Benchmarking is a topic where many people don’t see eye to eye as it is believed to be a bit of a time waster. But in reality, it can benefit your company in many ways including boosted website traffic and sales.  Benchmarking is a process where companies compare both competitors and industry leaders, in order to find out what their strengths and weaknesses are.  By analysing what your competitors are doing, your company can get a step up on the competition and seed out what will and won’t work.

So how is Benchmarking done?  First of all, you will need to find out who your competitors are.  Do some research, don’t just assume you know who they already are.  After you’ve done that, take a look at their target market and dig into the keywords that they are using to drive customers to their website.  Next, look into what type of technology your competitors are using. For example, find out what CMS system they use, and or what plug-ins they take advantage of.  By finding out what platforms your competitors are powered by you can gain some insight into which system you may want to use in the future.  Another important aspect to compare is the overall design.  Analyse the colours your competitors use (what mood are they trying to convey), how do they organize their content, and how does their layout effects user navigation.  Finding out what navigation method works best with what design will be a key aspect when taking this information into consideration.  Finally, find a common ground; look at where your competitors agree and disagree.  This will give you a huge clue as to which methods you will to adapt and which methods you will want to avoid.  Overall, do your research, dig deep, and have fun with it. In return, you will find that your website traffic will increase and your visitors will turn into customers.