Step 1: Gather Information About Your Own Website
Before diving into competitor analysis, ensure you have comprehensive information about your own site. This data will be critical for comparison.
Key Information to Collect:
- Ranking Keywords: The keywords you currently use and those you plan to target.
- Current Ranking Positions: Your standings in Google and other search engines.
- Site Visitor Traffic: Amount, sources, and conversion efficiency.
- Social Media Metrics: Data from all platforms where your business is promoted.
- Location: Applicable if you operate a physical store.
- Niche Definition: Your specific industry and boundaries.
- Target Audience: Detailed demographics of your ideal customer base.
Gathering this information sets your SEO baseline. When you do the same for competitors, you’ll identify those worth analyzing versus those who aren’t competitive threats.
This data is often straightforward to collect with some basic tools like Google Analytics for traffic insights.
Step 2: Find Your Direct Competitors
Consider these points when identifying competitors:
- Number of Competitors: Analyze a balanced number—not too few for insufficient data, not too many to manage.
- Competitor Identification: Determine who genuinely competes with you.
- Selection of Competitive Websites: Choose those you aim to outrank soon.
- Adaptability: Revise competitor lists as rankings and strategies evolve.
- Need for New Competitors: Regularly check for emerging threats.
How Many Competitors Should You Analyze?
A dozen carefully selected competitors often suffice, especially if they provide insights to enhance your SEO strategy.
Identifying Competitors
True competitors will share:
- Ranking for similar keywords.
- Targeting the same audience.
- Location overlap (for local businesses).
Selecting and Revising Competitor Lists
Focus initially on those slightly outperforming you. Monitor defeated competitors as they may resurge. Periodically, every few months, reassess the competitive landscape.
Finding Competitors
With these steps clarified, use appropriate tools to locate competitors:
- Input your ranking keywords.
- Specify target search engines.
- Include known competitor URLs if any.
Once gathered, evaluate which competitors directly challenge you. Track them for further analysis.
Step 3: Analyze Competitor Content
To outrank competitors, understand:
- Who they are.
- What content they produce (current focus).
- How to surpass them (next step).
Content Analysis
Identify:
- Content Types: What they publish—blogs, videos, podcasts, etc. Spot their weaknesses and capitalize.
- Top Pages: Their leading performers worth challenging.
- Underperforming Pages: Pages with potential but need improvement.
- Easy Targets: Pages suffering from outdated or poor content, ripe for overtaking.
Gaining Insight on Competitors’ Rankings:
- Set up a project dedicated to their site.
- Explore the ranking data to identify opportunities for improvement.
Step 4: Analyze Competitors’ Keywords
In this phase, explore your competitors’ keyword strategies:
Strategic Keyword Use
- Existing Keywords: Confirm overlap to validate competition.
- New Keyword Opportunities: Focus on mid/long-tail with high search volumes.
- Weakly Ranked Keywords: Target areas where competitors lack strength.
Employ a keyword analysis tool for detailed competitor keyword insights.
Step 5: Build Backlinks Using Competitors’ Link Profiles
Link building is challenging but crucial for SEO success. Competitors can inadvertently guide you to potential link sources.
Competitive Backlink Analysis
- Initial Research: Use tools to explore competitors’ backlinks, sorted by authority to choose the best domains.
- Overlapping Links: Identify shared backlink sources among competitors.
Link Building Strategies
- Replace Outdated/Dead Links: Offer better content as replacements.
- Optimize Unlinked Mentions: Reach out to suggest linking to positive mentions of your site.
- Unique Content Creation: Develop exclusive content that naturally attracts links.
Want To Discover More Steps?
To explore additional ways leveraging competitors can enhance your site, seek comprehensive resources and tools specifically designed for thorough SEO competitor analysis.
