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Copy your competitors to be successful online

  • TommyCarey Level X3
    • 35

    Write the reason you're deleting this FAQ

    Copy your competitors to be successful online

    Everyone is worried about being unique, but truth be told, you're likely not the first to think of your business idea.  A great way to actually boost your profits and authority is to copy your competitors who have already seen a bit of success.  I'm not telling you to copy each and every article they post, word for word, but you can rewrite their content so it's unique to your readers and the search engines.  If your competitors are using a WordPress theme, you can figure out what they're using and purchase the same design and customize it how you want.  Another thing to look for is how your competitors are doing 3rd party marketing on websites as well as PPC campaigns in order to bring in leads.  If you can copy the things that are already working, you won't waste much money on split testing, which means you can be successful quicker than normal.

    Below are a few things you can do to copy your competitors in order to be successful.

    Copy their content
    When you're going down the content marketing route, you will want to see what is already ranking for the keywords you're targeting, then duplicate any blog posts or articles that are ranking in the top 10.  Now, you will still have an uphill battle after copying the content because you might not have the same domain or page authority as your competitors, but at least you're doing something right instead of testing keywords and figuring out what works lol.

    If your competitors are ranking with 1,000-word articles, write up a 2,500-word article and monitor your rankings for a few months after your blog post gets indexed.  Yes, your page will likely get indexed if it's 2,500 words of great content, so don't worry about that.

    Copy their design (if possible)
    A lot of websites are using WordPress and tend to purchase premium themes in order to avoid paying a programmer and designer a few thousand dollars to build something 100% unique.  Sure, not everyone will be on WordPress and you might have to replicate their designs the hard way, but you can still use a WordPress theme to streamline the process and get a website up and running in a day instead of a few weeks if you were to code it yourself. 

    What you'll want to do is go to a website like whatwpthemeisthat and enter your competitors URL.  If they're using a WordPress theme that you can purchase for yourself, it will give you a link directly to where it's listed.  If they're using WordPress, but have something custom coded, you'll have to purchase a theme and customize it to look like it's similar to your top competitors.  If you don't get any results in return, your competitors might be using custom designs or they could be blocking websites that search to see what theme you're using.

    No matter the outcome, you need to have a design that fits your niche so people are familiar with your pages as soon as they land on them.

    Copy their Advertising Campaigns
    When it comes to making money online through a website, you will need to advertise and this means you can set up a PPC campaign or run banner ads as well as email marketing campaigns.  No matter what you choose, there's a good chance you will screw it up your first and second and maybe even your 12th time, but you need to keep going if you want to be successful. 

    What you can do is sign up for something like Semrush in order to see what your competitors are doing in terms of marketing, and then copy it because you know it's already working for them.  If your competitor is already successful, you know they've tweaked their campaigns a ton in order to get the best results, which means you don't need to do any split testing to figure out the best ads for your website Copy your competitors to be successful online

    Duplicate their campaigns, watch your CTR and conversions, slightly tweak everything along the way in order to have the best ROI possible Copy your competitors to be successful online


    In conclusion
    Replicating your competitor's success isn't actually a difficult thing to do, but it will definitely take a lot of time to do because you're essentially starting from scratch.  Don't think "I've done it like this in the past, and I know it works, so I'm not changing!" because you're just throwing a wrench into your plans.  You may think it should be done better one way, but your competitors actually figured out something that works better in step 1 because it compliments step 56, but you don't want to do it that way becuase you're not comfortable.  If you do step 1 how you want to do it, you could actually screw up the duplicate campaign later on, which means you're just leaving money on the table.  Get your content in order, be sure it's unique, and watch your traffic rise.  You'll also need a nice looking design, which can be custom coded or a WordPress theme, but in the end it needs to look good Copy your competitors to be successful online


    Remember to follow me!
    https://www.seocheckout.com/user/TommyCarey


    Thanks!

    Tommy Carey

    #Marketing Marketing & Monetization
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    EfficientNinja

    EfficientNinja

    So basically, you copy your competitor's content then change it to your own words and make it twice as long so it gets indexed better. Next is to copy other things that they do but do it smarter and in a cheaper way. I think these are great tips especially the WordPress theme tips. What we have to really watch out is to avoid copyright issues so our content does not get taken down by our competitors.
    6 years ago

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    TommyCarey

    TommyCarey

    Exactly, but think about it for a second. If your competitor is writing about backlinks, and so are you, you're not really stealing anything Copy your competitors to be successful online

    You're essentially using their success as a guide to know what to do in order to be successful. Write the same type of content, without using their own links/references/mentions, and you should be just fine. A lot of successful companies aren't writing 2,000+ word articles, which means there is plenty of opportunity out there for you to get top rankings over them Copy your competitors to be successful online
    6 years ago

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    EfficientNinja

    EfficientNinja

    Yup! It's hard to call something plagiarized if you write the whole article in your own words and only base your idea on what they wrote.

    I think it's fun, challenging, and rewarding to scout and study what your competitors are doing and beating them at their own game. Copy your competitors to be successful online
    6 years ago

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    DenisP

    DenisP

    "What we have to really watch out is to avoid copyright issues so our content does not get taken down by our competitors."

    I might be wrong, but I think that unless you are copying their content word for word--which legally would be considered plagiarism--I think they really don't have a case against you. I'm no lawyer, but I don't think you can have a copyright against general information or ideas. The internet is a huge place, and not only are people bound to have the same ideas or share the same information, but it is guaranteed to happen dozens upon dozens of times. So long as it isn't done in the exact same manner, you're golden.
    6 years ago

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    Corzhens

    Corzhens

    Just to use the word copying it already has a negative color and I don’t think it is a good idea for decent people. Why do you have to copy the content of another blogger when you can write your own blog? If you will be copying and rewriting blogs then you are not a blogger but just a copier in my dictionary. Pardon me for this harsh comment because I really hate people who copy the work of others to have undue advantage
    5 years ago

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    vhinz

    vhinz

    Great tips! When somebody is doing it successfully, don't reinvent the wheel. Learn what others already know so you could spend time and money. Get ideas from your top competitors and add it to your current strategies.
    6 years ago

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    treecko142

    treecko142

    It is also important to not only blindly copy, but also make the content your own and add your personal touch so that while it is essentially a good copy, there is still a distinct difference that people can point out which will help you avoid being branded as a blatant plagiarist, but also help you distinguish yourself from the other content-generators.
    6 years ago

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    aeon

    aeon

    Yeah, I think much better to copy your competitor but be creative somehow to changes and make it better. It's easy to do that rather than to force your mind to create something new to become better. It's really hard to make a new and unique ideas and at the end you will just gt mad because someone copy your idea and do the same thing.
    6 years ago

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    DarthHazard

    DarthHazard

    I agree. Just because your competitor is doing one thing which is proving successful does not mean that you have to do the same thing. There are many other options and things that you could, that would be different to your competitors but still prove popular and successful for you. Plus, it just makes you look bad if people keep seeing you doing the same things after your competitors start doing it.
    6 years ago

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    aeon

    aeon

    You're right. But just don't make it obvious, and instead of the word competitor, it will become inspiration. You get inspired to do your job because of the successful of the others, and aside from copying, we should also have our own unique idea.
    6 years ago

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    overcast

    overcast

    I agree that if we copy the competitor we are much ahead than reinventing the wheel. Lot of things are done better by the competitors. And they can tell us how to approach things in due time. I have seen that some of the time people have learned how to make the most out of the strategies by copying others. So we can do the same and get ahead.
    6 years ago

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    vinaya

    vinaya

    when we copy from the successful people and successful companies, we also tend to avoid some of their pitfalls. When we copy, in most cases we only copy good things and leave behind bad things. It is difficult to carve your own path, however, it is rather easy to walk into the patch that has already been carved by another person.
    6 years ago

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    overcast

    overcast

    I think successful people and companies definitely tell us what to do and not to do in many ways. Most of the time copying works a lot. And people can set their own business on the top of the competitors. So that seems to be the way things may work out for many. You can see that being successful has it's set of the benefit if you ask me. We learn from our experience.
    6 years ago

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    fishbate

    fishbate

    That's a good point, copying a successful company not only allows you to have go to a more clearer path but also allows you to avoid being with the same mistakes they made.
    6 years ago

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    vinaya

    vinaya

    Copying from competitors does not mean you create a copycat business. Copying from competitors means copying their strategies. You should start with copying contents. Copying contents do not mean you copy and spin their contents, instead focus on the type of contents they are producing and keywords they are targeting in their contents. Copying design does not mean you clone their website, instead, improve your design to match their design. You also have to copy their advertising models. If they are using Google Adwords, you also have to launch your own AdWords campaign to outsmart them.
    6 years ago

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    EfficientNinja

    EfficientNinja

    This is a very good choice of words that fit our subject really well. We are riding the coattails of our big competitors. We follow the same path that made them successful. It's like they made a free template that you can change and improve to your liking.
    6 years ago

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    vinaya

    vinaya

    Copying doe snort mean copying the business model. In order words, if someone has a lingerie store and you also launch a lingerie store on the same line, this is copying the business model. Copying the business model may never work. Copying means, copying the business strategies, such as products, marketing, promotion etc. We might open an ebay like site where users will create their own store inside the site and sell their own products. However, if this website is in our mind, we should stay away from copying the exact business model, instead, we should focus on the business strategies of ebay.
    6 years ago

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    esteban123

    esteban123

    Yes I do agree that knowing and copying some of the competitors content could be an advantage because you will be familiarize already with their services or product that they are selling to the public,but of course we just have to make something that is unique so that customers would really be attractive to be in our side no matter what happens.
    6 years ago

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    vinaya

    vinaya

    Aha, you bring an interesting point to the discussion. Most of the marketing gurus will always tell you to stay away from copying, instead try to make unique, offer unique. yet, you say copy your competitors, copy their contents, copy their design, and copy their ad campaigns. I understand the true meaning of "copying competitors." In order to outsmart and outwit your competitors, you will have to first see what they are doing, what kind of contents they are providing, what kind of designs they are offering. Once you understand, you can follow their suit and outrank and out sell them.
    6 years ago

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    SiamSEO

    SiamSEO

    Copying here doesn't mean just taking a copy of their website and putting that up, even if the author is suggesting using the same WordPress themes than your competition. Instead they're talking about replicating the steps they used to achieve their current ranking. It works to a degree, but then again so do straight up black hat methods, so...
    6 years ago

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    DenisP

    DenisP

    It is claimed that Pablo Picasso once said, "Good artists borrow, great artists steal." Now, I don't feel that I'm one to argue with such a great artist like Picasso, but…I'm going to argue anyway.

    Copying or stealing someone's content, word for word, pixel for pixel, is obviously the wrong way to go about things. I'm glad that your post places an emphasis on not only copying your competitors, but improving on them.

    If you're directly imitating a competitor, you're only ever going to either be on their level or lower. Now, if you take what you see is working for them, and develop on and improve it, now you've struck gold. Good advice all around.
    6 years ago

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    keen2write

    keen2write

    You read my mind, I was also going to mention SEMrush as I do use this daily. Not just to check competitors but also keep eye on your link building and also as link building sections to help you build backlinks. You can keep eye on keywords and see how well they are doing in the SERPs.
    6 years ago

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    fishbate

    fishbate

    I think its a good idea and will give you a higher percentage in succeeding because what you had copy is basically effective. But i like to add innovation, if you have something better with what you have copied why not make a variety out of it. You can earn with the copied one and also can have an extra if your innovation is a hit. Of course you have to set your mind that your innovation can be copied too.
    6 years ago

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    cmoneyspinner

    cmoneyspinner

    Sounds like advice from Simon, the judge from American Idol. Take the original song but make it your own. OK. I get it!
    6 years ago

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    esteban123

    esteban123

    I really agree that copying our competitors in certain ways would be beneficial for us because we tend to know their strength and weakness which later we improve to become more productive and successful. Doing it in a right way is one of the best that a certain company should do. Copying a certain content to a competitor is just a step but as much as possible we should make some little changes from it so that it will become unique and original.
    6 years ago

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    Corzhens

    Corzhens

    Pardon me but I have an aversion with the word copy. And if I will copy the contents of my competitor, I don’t think that is a good idea aside from being immoral. For us here, our culture says that copying is not done by decent people. What I will do is to get the main idea of the contents and the design perhaps and think of a way to improve on it and with such improvement that the original will not be noticed anymore.
    6 years ago

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    mildredtabitha

    mildredtabitha

    This is really a helpful post. I know matter how much we try, there is really no uniqueness in online businesses especially when there are so many competitors. Copying will help to survive in the industry and also adding something extra like offers will make you be on the lead.
    6 years ago

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    esteban123

    esteban123

    I think it is not mainly focus on copying on contents but rather to know what the competitors are offering in a certain we will be able to know the best strategy that we will be using to be ahead of our competitors. I know that copying in some country is illegal but we are not just referring here with the literal meaning of copying but instead its meaning on broader or general sense. I really learned a lot from this discussion which is pretty cool and amazing for me because I learned some techniques and strategy that I can be used for future business that I want to establish in the near future.
    6 years ago

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    Tronia

    Tronia

    I agree with you but only to some extent. You have to be "creative" when it comes to copying. I personally do not do it because I love creativity, being unique and creating something brand new.

    Instead of copying your competitors the better thing is probably to study them and do some research; what are they doing that you aren't? why are they doing it? and more.
    6 years ago

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    esteban123

    esteban123

    This discussion is really great because we are brainstorming ideas to each other, some people might agree and disagree for our opinions but over all it was great and interesting. i learned that we should improve contents not just by copying them in order to look it more original and authentic compare to the previous one. Having an understanding in the competitor's data is one thing that will help us to gain competitive advantage.
    6 years ago

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    esteban123

    esteban123

    I really like this articles because I am learning a lot from it if we will just really analyze the facts or information that are in the articles itself. I am expecting to see more about this kind of information that would help[s me to establish a competitive advantage over my competitors, this is really interesting and a lively discussion as well.
    6 years ago

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    aecel

    aecel

    I've seen lots of sites that have the same design and content it could save you time and money from creating your own website into a scratch. If you have the budget might as well purchase a ready-made website so you don't have to code anymore. You just need to learn how it works and study if there's anything to improve. There's nothing wrong if you want to be unique from others but make sure you executed it well to avoid making any losses.
    6 years ago

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    esteban123

    esteban123

    I think it is normal to copy the competitors content since most of the companies are doing this one to enhance their business and to make a head of others. I don't see any wrong with this as long as you are doing it in a right way since we have our own strategy to do.
    6 years ago

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    Martinsx1

    Martinsx1

    I would like to add to this article saying that while one is at copying his competitors right back with what they have done, it's very important to ensure that you make your work to be differently unique from that of your competitors because should everything be the same, his clients aren't going to quit him and come right back to another that offers exactly the same thing.
    6 years ago

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    Kakashi2020

    Kakashi2020

    I think this is more realistic in offline businesses and online stores but if we're talking about blogs, copying the design and niche, subjects to a certain degree could indeed be favorable because if the one you are copying from is a successful blog then the law of duplication dictates that the one who mimics it will also gain some success. Although for me the best part of mimicking other sites is that you can ultimately improve the content to surpass even the original.
    6 years ago

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