Everything You Need to Know to Run an SEO Competitor Analysis and Outrank Them!

Why an SEO Competitor Analysis is so Important

So, you have a website for your business. Good for you! Really, I mean that. It takes time and effort, not to mention money, to build a website that actually supports your business objectives. But simply having a business website is not going to do it in 2019. There simply are too many websites similar to yours out there. In order to succeed you need as many consumers as possible to find your website. And that is where SEO competitor analysis comes in.

Most of you already know that SEO is no longer an option. Search engine optimization has to be part of any successful digital marketing strategy. Search engines are how modern online consumers find the vast majority of what they are looking for on the Internet. SEO is how companies and product brands can use this to their advantage and help improve their search and rankings.

Staying Ahead of Your Competitors

The problem is that it is not always easy for business owners and marketers to determine the best SEO strategy for their brand or business. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was some way to see what your online competitors are doing? You know, a taste of the secret sauce they are using to get ahead of you? Actually, there is! SEO competitor analysis can give you valuable insights and greatly improve your overall search strategy and rankings.

In 2019 if you want your SEO strategy to succeed you must find the right balance between various factors. This is especially important since your competitors are going to be working just as hard to optimize their own websites and SEO campaigns. Starting with an SEO competitor analysis you can quickly determine which strategies are helping your online rivals and if they will work for your business as well.

The first thing you need to figure out is which keywords are going to work best for your brand and business. Then you need to determine what your competitors are doing. Knowing that will not only tell you what you are up against; it may also give you some new ideas. Maybe your competitors have thought of something you haven’t!

Of course, starting an SEO competitor analysis can be daunting, especially the first time you do it. If you need some help developing an SEO strategy or running your own SEO competitor analysis this excellent infographic from CognitiveSEO will help you get started. It contains a lot of helpful and easy-to-understand information on how search engine optimization can benefit your business, and help you get ahead of your competitors.

How to Perform an SEO Competitor Analysis

Infographic courtesy of CognitiveSEO

SEO Tools

If you are interested in doing your own SEO you can save a lot of time by using professional SEO tools. While there is an almost endless variety of free and premium tools available many of them are of questionable use. Part of our SEO tips is to use industry-standard tools like these:

• SEMRush – Advanced SEO Tool
• MozPro – A Leading SEO Tool
• Ahrefs – Competitor Research Tools and Backlinks Checker
• Google Analytics – The Industry Standard for Web Analytics
• SE Ranking – All-in-One SEO Software

Here at the highly caffeinated agency we use all of the above on a daily basis. We know and trust them, and so should you. If you have any questions or need some additional info please feel free to reach out to us!

How Did Your SEO Competitor Analysis Work for You?

Now, that wasn’t so bad, was it? As you can see performing an SEO competitor analysis is pretty straight forward once you get the hang of it. Most of you get apprehensive when you hear the term SEO, and I can understand that. Forget all that technical stuff. Simply put yourself in the shoes of your target audience.

What is your target audience looking for? What type of search terms or phrases are they using? And what do you need to tell search engines to make that intent clear? The above SEO infographic will help you find the answers.

Keep in mind that no single strategy will work equally well under all circumstances. You may need to adjust for your own version of an SEO competitor analysis. Feel free to let me know what works and doesn’t work for you.

You can also find more SEO and other innovative web design tips on our blog.

Now, go and spy on your competitors, before they spy on you!

Thanks, we appreciate your help in eradicating bad business websites!

By Gregor Schmidt Co-Founder / Creative Technologist @gregorspeaks