There is more competition than ever in the online world and in the offline world. However, you do not have to remain in the dark about what they are doing in the modern world of information. Here are some of the strategies that you can employ today in order to keep your competition at bay.

1 - Monitor your competition.

The more that you know about what your competition is doing, the better you will be able to strategize about them. Make it a point to go to the social media pages of your direct competition and see what their customers are saying about them. You may be able to turn a point of weakness in their business into a strength in your own.

You can also monitor your competition through the major search engines. Take a look at what people are saying about them on review websites in order to find the weaknesses in their marketing techniques and in their products.

2 - Copy the successful visibility techniques of your competition.

It is also easier than ever to view the link profile of your competition. You can use this profile in order to find the companies that are giving your competition so-called "link juice" and try to create a connection with those bloggers and industry taste makers as well.

You will also easily be able to tell the keywords that are successful for your competitors through a simple search of their company. Do not be afraid to compete with them for control of some of these keywords, especially the ones that pertain to your niche in the marketplace.

3 - Employ reputation management; outsource to another company if you have to.

Your competition may try to use unscrupulous techniques in order to destroy your reputation online. Some of these techniques may include writing fake negative reviews about your company or creating fake profiles in order to disrupt your conversation on social media. You can get away from these techniques by outsourcing your branding to a reputation management company. They are experts in figuring out what your competition is doing and separating their influence from you.

4 - Create loyal customers in order to shield yourself from the efforts of your competitors.

If you have loyal customers, then your competition basically has no leverage over you. These loyal customers will come back to you exclusively rather than looking over the entire marketplace when they are trying to make a decision about what brand to purchase. Loyal customers can be created through a number of techniques; however, you should be sure to analyze your efforts in order to streamline them in an ongoing fashion.

Your competition does not have any resources available to them that you do not have to you. Use them wisely, and you will be able to counteract any discrepancies in budget. Always keep your ear to the street for new ways to monitor your competition, and stay on the lookout for competition that may be monitoring your company!