Almost any serious contender, in any aspect of life, will make a mistake if they fail to pay heed to what their competition is doing. That goes for athletes, entertainers, and even warring armies. Of course, it also goes for business.

It’s easy to assume that as the hot new kid on the block, you have all the answers and can see opportunities where others haven’t. Perhaps that’s even true. But the truth is that if there are successful players in your field, they deserve to be focused on and learned from in kind. 

It’s especially important to focus on the areas that look easy to replicate because anyone who has launched a business knows that these are often the most invisible areas of hard-won competency. Think of your favorite movie. Odds are, you didn’t think much about the editing unless it was particularly noticeable or used for stylized effects. But the invisible hand of such an editor is, in itself, what brings competence and worth to the final piece.

So where are these invisible areas of competency in your business? What potential does it offer? In this post, we’ll discuss how to identify them and learn in kind.

Website Functionality & Responsiveness

It’s very simple to think that a website is just a digital storefront, but really, it’s the core experience that potential customers interact with. You could have the best product in the world, but if your site is slow to load, hard to navigate, or crashes on mobile devices, people will bounce – literally and figuratively. Competitors who have streamlined their site for speed and functionality haven’t accidentally fallen upon that. It’s about how they structure the design of their website and optimize every element of it.

This comprehensive guide can help you towards developing a more effective website using ar range of good practices and maintenance efforts. It can also teach you the principles of putting together a website to work on most platforms and effectively respond when needed. It will help even a small firm compete with the resources of a large one.

Data & Financial Security

Customers don’t really think about this when they’re shopping on a site – until, of course, their credit card info gets stolen. It’s important to understand you’re not immune to this – even huge social security firms and international corporations like Sony have suffered massive breaches in the past.

That’s why modern competitors who have invested in the latest encryption methods, secure payment gateways, and thorough data protection protocols create a sense of trust with their customers, even if it’s not something actively promoted. All of this information should be directed to regardless. Your privacy policy should be a few clicks away. You should offer customers the chance to secure their accounts, such as with two-factor authentication. It all has a major, appropriate impact worth considering.

Easy Payment Processing

Have you ever been shopping only to find that actually giving the business money was the most annoying and frustrating part of the process? Yeah, that’s not a great outcome to experience.

Learn from competitors using one-click payments, supporting multiple currencies, or integrating with payment options like Apple/Google Pay or PayPal, as they understand the importance of easy payments to limit friction between checkout and purchase. These options might seem like nothing special, but they make a huge difference in conversion rates. You’ll notice that the best competitors have fine-tuned this area so thoroughly, that customers don’t think twice about the checkout experience – it’s why Amazon allows you to buy with one-click payments or even set up “subscribe and save” options for repeat purchases.

Careful Copywriting

It’s easy to think that most of us could write a good movie script if we had the right idea, but if you watch a student film and then a tight 90’s film by an acclaimed director, you realize how excellent and middling writing has gulfs between them.

Competitors who have mastered their tone, messaging, and call-to-actions know how to make words work, and often pay for the privilege. You might visit their site and not think much about the text, but if you’re being subtly convinced to buy, subscribe, or follow, that’s copy at work. It’s so much more than AI could give you.

Look at how they describe their products. Is the copy clear, concise, and full of value? Or does it feel generic? Competitors who invest in quality copy give the impression of professionalism, and most of all, get their point across as impressively as possible, as quickly as possible. It can be worth experimenting with a hired writing service to see if it improves your online candor.

With this advice, perhaps you can become the kind of company that makes it look easy.