Competitor Analysis [Google Sheets Template]
You shouldn’t obsess over your competitors, but keep an eye on what they're doing. Competitor analysis is important to get a proxy for user needs.
In the spirit of building in public, I've shared my Google Sheet template that I use. Free to duplicate.
Nice template. One thing I'd add after using sheets like this: the data goes stale fast, and the real cost is re-filling it every week. I pair a sheet like this with a lightweight automated check on a few key pages and feeds, so the sheet stays the thinking layer and something else does the watching. It turns a weekly chore into a 10-minute review.
How about focus on yourself instead of the competition? I think that's a good take no?
Yes 100%, that's why I said don’t obsess over your competitors, but just keep an eye on them.
Here's what I would do to "monitor" competitors:
The nice thing for most of these steps is that it takes 20 more seconds to plug-in another competitor website.
Also focus more on competitors who are striving to be the first vs. are currently on the top. The first group is likely to be trying much harder to overtake the latter.
These are great ideas! Thanks for sharing