Many marketers today are interested in monitoring the search engine optimization of their rivals when it comes to SEO. Makes sense! I mean, whether you’re new to SEO or have been doing it for some time, you want a clear sight of the competitive environment on the search engine results pages (SERPs). Certainly, it helps you understand where you are and how much work you need to improve.
Thus SEO competitive analysis is indeed an important aspect of digital marketing. This generally involves comparing and contrasting the SEO strategies of many businesses. So let’s learn how to do SEO competitive analysis…
1. Find the major competitors
It’s pretty unlikely that this hasn’t already been done!
Anyhow, it’s all in your hands to remain ahead of the competition and see whether any new rivals have emerged. Make a list of whom you consider your competitors and try to focus on websites that rank highly or often for your main target keywords.
2. Take a look at what exactly your competitors are offering
Your SEO approach will be affected by your rival, thus now is the time to evaluate their strategies. Do they seem to be hawking the same idea? What kinds of goods or services do they offer? How similar are their buyer personas to yours? Do they seem to be talking to your target audience in a different manner than you are? In what ways and to what extent are they expanding upon those themes in their writing?
3. Determine the keyword difficulty they are facing
While doing keyword research you can find the keyword difficulty your competitors are facing. Evaluate the keywords they are missing out on and fill the keyword gap. However, you should focus on the keywords for which you already rank; but also consider the keywords where you are only a position or two behind your prior competitor.
4. Identify the strengths and weaknesses
It is necessary to figure out how you stand out from the competition, and what you have that others don’t. What are the gaps your rivals can’t fill in? Even the most prominent online marketplaces like Amazon have some room for improvement.
So analyze where exactly you are lacking! In case you’re having trouble pinpointing your website’s shortcomings, try asking your staff for feedback, particularly customer-facing workers, and addressing any complaints that have been lodged. Also, a consumer survey can also be made and scrutinized.
Wrapping it up
Frankly, the whole point of a competitive SEO audit is to help you make informed decisions. So whatever you have gathered after the analysis, think about how and where exactly will you use this information. whether it’s for your content strategy, product/service positioning, social engagement strategies… All of this will ultimately help with your SEO in a long run!