Sometimes SEO isn’t always about you. Although optimizing your own site and doing research for your own site is crucial, it’s also important to take a step back and look at who you’re competing for clicks with. Competition should encourage, never dishearten.
Striving with competition
“Competition” gets a bad rap. Many people think it’s a race against others and beating them out for the gold medal is all that matters. As an athlete, I find myself falling into this negative mindset about what competition means. It isn’t always about being better than your competitors. Sometimes it’s about learning from your competitors and using their successes to find your own, and their failures to avoid those yourself. One example we looked at in class, looking at what Liberty University have done well. Although they are our competition here at Grove City, we also can take that as an opportunity to learn what they’ve done well.
If what they’re doing is working and they’re apart of your content group, logically trying to replicate and improve on their successes will bring you something you could have never gotten if all you see your competition as something to beat or one up
Be your own site
Although it’s important to learn from your competition and strive for excellence with them, it’s still important to remain your own site. If you try and purely replicate them, you’ll be doomed to fail. Being your own site is still essential to finding your own way and your own success. Innovation is what pushes the boundaries of your sector. The more you innovate and build unique things, your competition will have to innovate themselves to stay up to date. This cycle creates a healthy race that continues to push your specialty into something new and special.
Striving for excellence isn’t always a race. Some times it’s helping each other in a healthy way that doesn’t create a toxic obsession with one upping each other.
2 Responses
Great blog post! I really enjoyed reading your perspective on what a healthy view of competition is. I think that it is always helpful to be aware of the competition and to be motivated by what they are doing well!
This is a great way of presenting the balance between obsessing over competitors’ content while staying true to your own brand and site. It’s definitely important to keep up with trends and look for inspiration and ideas but I agree with your assessment!