.

1. They can teach you about the features that you’d love to have. I’m not saying to go out and mirror the competition, but there’s nothing wrong with knowing what you like and what works. Go out there and scope out competitor’s sites. What tools are they using that customers are loving? How can you make these features your own?
2. They can teach you what not to put on a website. Everyone has critics –including your competition. Pay attention to what those critics are saying about their site. Is it hard to maneuver? Is there information missing? Are there features that the customers are begging for? Let them teach you what not to do –then go and do the opposite. Learn from their mistakes.
3. They can teach you about what’s missing. When you go to build your own site, it’s hard to dream up all the possibilities your site can have without being able to see the big picture of all the moving parts together. If you take several big competitors, they are bound to have different sites and options on their sites. Poke around. Does anything feel like it’s lacking to you? Is there anything you wish you could do or think you should be able to do on their site? Take notes. Compare several sites. Patch together a cohesive plan for yourself that won’t be full of missing parts.
4. They can teach you the importance of keeping your site up to date. There’s nothing worse than heading to a website with coupons from 2007, a calendar from 2003, and pictures from the 90s. We know how tacky an outdated site looks, but that isn’t often enough motivation to keep the fire going and keep us updating our sites. Let the competition be your lesson. Don’t be that guy.
5. They can teach you the importance of letting go of the controls. Maybe up until this point you’ve been updating your mediocre $10/month site on your own. And it’s… okay. It’s not awful. Sure, there’s information there – you’ve even got pictures. But after seeing what the competition is up to, you might realize that it’s finally time to take it to the next level and get the help of some professional web designers and management teams.

Whatever your relationship is with your competition, there’s no reason you can’t use their hits (and misses) to grow for yourself. Have any more suggestions about what the competition can teach you? Feel free to leave a comment below!

The Sprocket TeamThe Sprocket Team

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