Competitive analysis is an integral facet when at first phases of a search engine optimization campaign. Far too frequently, I see associations bypass this important step and get right into keyword mapping, optimizing content, or connection construction. But knowing who our opponents are seeing where they endure could result in a far more comprehensive comprehension of exactly what our goals should be and show gaps or blind areas.
The very first step in this procedure is deciding who will be the top four opponents that we would like to use for this particular analysis. We recommend a combination of direct business opponents and internet search competitions, which may vary from whom a company identifies as your most important competitors.
This is the criteria we use in order to select potential competitors:
- We analyze your website and determine the keywords for which your are currently ranked in search engines. (Eg "skip hire", "dentist in chicago area", etc.)
- Using our technology, we seek what other companies are also well ranked in Google for the same keywords.
- And finally we choose the two sites with the highest number of matching keywords with your website.
Added tips:
You're going to want to look at four things: Visibility, Relevance, Authority and local search optimization
Local Search
In your business, this is by far the most important.
Authority
Use a tool like Marketing Search Engine and SEO Backlink Checker to review their link profile and compare it to yours.
Relevance
Not much you can do here except read their stuff. What are they writing about? Is any of it actually garnering attention? Look at social media shares and recent content. Don't look at how many times they put the phrase 'lawn care' on their home page. Many sites spam phrases all over the place, and in spite of conventional wisdom, that doesn't help them rank.
Visibility
Use a third party crawler like Screaming Frog to crawl their site, then compare that to what you see.
Suggested competitors websites do not necessarily compete with you in terms of business but you have to consider them as they are grabbing your target visitors' attention.
