Most people turn to search engines to find information, products and services, making it extremely important for brands to rank well in search results.
Surprisingly, your competitors can be your greatest asset if you allow them to be. You can tap into their strategies through competitor analysis to see what's working for them and what isn't.
Let's take a look at the step-by-step process to leverage SEO competitor analysis to improve your search result rankings.
Step 1: Research keywords.
Everything in SEO starts with keyword research.
The first step is to identify keywords that you can realistically target. The key word here is "realistically."
For instance, if you own a jewellery store, you may want to rank for the seed keyword "jewellery." Just search for the seed keyword in Google to find your top-ranking competitors. However, unless your brand has the potential to compete with heavyweights like Tiffany, the possibility of ranking for this keyword is next to none.
Therefore, you need to identify hyper targeted, long-tail keywords with high search volumes and low competition. These key phrases are more specific to a particular niche or location.
Step 2: Identify your top competitors.
Once you have identified your keywords, search for them on Google and find out which sites rank in the top 10. Repeat the process for all of your major keywords. You might find that a few particular sites come up in almost all your searches. These are the sites you'll need to add to your list of competitors.
Keep in mind that your competitors are not just other businesses that offer the same type of products or services you provide. They can be any website that competes with you for your target keywords. For instance, if one of your target keywords is "jewellery stores in Sydney," these top-ranking sites would be some of your competitors.
Step 3: Find keywords your competitors use.
The next step is to find out what keywords your competitors are targeting. Contact MindArc for help with gathering the best keywords and competitors for your business. Simply give us a call or send us an enquiry form and we’ll help you understand what keywords your competitors use as well as come up with a strategy to increase organic traffic to your business.
Step 4: Analyse their sites.
The next step is to find the weaknesses and strengths of your competitors. Here are a few key factors to look out for.
Metadata
The next step would be to analyse the metadata your competitors use. Here are a few factors to look out for:
Have they used meta titles & descriptions on their pages and alt text on their images?
Backlinks
Find out the number and names of sites that link back to your competitors. This gives you an idea of the number of high quality links you need to target to outrank your competitor.
Look for quality links. If your competitor has backlinks from authority sites or if they have backlinks from industry blogs, then you need to do the same.
Step 5: Analyse their content.
Now you have a clear idea of who your competitors are, what keywords they rank for, their backlink profiles and meta information. The next thing you need to analyse is their content and social media marketing strategies.
High content quality is vital for Google to rank your site well. This includes the usefulness of the information, factual correctness, expertise of the creator and credibility of the information.
Here are a few other things to keep an eye out for while analysing your competitors' content:
Their frequency of social media shares
Engagement rate
Blog post frequency
Domain authority
Boost your rankings & drive more traffic
Spying on your competition can not only give you ideas and inspiration but also save you a lot of time on planning your SEO strategy.
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MindArc works with clients in different ways depending on their requirements. It can be through an Ongoing SEO Retainer for those looking to achieve short and long term goals. SEO Audits, for those clients who want to know how their site is currently performing and what are the opportunities/quick wins available to them. SEO projects for clients who want a one-off SEO solution in relation to a project or campaign they are working through.
Get in touch to discuss the SEO approach that suits you and your goals best.