Every day, it’s possible that somewhere a customer wants to purchase the product or service your company provides. You may not know where they are or how they plan on finding a company to fulfill their need, but you should make certain that when they start looking, they will be able to find you.

Driving traffic to your business, like driving a car, requires a high degree of visibility. These days, that starts with a prominent online presence, but you should also not overlook traditional channels such as television, newspapers and the Yellow Pages.

How are your customers finding you? One way to discover the answer is to simply ask them, in the form of an email or a feedback form. The more significant question is why have some customers gone to your competition? Asking in this case would be more difficult, but you can find out by conducting a simple competitive analysis. The more you know about your competition, the better you’ll be able to gauge how your business is faring in the marketplace.

These five steps will get you started:

1. Identify your three most successful competitors.
In making your selections, focus on the local market first. Review the services these companies provide and how they match up with your company’s offerings.

2. Search Google for your product or service and see which companies are listed first.
Add two of the best performing companies (those that show up highest or most frequently) from both the organic list (search results) and the advertising list. This gives you an idea of how visible your competitors are compared to you.

3. Go to compete.com and enter the websites of your competitors.
See how their web traffic compares to yours.

4. If you compete locally, check out the Yellow Pages listing for your competitors.
How well represented are they? If you were searching for a company in that category, which one would you choose?

5. Search your local newspaper and magazines for advertising, press releases and other information about your competitors.
Compare the results to the advertising your company employs, and the coverage you receive.

If you are not sure about what to do next, contact 360 Business Consulting at success@360-biz.com. Click here and we will provide a free analysis of your company’s visibility status, as well as tips on how to improve your visibility and outperform your competitors. There is cost and no obligation.