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After attending the recent Pubcon 2009 in Las Vegas, I came back with some new insights relating to search engine optimization and related topics — some of which I’ll be sharing here in the coming days (and some that I will not!). One really fantastic panel I sat in on was “Competitive Intelligence: Know Thy Competitor Well,” moderated by Tanya Vaughan of HP. The panel featured Michael Gray, Michael Streko, Matt Siltala, and Andy Beal. Pretty awesome lineup, right?

I really enjoyed Andy Beal’s Competitive Intelligence presentation, which included a set of slides that are embedded below. The focus was on researching competition online and seizing opportunities for gaining an edge. Here are my notes from the presentation:

• Make sure you’re monitoring your competition in the news for new product releases, features, media spotlights, and opportunities for blog exposure. What new features can you implement that will beat your competition? Where are they getting quoted, and which bloggers are willing to praise their products or services? Try to take advantage of what they’re doing well, and do the same, or better.
• If you find your competitors’ customers ranting about them online, use it to your advantage. You can poach unhappy clients, promote better alternatives, or make improvements to your products or services that will serve this community better. And if they are satisfied, they might do positive word of mouth promoting for you, doubling the damage to your competitors.
• Follow what your competitors’ employees are saying online. One great tip is to create a private Twitter list for each of your competitors — this will ensure your competition won’t know you’re secretly spying on them. “Loose lips sink brands,” as Andy says. Keep an eye out for damaging evidence, or employees who brag unknowingly. You can also use it as a method for sniping your competition’s best and brightest!
• Is your competitor listing new jobs? If so, you can learn if they’re planning to relocate or expand, if they’re planning to launch new products, or if they have let any employees go. It also wouldn’t hurt to call in and inquire about the position for added specifics.
• So what tools and sites are recommended?
  • Google
    Sidewiki for finding information about individual web pages
    Google Alerts for being notified of competitors in the news
    Google Local Listings (for user reviews)
  • Twitter
    Profiling companies and employees
    Search.Twitter.com for locating rants and reviews
    Private Twitter Lists for following discreetly (you create)
  • Facebook
    Read competitor Fan pages for feedback and techniques
    Find out who their fans are and create relationships
    Search Posts by Everyone for rants and reviews

You’ll find additional tools recommended at the end of the slides, please make sure to check them out, and feel free to leave comments here or at Andy Beal’s blog for further information. Happy researching!

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