Are Their Sites Healthier Than Mine?
You should visit your competitors’ sites regularly using browser add-ins like Firebug or hosted test tools like WebPageTest.org, as described in the sections on performance management and monitoring. Each time you notice a change to their sites, measure how long their pages take to load, as well as how many third-party components they’re using.
If you want to keep a closer watch on competitors, use synthetic testing tools to run regular tests, providing you’re not violating their terms of service.
Several of the commercial synthetic testing services provide comparative measurements of leading sites in vertical industries (Figure 16-9). Even if you don’t subscribe to a service’s detailed research, you can use the data as a guideline for acceptable responsiveness and uptime.
Figure 16-9. Gomez performance benchmark for airline websites
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