www.BrandLessBox.com White Paper

1.
Aaron
Abbott—www.BrandLessBox.com
1
Running
Head:
COMPETITOR
ANALYSIS
Competitor
Analysis:
Evaluation
of
the
Criminal
Justice
field
and
Business
Model
Opportunities
Aaron
Michael
Abbott
www.BrandLessBox.com

2.
Aaron
Abbott—www.BrandLessBox.com
2
Abstract
The
Institute
for
Forensic
Education
sells
video
training
resources
for
the
Criminal
Justice
and
Law
Enforcement
communities.
For
nearly
five
years,
they
have
executed
effective,
yet
limited,
traditional
marketing
campaigns
to
universities,
trade
schools,
police
departments,
and
government
agencies.
This
evaluation
explores
three
competitors
that
emulate
the
total
market
potential
in
this
field.
Most
of
which,
the
company
has
been
ignoring.
Evaluating
each
competitor
Web
site
for
not
only
whom
they
are
targeting,
but
also
how
they
are
targeting
them,
opens
up
many
opportunities
to
increase
sales
and
to
create
new
avenues
of
revenue.
Each
site
will
also
be
evaluated
not
only
with
respect
to
their
Search
Engine
Optimization
techniques,
but
also
for
their
approach
to
design
and
functionality.

3.
Aaron
Abbott—www.BrandLessBox.com
3
The
competitor
analysis
is
a
necessary
evaluation
that
will
allow
the
Institute
for
Forensic
Education
(IFFE)
to
position
itself
in
a
very
refined,
and
highly
searched
Criminal
Justice
market.
IFFE
has
been
marketing
a
unique
training
program
entitled
Forensic
Death
Investigation:
Interactive
DVD
Training
Program
since
January
2005.
With
more
than
4
years
of
Internet
presence,
and
having
sold
nearly
100
training
programs,
two
sets
going
International
within
the
last
3
months,
IFFE
is
in
a
perfect
position
to
pay
close
attention
to
what
some
of
the
competition
has
done
in
regards
to
their
Search
Engine
Optimization
(SEO)
objectives
and
achievements,
and
how
they
have
designed
their
Web
sites
with
not
only
SEO,
but
with
Web
2.0
in
mind
as
well.
The
following
companies
are
the
chosen
few
that
will
be
evaluated
for
a
number
of
reasons
to
be
discussed:
1)
www.allcriminaljusticeschools.com,
2)
www.cbs.com/primetime/csi,
and
3)
www.aafs.org.
What
IFFE
needs
to
see
is
that
they
have
only
targeted
their
primary
target
market—the
universities,
institutions,
departments,
and
agencies—and
have
relied
on
these
clients
to
get
the
content
in
the
hands
of
the
primary
user,
their
students
and
personnel—IFFE’s
secondary
target
market.
Between
the
three
competitors,
the
true
potential
and
reach
of
the
video
training
resources
IFFE
is
selling
to
the
primary
target
market
shows
tremendous
profit
opportunities
if
they
targeted
the
secondary
market.
By
allowing
the
secondary
target
market
direct
access
at
very
reasonable
prices,
while
redesigning
and
updating
the
current
marketing
resources,
purchase
methods,
and

4.
Aaron
Abbott—www.BrandLessBox.com
4
branding
at
www.ForensicDeathInvestigation.com,
IFFE
will
launch
a
new,
additional
Web
site,
with
numerous
landing
pages
that
will
direct
the
secondary
target
market
to
the
IFFE
training
experience.
Table
1
shows
a
ranking
of
technical
aspects
of
the
competitor
Web
sites
in
relation
to
what
IFFE
has
done
with
its
Table
1
Quality
of
SEO
efforts
by
Competitor
Web
sites.
Comparative
ranking
scale
of
1-­10
(10
being
the
best).
Attribute
of
competition
AAFS
CBS
All
Criminal
Justice
Schools
Richness
6
10
8
Interactivity
5
8
8
Personalization/Customization
9
8
9
Web
site
Design
6
10
10
Functionality
10
10
10
Informational
10
10
8
Ease
of
use
10
10
10
Redundant
navigation
10
8
8
Ease
of
Conversion
10
10
10
Multi-­‐browser
functionality
10
10
10
Simple
graphics
7
10
10
Legible
text
10
10
8
current
site.
These
ratings
are
solely
considered
in
reference
to
SEO
execution

5.
Aaron
Abbott—www.BrandLessBox.com
5
and
the
related
functionality
of
the
future
goals
to
be
achieved
by
IFFE.
The
following
will
discuss
the
characteristics
of
each
and
how
they
can
be
utilized
to
predict
and
explain
these
exciting
future
opportunities.
www.aafs.org
The
American
Academy
of
Forensic
Sciences
(AAFS)
represents
the
professional
reputation
that
IFFE
does
hold
in
the
field.
The
credibility
must
not
only
be
maintained,
but
also
increased
with
future
SEO
efforts.
AAFS
has
a
ranking
of
748,987
amongst
all
sites
on
the
Web,
according
to
Alexa.com.
This
may
not
seem
like
a
very
high
ranking.
However,
when
one
considers
the
fact
that
this
niche
is
extremely
refined,
and
the
fact
that
Compete.com
shows
daily
traffic
in
July
2009
hit
25,989
unique
visitors,
this
Web
site
sees
numbers
that
IFFE
would
love
to
achieve.
Being
a
professional
organization,
they
seek
out
members
and
advertisers
for
conversions
in
their
revenue
model.
The
site
is
more
about
the
Industry
and
resources,
versus
a
profit-­‐driving
machine.
This,
however,
is
their
competitive
advantage;
they
are
a
leading
organization
in
the
field
of
Criminal
Justice
and
Forensic
Science.
Most
of
the
competition
the
AAFS
faces
is
attributed
to
mainly
organic
keyword
searches,
versus
paid
methods,
according
to
results
found
on
SEMRush.com.
The
Web
site,
overall,
is
very
well
designed
and
serves
all
functional
purposes
quite
well
(Figure
1).
There
is
almost
a
mixture
of
old
looking
elements,
and
then
signs
of
new
content
areas,
with
more
up
to
date
images
and
tools.
Google
shows
this
site
having
531
pages
indexed,
with
79
incoming
links.
However,
there
is

6.
Aaron
Abbott—www.BrandLessBox.com
6
no
use
of
keywords
in
the
META
data
of
the
HTML
source
code.
It
appears
that
since
the
site
has
been
up
since
March
11,
1994
and
the
fact
that
there
is
tremendous
amounts
of
organic
keyword
text,
that
the
AAFS
has
slowly
climbed
to
the
top
positions
with
such
keywords
as
forensic
science,
forensic,
and
career
in
forensics,
as
shown
on
SEMRush.com.
These
are
all
very
valuable
keywords
to
IFFE
and
this
is
one
site
that
will
be
considered
in
terms
of
what
needs
to
be
written
in
new
copy
developments
of
the
IFFE
sites.
The
most
important
aspects
to
take
from
the
AAFS
site
is
how
they
present
a
multitude
of
information,
along
with
membership
opportunities,
calendars,
job
boards,
links,
and
more.
While
the
design
is
nothing
exciting,
it
is
appropriate
for
the
target
audience,
an
audience
filled
with
Criminal
Justice
and
Law
Enforcement
professionals
and
educators.
www.allcriminaljusticeschools.com
All
Criminal
Justice
Schools
(ACJS)
captivates
a
larger
audience,
composed
primarily
of
prospective
students
looking
for
information
about
pursuing
education
and
careers
in
the
Criminal
Justice
field.
While
many
students
would
most
definitely
benefit
from
the
AAFS
site,
the
likelihood
of
them
thinking
about
doing
a
keyword
search
with
the
term
forensic
science
is
much
less
than
them
using
terms
like
criminal
justice,
criminal
justice
schools,
and
criminal
justice
degree,
as
shown
on
SEMRush.com.
These
are
the
terms
they
hear
on
television
commercials
and
see
all
over
the
Internet
in
the
various
advertising
message
vehicles.
Alexa.com
ranks
the
ACJS
site
at
194,090,
while
Compete.com
shows
50,311
unique
visitors
in
July
2009.
The
1,780
pages
indexed
by
Google
is
a
huge
jump
from
the
531
of
the
AAFS.
The

7.
Aaron
Abbott—www.BrandLessBox.com
7
amount
of
links
overshadows
the
AAFS,
with
611.
Between
the
links
and
the
pages
indexed,
ACJS
has
done
a
tremendous
job
in
optimizing
the
site
for
SEO
analysis.
In
fact,
the
organic
use
of
keywords
is
great.
As
you
jump
from
page
to
page,
you
can
see
the
use
of
keywords
change
in
respect
to
the
specific
information
on
the
page.
The
number
of
links
helps
placement
most
definitely,
but
they
lack
unique
content
and
interactivity.
Rather
than
a
truly
informational
site,
ACJS
seems
to
be
more
like
one
giant
landing
site
that
connects
prospective
students
to
future
schools
and
career
path
opportunities.
The
information
is
there,
but
it
is
most
definitely
more
about
the
links.
The
power
of
the
ACJS
is
that
they
attract
future
students
of
the
Criminal
Justice
program.
The
training
program
offered
by
IFFE
is
a
most
valuable
tool
for
prospective
students.
By
positioning
the
IFFE
sites
in
the
likeness
of
ACJS,
there
would
be
great
opportunity
in
capturing
the
interest
of
these
future
students.
If
they
are
thinking
about
spending
$30,000.00
dollars
for
a
degree
in
Criminal
Justice,
it
only
makes
sense
that
they
would
not
mind
spending
$10.00
to
get
a
realistic
taste
of
what
their
future
will
involve.
The
most
important
facts
to
take
from
this
competitor
is
the
use
of
keywords,
and
the
fact
that
they
actually
do
spend
quite
a
bit
of
money
on
Pay-­‐per-­‐click
(PPC)
advertising.
Spyfu.com
shows
that
the
ACJS
spends
anywhere
from
$729.00
to
$7,170.00
on
average
per
day,
while
other
competitors
spent
nothing.
As
a
result,
ACJS
receives
anywhere
from
just
under
2,000
to
nearly
3,000
clicks
per
day,
these
figures
would
prove
to
be
very
fruitful
for
IFFE.

8.
Aaron
Abbott—www.BrandLessBox.com
8
The
site
is
purely
about
functionality
and
connecting
the
user
to
the
school
they
seek
in
their
field
of
study
(Figure
2).
While
the
business
model
is
focused
on
getting
students
to
enroll
in
school,
their
market
is
a
market
that
IFFE
needs
to
capitalize.
The
ease
of
navigation
around
the
site
is
great
considering
how
many
different
paths
to
the
information
are
available.
These
are
all
factors
and
options
IFFE
must
implement
in
the
future
site.
www.cbs.com/primetime/csi/
As
the
previous
competitors
have
shown
how
IFFE
can
expand
market
reach
by
targeting
other
markets,
this
is
the
very
premise
as
to
why
a
major
television
studio,
such
as
CBS,
would
be
considered
a
competitor
of
the
training
video
resources
being
sold.
CBS
has
one
series
in
particular
that
shows
a
potential
to
easily
generate
millions
of
dollars
in
revenue
for
IFFE.
CSI:
Crime
Scene
Investigation
(CSI)
has
become
one
of
the
most
popular
series
on
television
today.
While
new
episodes
are
aired
weekly,
there
are
a
number
of
other
networks,
like
Spike,
TNT,
and
USA
that
run
episodes
in
syndicate
throughout
the
day,
7
days
a
week.
In
fact,
Facebook
shows
that
the
CSI
page
has
nearly
900,000
fans.
Each
one
of
these
fans
has
a
viable
interest
that
relates
to
the
content
of
the
IFFE
training
resources.
Alexa.com
has
the
CSI
site
ranked
1,229th
on
the
Internet.
This
is
a
huge
leap
from
the
other
competition
and
shows
how
much
interest
for
this
unique
content
involving
the
death
investigation
process
is
out
there.
Google
shows
more
than
1,500
incoming
links
to
the
site,
with
590
pages
being
indexed.
While
this
is
much

9.
Aaron
Abbott—www.BrandLessBox.com
9
less
than
ACJS
and
only
59
more
indexed
pages
than
the
AAFS,
CBS
already
has
a
tremendous
position
in
the
consumers
mind.
This
fact
is
proven
when
you
look
to
Compete.com
and
see
that
in
July
2009,
this
site
saw
4,445,652
unique
visitors.
The
use
of
keywords
is
very
effective.
The
two
keywords
that
mean
the
most
to
IFFE
are
CSI
and
CSI
videos.
While
keyword
structure
does
change
from
page
to
page,
these
two
word
groupings
appear
on
each
and
every
page.
And
as
a
result,
when
you
type
in
CSI
in
any
of
the
major
search
engines,
the
site
appears
in
the
first
position
consistently.
As
far
as
functionality
and
design
of
the
site,
it
is
a
perfect
model
for
IFFE
to
utilize
in
the
redesign
of
the
current
site,
and
in
the
design
for
the
future
site.
While
both
will
look
different,
and
target
different
markets,
the
CSI
site
has
great
use
of
functional
layout
with
a
mix
of
utility
design
(Figure
3).
Being
a
television
company’s
Web
site,
it
is
a
given
in
these
times
that
there
will
be
a
great
deal
of
video
assets
and
resources.
Not
only
do
design
elements
help
the
visual
layout
and
accessibility
of
the
great
deal
of
videos
available
for
viewing,
they
help
the
user
to
navigate
through
the
multitude
of
options.
Great
use
of
colors
in
visual
blocks
breaks
up
the
content
with
use
of
great
images
from
the
show.
Copy
is
used
minimally
as
not
to
detract
from
the
reasons
why
people
visit
this
site.
These
are
very
important
factors
in
consideration
of
the
new
IFFE
site
design.
The
use
of
interactive
content
is
impressive
as
is
their
implementation
of
social
networking
opportunities.
They
even
have
a
way
for
fans
to
merge
their
Facebook
information
into
the
CSI
community.
The
discussion
forum
has
more
than
1,000,000
users
and

10.
Aaron
Abbott—www.BrandLessBox.com
10
there
is
a
unique
interactive
experience
that
allows
viewers
to
communicate
as
they
watch
the
streaming
videos.
While
CBS
is
not
selling
anything
here,
they
use
the
site
as
a
platform
to
solidify
brand
recognition
and
to
plant
their
stake
in
the
interactive
realm
of
the
World
Wide
Web.
Being
a
conglomerate
of
traditional
media
outlets
means
that
CBS
does
not
really
worry
about
how
they
are
going
to
get
to
the
top,
because
they
have
been
at
the
top
for
a
long
time.
They
have
natural
visitors
based
on
existing
placement
in
the
eyes
of
global
consumers.
And
yet,
they
have
still
done
an
amazing
job
in
allowing
their
users
to
have
an
experience
on
the
site
that
has
them
registering
and
coming
back
for
more.
This
is
their
competitive
advantage.
And
this
advantage
needs
to
be
evaluated
and
emulated
by
IFFE
in
future
SEO
and
business
model
development
efforts.
Reason
being
that
each
and
every
one
of
these
visitors,
viewers,
and
fans,
have
a
vested
interest
in
the
topics
explained
and
explored
in
the
training
program,
Forensic
Death
Investigation,
sold
by
IFFE.
Conclusion
By
maintaining
the
current
site,
ForensicDeathInvestigation.com,
for
the
primary
target
market,
IFFE
will
maintain
a
foundation
of
credibility
when
building
the
new
site
to
facilitate
the
new
business
model.
The
current
site
needs
to
be
redesigned
for
SEO
purposes
and
for
better
Web
2.0
function
and
appearance.
Modeling
icons
like
Google
and
Apple
will
make
users
feel
confident
and
comfortable
in
the
training
purchased.

11.
Aaron
Abbott—www.BrandLessBox.com
11
The
three
competitors
discussed
truly
capture
the
total
variety
of
the
potential
customers
that
will
make
up
the
secondary
target
market
for
IFFE.
While
the
primary
target
market
is
composed
generally
of
professionals
and
institutions
of
higher
learning
serving
the
Criminal
Justice
and
Law
Enforcement
communities,
the
secondary
jumps
out
of
this
very
refined
niche,
into
a
huge
segment
of
the
general
population
interested
in
death
investigation
and
videos
that
explore
the
concept.
The
secondary
market
has
been
shaped
by
the
multitude
of
television
programs
such
as
CSI:
Las
Vegas,
CSI:
NY,
CSI:
Miami,
NCIS,
Bones,
Law
&
Order,
and
others,
as
well
as
the
number
of
trade
school
television
commercials
selling
education
and
degrees
in
Forensics
and
Criminal
Justice.
Equally,
the
curiosity
about
death
we
hold
as
human
beings
in
undeniable.
The
key
to
success
for
IFFE
is
to
promote
the
status
they
have
earned
thus
far,
while
evolving
the
current
site,
and
allowing
the
general
public
similar
access
to
such
sensitive
and
unique
training
content.
As
the
existing
site
continues
to
maintain
and
build
presence
on
the
Web,
and
IFFE
sells
more
training
programs,
the
new
site
will
be
developed
and
launched
with
all
major
ideas
discussed
in
this
analysis,
implemented
and
executed.
The
competition
shows
how
profitable
and
possible
it
can
be
in
this
field.
It
is
a
unique
niche
with
tremendous
interest.
And
IFFE
has
a
very
unique
product.
Success
will
be
achieved
by
utilizing
specific
SEO
techniques
and
by
understanding
what
each
competitor
has
done
with
their
site,
and
why.

12.
Aaron
Abbott—www.BrandLessBox.com
12
Figure Caption
Figure 1. The AAFS site,
overall,
is
very
well
designed
and
serves
all
functional
purposes
quite
well.
Figure
2.
The
ACJS
site
is
purely
about
functionality
and
connecting
the
user
to
the
school
they
seek
in
their
field
of
study.
Figure
3.
The
CBS
site
has
great
use
of
functional
layout
with
a
mix
of
utility
design.

13.
Aaron
Abbott—www.BrandLessBox.com
13
Figure 1

14.
Aaron
Abbott—www.BrandLessBox.com
14
Figure 2

15.
Aaron
Abbott—www.BrandLessBox.com
15
Figure 3

16.
Aaron
Abbott—www.BrandLessBox.com
16
References
Alexa:
The
Web
Information
Company.
(n.d.).
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August
15,
2009
from
http://alexa.com
All Criminal Justice Schools. (n.d.) Retrieved August 11, 2009 from http://www.al
lcriminaljusticeschools.com/
American
Academy
of
Forensic
Sciences.
(n.d.).
Retrieved
August
15,
2009
from
http://www.aafs.org/default.asp?section_id=resources&page_id=academy_n
ews
CBS
Interactive.
(n.d.).
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12,
2009
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http://www.cbs.com/prim
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(n.d.).
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August
12,
2009
from
http://siteanalytics.compet
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Facebook.
(n.d.)
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14,
2009
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http://www.facebook.com
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13,
2009
from
https://adwords.goo
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Google
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(n.d.).
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from
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2009
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http://www.google.c
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(n.d.).
Retrieved
August
11,
2009
http://www.semrush.com/info/
SpyFu.com.
(n.d.).
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15,
2009
from
http://spyfu.com/Domain.asp
x?d=1254924279588069129