Research Like An Investigator

“You work for a background check company?” My day job sounds much more exciting then it is. All the research I do is from behind a computer so no stalking or tailing people on the streets.

The funny thing is the day-to-day is pretty boring because most people just have traffic infractions like speeding. We specialize in pre-employment background checks so most people aren’t criminals.

I’ve always loved doing research on tons of different topics so diving down the research rabbit hole for my business sounded fun. Anything involving reading and writing intrigues me.

I know it can be confusing or boring for other people though. I also recently took the Clifton Strengths test and 4 out of 5 of my skills were, unsurprisingly, in strategic thinking.

There are 3 types of research business owners must do to understand their customers, make awesome products and sell their services.

Market Research

One of the best ways to do market research is with a community of people who are your target audience or potential clients.

We all start off with assumptions of what people want and the products that’ll solve their problems. But until you test this theory it’s just an idea not based in reality.

Types of market research

For face to face or in person market research making it simple and quick will help you get the most out of each response.

When I did market research a few years ago I did 10 minute video chats with about 10 questions to ask.

Ask open ended questions and feel free to expand or change any questions that are confusing for the people you’re talking to.

If you don’t have access to communities you can use the internet! One of the best places to see what people are asking around your topic or industry is Answer the Public.

If you’re in a really niche industry you might be able to just Google and see what comes up or Auto completes.

No matter which method you use this data ensures that your products and services will be tailor made for your audience and attract those clients.

Keyword Research

Keywords help your content and website be seen by more eyeballs when people search for topics and questions related to what your expertise. This might seem simple but it can be easy to get confused with all the moving parts surrounding your website.

Answer the Public is also great to use for keywords. Ubersuggest is another awesome website to start with. Using these sites to help build out your SEO strategy will keep traffic returning to your website months and years into the future.

Eventually all the research in the world won’t tell you which keywords will work out for you and your website. It’s better to choose a few and place them throughout your website content then checking in with your analytics in Squarespace to see how they are performing.

Then you can change them up if you aren’t getting the results you want or keep using them.

Where should you put keywords?

The simple answer is everywhere! In your landing page copy, renaming your photos and blog posts just to name a few.

Already overwhelmed just thinking about this? Don’t worry it’s much easier to add your keywords to your website content before writing all the copy for your website.

Competitor Research

This is for those who want to really deep dive into other businesses that are in your same industry or serving the same people. Yes, I’m giving you permission to check out your competitors!

SpyFu is a great tool to scope out your competition. Just to be clear you shouldn’t copy exactly what they are doing. It can be tempting if someone has a successful business to just copy and paste that into yours but what works for them might not translate to you.

Use data to stand out

The whole point of looking at this data is using it to stand out. You can find out what keywords are on their website and other valuable data. Obviously you can use some of the same things to your advantage but no straight copying. You want to stand out, have people remember you and have your business not be lost in a sea of same-ness!

Like the other websites mentioned there is a free and paid version. You get a lot of information for free so I would stick to that unless you want to have information overload.

Ultimately when I use SpyFu during my brand strategy research it’s to figure out where my client is in relation to people ahead them and on their level in their business journey. Understanding where your business stands in terms of price and other variables will help me craft an unique brand strategy for your business and growth goals.

3 types of research for business owners

I hope some of my enthusiasm for research has rubbed off on you. Even if it’s not your idea of a good time there’s lots of tasks to do in our businesses that we aren’t going to love. Using these 3 types of research in your business will help you understand your audience, stand out from the crowd and help you create products and services they will love.

Hopefully this made things easier for you so you can be guided by data and facts in your business and not rely on ideas and feelings.

As one of my business coaches used to say, “Data over drama!”