Ever heard, “The grass is always greener on the other side?”
A lot of people think that way, and those people may find themselves chronically dissatisfied. This can also be true in websites, as many business owners are constantly nit-picking at their own web design, their own content, and comparing to competitor websites.
Shouldn’t you strive for the best website possible? Of course! But remember – there is no perfect website. The Internet changes every minute.
So, instead of looking for stuff “over the fence”, consider the positives in your own website. Analyze its strengths and where you can focus more attention. Look at the tools you already have in place, and what you can easily expand on.
Additionally, look at your internal resources that are offline – like your coworkers. Who in the office is doing something interesting right now? Can you take some pictures or videos of them and get their story on your blog? Who in the office likes to write and could contribute to the blog once a week?
Last but definitely not least – remember the “green” customers you already have. If your customer loves you and raves about you, get their testimonial on your website, and encourage them to review you online (Yelp, Citysearch, LinkedIn, etc.).
Competing websites are important to analyze and be inspired by (or learn from), but sometimes we learn that what our competitor thinks is working for them is not. Try asking your friends who are completely outside of your industry to check out 2 of your competitor websites and share their feedback with you. You might learn something they did NOT like and feel great about the fact that you didn’t practice the same thing on your own.