First, note that this assignment–like the video assignment–has been bumped by a week. It is due this coming Monday.
Actually, this is a bit mis-named. Really, what I’m asking you to do is something akin to competitive analysis or market analysis, though nothing that formal. When people talk about doing competitive analysis, they are usually referring to providing the best search engine placement or driving traffic. This is important (depending on the nature of the site), but here I am more interested in where you think you are likely to find the community who will be interested in your site, and what makes you think they will be able to find it and stay there once they do. In other words, while there are tools that will allow you to get a better handle on a potential competitor’s traffic, and the amount they are receiving from advertising, that is far less of interest to me than some clear idea of how your site fits into a larger ecosystem of content.
More specifically, I want you to:
Identify 3-4 sites
These should be sites that are either competitors or that otherwise draw traffic from a group of similar potential users. Describe the sites and link to them. What makes you think they attract the users you are most interested in? How do they do it?
Describe the users
What are the characteristics of the people who use this site? Is there a loyal following, or do people just find it through a web search and visit once? How old are they? Where do they access the site from? What are their interests?
You might think, at least in very preliminary terms, about what search terms you would expect people to use to find your site–what do they find when they use those now?
Organization
How is it organized? How is it structured? What’s the first thing you see when you arrive? Is there a “members section” or a way to log in? Do they have a subscription for a newsletter or another way to draw you back?
Again, this isn’t an SEO effort, but what have they done to make their site more findable–if you can tell? Who links to them and why?
Credibility
What elements of the site convince you (or fail to convince you) that they are a serious enterprise? How do you know this isn’t something some teenager has cooked up in his basement? What are the markers of credibility?
Design
Describe the design and how it makes you feel. What emotions does it evoke? What themes are they drawing on? What sort of associations are they evoking? This can be a fairly lightweight description at this point. (In 502, you are likely to do this in more depth.)
What they are doing well?
What have they done that you hope to emulate, or that you will have to strive to counter? Is there something that seems to be particularly appropriate or attractive?
What could they be doing better?
Every site can be improved. What do you think each of these sites needs to do in order to improve? Is there something in that which will give you a competitive advantage.
A few notes on this. First of all, even if you are not designing a site with a significant commerce element, every site has competition. As we have seen, there is a limited amount of attention available out on the web, and your aim is to claim some of it. It is important for you to understand that there are others who want to attract users’ attention away from your site and toward their own. So, by understanding who you are vying against, you have a better idea of how to pitch your own site so that it will draw traffic and a supportive community.
You may find this guide helpful.
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