How to Conduct Competitor Research for a Travel Directory - Day 1 Building in Public
This post walks through how to thoroughly research competitors when building a new website or business in a specific niche. We'll analyze top sites, identify strengths and weaknesses, uncover monetization strategies, and pinpoint content gaps as we lay the groundwork for creating a travel directory for Bali.
Quick Summary
This post walks through how to thoroughly research competitors when building a new website or business in a specific niche. We'll analyze top sites, identify strengths and weaknesses, uncover monetization strategies, and pinpoint content gaps as we lay the groundwork for creating a travel directory for Bali.
Introduction
So let's dive into day one of my 60-day challenge to build a travel directory for Bali. I want to share my process for conducting competitive research upfront before jumping into development. This crucial first step helps validate the opportunity, understand what's working for others, and spot areas we can do better.
The Challenge
When starting a new online business, you can't just blindly build something without understanding the existing landscape. You need to analyze what competitors are doing, how they're making money, what's resonating with their audience, and where gaps exist that you could potentially fill.
Our Approach
Rather than doing extensive analysis that would slow us down, we'll do a focused competitor analysis to quickly gather valuable insights. We'll look at the major travel booking platforms as well as smaller, niche travel blogs for Bali. The goal is to understand their business models, content strategies, user experiences, and monetization approaches.
Step 1: Identify Top Competitors
First, we need to make a list of the biggest players and most relevant competitors in the space. For the travel booking platforms, I'll analyze sites like:
TripAdvisor
Expedia
Agoda
Google Travel
For the niche blogs and directories, I've identified a few smaller sites like:
Bali Honeymoon Guide
Bali Hotels & Villas by Penny Watson
The Bali Bible
Bali Buddies Travel Blog
Step 2: Conduct Site Analysis
Now it's time to do a deep dive on each of these competitor sites. Here are the key areas I analyze:
Business Model
How do they generate revenue? (ads, affiliates, product sales, etc.)
What are their primary monetization channels?
Content Quality
Is the content detailed and valuable?
How frequently are they publishing new content?
User Experience
How easy is it to navigate and find information?
What search filters and tools do they provide?
Verification Processes
How do they vet reviews, ratings, and recommendations?
Is there transparency around sponsored/paid content?
Strengths and Weaknesses
What are they doing really well?
Where do they fall short or have gaps?
Successful Content
Which of their pages/posts get the most engagement?
What topics resonate best with their audience?
I'll compile all these findings into a spreadsheet to easily compare across competitors.
Step 3: Identify Opportunities
With a clear picture of how competitors operate, I can start pinpointing potential opportunities and gaps we could fill better than them. A few areas I'm considering:
Providing a more localized, authentic experience as a Bali resident
Focusing more on amenities, room types, and advanced filtering
Leveraging TikTok, Instagram, and video content marketing
Building an engaged community around the directory
The goal isn't just to copy what's working, but to find innovative ways to stand out and serve users better.
Challenges We Faced
Of course, this research process wasn't all smooth sailing. A few challenges:
Information overload: With so many sites to analyze, it was easy to get bogged down in excessive details instead of focusing on key insights.
Changing landscapes: The travel industry is constantly evolving, so some data was quickly outdated or irrelevant by the time I finished researching.
Comparing apples to oranges: It was difficult to compare extremely different sites like TripAdvisor to small personal travel blogs.
How We Overcame Them
To deal with information overload, I created a simple template in Google Sheets to force myself to capture only the most essential details in a structured way. This prevented getting lost down rabbit holes.
For the constantly changing landscape, I realized I just needed to make timely decisions with the best available data, then continually update and pivot as needed.
As for the diverse competitors, I decided to separate them into different categories like "booking platforms" and "travel blogs" to compare more apples-to-apples.
Results So Far
This initial competitive analysis has given me a solid grasp of how the travel directory space works, both for major platforms and smaller niche players. While the research took longer than expected, I now feel confident in our ability to create something innovative that fills gaps and provides a better experience than what currently exists.
Key Takeaways
Conducting upfront competitor research is crucial for validating opportunities and informing your strategy
Break your analysis into specific focus areas like business models, content, and user experience
Identify strengths, weaknesses, and successful tactics you can emulate or improve upon
Don't get bogged down in excessive details - stick to key insights
Be prepared to continually update your findings as landscapes shift
What's Next
Now that we have a solid competitive analysis completed, we'll move into keyword research in the next phase. Understanding how people actually search for travel information in Bali will allow us to build a site architecture and content plan aligned with user behavior.
Conclusion
Upfront research may seem like a lot of work, but trust me - it's well worth the effort. By taking the time to deeply understand our future competitors, we can craft an innovative travel directory that blows existing options out of the water. We'll leverage our unique advantages as Bali insiders to provide an unmatched experience for travelers.
So don't skip this crucial first step! Invest the time upfront, and you'll be way ahead of the game when it comes to execution.
Want to Learn More?
Subscribe to my YouTube channel and follow me on Instagram @rossionbiz to follow along as I continue documenting this 60-day journey of building a travel directory business from scratch!