My Website is Better Than Your Website

I remember years ago on the playgrounds before high school when boys would say to each other that "my dad can beat up your dad" and of course the girls would roll their eyes. Somehow this was supposed to assert an element of confidence in one's ability to be superior. Somehow, in the corporate world, the same need of exerting one's level of superiority exists. It is the competitive nature of business.

Corporate branding exists for one reason. To appear better than the other guy. Businesses spend lots of marketing dollars to look better than their competitors and will allocate resources to achieve this goal. The same should hold true for a corporate website. Often our clients will look at their competitor's website and just tell us that they want their website to look better than the other guy.

We like this. It helps us understand our client's market as well as their competitors. When comparing websites, here are some things to look for:

1. How are your competitors communicating their message to their clients online?

This is good to know, because it helps you identify how you would like to communicate your message to your clients. By knowing how your competitors think, it helps you clearly define a message you want to portray to your customers.

2. How bad is your competitor's website?

Through the process of evaluating their website, you can see what elements you want to avoid.

3. How good is your competitor's website?

There may be elements of their website that you really like. Rather than copying a concept, how would you envision your website being better? Be sure to be open to suggestions from your web developer.

4. Can you clearly identify their vision for their website?

You will want to understand their website and the message that they are getting across. In other words, does it make sense to you. You want your website to make sense to others, so there are structures that need to be put into place such as the layout of content. Just like your company needs a clear vision so does your website.

When having a website design company build your site, it may be difficult to explain exactly what you want but knowing what your competitor is doing may make it easier to explain what you want. It is up to the web design company you hire to help you through this process, but at least you will be on your way of knowing what you want.

Wayne Peters is the CEO of The Creation Studio, http://www.creationstudio.ca a website design company.