Decide Which Keywords to Analyze Competitors Against<\/strong><\/h2>\nWhile it may seem difficult to the uninitiated, most SEO competitive data is easy to gather and analyze. There are many tools that provide competitors\u2019 keyword data, such as iSpionage and Moz, and they can help users identify the most affordable, accurate keywords to target. With the right competitive analysis methods and tools, users can find profitable yet affordable keywords to boost their own site’s rankings.<\/p>\n
These tools used to be complex, but modern versions couldn’t be easier to use. Simply enter a competitor\u2019s URL to determine which SEO keywords they rank for. This yields a list of keywords and it shows where the competitor sits in the search engine rankings, along with their traffic volume and other information. With these tools, site owners can find out which keywords have the right mix of affordability and usability.<\/p>\n
Find the Site\u2019s Top SEO Competition
\n<\/strong><\/h3>\nThe next part of the competitive analysis process is to find out which sites rank highest in Bing and Google for certain keywords. A great tool for this is Google Keyword Planner; it helps users find out which sites are ranked highest for certain keyword queries, and it tells them which sites have upward or downward trends.<\/p>\n
The keyword planner provides ranking content for multiple keywords. A good trick is to export URLs and keywords in an .xls document and use Excel to examine sites by their high-ranking keywords. This step may
\nseem tedious, but it gives the site owner more analytic power.<\/p>\n
Crawl Top-Ranking Competitive Sites<\/strong><\/h4>\nOnce a site owner identifies his or her top-ranking competitors, they can dive deeper by examining each of these sites for certain SEO characteristics. There are certain tips to follow during the examination. These include:<\/p>\n
\n- \n
Title tags. Find out how the sites use SEO keywords within titles and subheaders on pages.
\n![\"Marketing](\"https:\/\/wordpress-240247-737707.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/goats-692660_640-300x169.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Content. Determine which types of content are on the competitive site. Blog posts, stand-alone sales pages, product pages and landing pages all have different effects on a site\u2019s ranking.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Internal linking. Determine whether ranked pages are linked from the site\u2019s home page or from other equally important pages on the site.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Content structure. Does the competitor\u2019s site have a great deal of long-form content, or does it use short paragraphs, bullet points and links to other pages?<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
It’s important to evaluate a competitor’s site and use the information gained to build a solid marketing and keyword strategy. By assessing certain elements of how competitors\u2019 sites are SEO-focused and structured, a site owner can find competitors\u2019 strengths and weaknesses and tailor their own site accordingly.<\/p>\n
Check Competitors\u2019 Back\u00a0Links<\/strong><\/h5>\nBuilding links and getting other websites to link to one\u2019s content is a core SEO strategy, and one of the easiest and most effective ways to improve a site\u2019s backlinks is to review competitors\u2019 sites to determine how they\u2019re building links. Majestic, SEOProfiler and SERanking can all be used to check links that point to competitors\u2019 site content and to track citation flow, text flow and anchor text.<\/p>\n
Moz is another great tool for SEO competitive analysis<\/a>, but for varying reasons. Site owners can use Moz to check page and domain authority on all top-ranked sites, as keyword research tools make it easy. The domain authority tool is highly affiliated with a site\u2019s ranking capability, which is based on links and their quality. Simply put, link analysis shouldn\u2019t be done without it.\u00a0![\"Marketing](\"https:\/\/wordpress-240247-737707.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/arrow-686315_640-300x225.jpg\")
<\/p>\nSEO: It\u2019s a Moving Target<\/strong><\/h5>\n
\n<\/strong><\/h3>\n
The next part of the competitive analysis process is to find out which sites rank highest in Bing and Google for certain keywords. A great tool for this is Google Keyword Planner; it helps users find out which sites are ranked highest for certain keyword queries, and it tells them which sites have upward or downward trends.<\/p>\n
The keyword planner provides ranking content for multiple keywords. A good trick is to export URLs and keywords in an .xls document and use Excel to examine sites by their high-ranking keywords. This step may
\nseem tedious, but it gives the site owner more analytic power.<\/p>\n
Crawl Top-Ranking Competitive Sites<\/strong><\/h4>\nOnce a site owner identifies his or her top-ranking competitors, they can dive deeper by examining each of these sites for certain SEO characteristics. There are certain tips to follow during the examination. These include:<\/p>\n
\n- \n
Title tags. Find out how the sites use SEO keywords within titles and subheaders on pages.
\n<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Content. Determine which types of content are on the competitive site. Blog posts, stand-alone sales pages, product pages and landing pages all have different effects on a site\u2019s ranking.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Internal linking. Determine whether ranked pages are linked from the site\u2019s home page or from other equally important pages on the site.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Content structure. Does the competitor\u2019s site have a great deal of long-form content, or does it use short paragraphs, bullet points and links to other pages?<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
It’s important to evaluate a competitor’s site and use the information gained to build a solid marketing and keyword strategy. By assessing certain elements of how competitors\u2019 sites are SEO-focused and structured, a site owner can find competitors\u2019 strengths and weaknesses and tailor their own site accordingly.<\/p>\n
Check Competitors\u2019 Back\u00a0Links<\/strong><\/h5>\nBuilding links and getting other websites to link to one\u2019s content is a core SEO strategy, and one of the easiest and most effective ways to improve a site\u2019s backlinks is to review competitors\u2019 sites to determine how they\u2019re building links. Majestic, SEOProfiler and SERanking can all be used to check links that point to competitors\u2019 site content and to track citation flow, text flow and anchor text.<\/p>\n
Moz is another great tool for SEO competitive analysis<\/a>, but for varying reasons. Site owners can use Moz to check page and domain authority on all top-ranked sites, as keyword research tools make it easy. The domain authority tool is highly affiliated with a site\u2019s ranking capability, which is based on links and their quality. Simply put, link analysis shouldn\u2019t be done without it.\u00a0<\/p>\nSEO: It\u2019s a Moving Target<\/strong><\/h5>\n
Title tags. Find out how the sites use SEO keywords within titles and subheaders on pages.
\n<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
Content. Determine which types of content are on the competitive site. Blog posts, stand-alone sales pages, product pages and landing pages all have different effects on a site\u2019s ranking.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
Internal linking. Determine whether ranked pages are linked from the site\u2019s home page or from other equally important pages on the site.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
Content structure. Does the competitor\u2019s site have a great deal of long-form content, or does it use short paragraphs, bullet points and links to other pages?<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
It’s important to evaluate a competitor’s site and use the information gained to build a solid marketing and keyword strategy. By assessing certain elements of how competitors\u2019 sites are SEO-focused and structured, a site owner can find competitors\u2019 strengths and weaknesses and tailor their own site accordingly.<\/p>\n
Check Competitors\u2019 Back\u00a0Links<\/strong><\/h5>\nBuilding links and getting other websites to link to one\u2019s content is a core SEO strategy, and one of the easiest and most effective ways to improve a site\u2019s backlinks is to review competitors\u2019 sites to determine how they\u2019re building links. Majestic, SEOProfiler and SERanking can all be used to check links that point to competitors\u2019 site content and to track citation flow, text flow and anchor text.<\/p>\n
Moz is another great tool for SEO competitive analysis<\/a>, but for varying reasons. Site owners can use Moz to check page and domain authority on all top-ranked sites, as keyword research tools make it easy. The domain authority tool is highly affiliated with a site\u2019s ranking capability, which is based on links and their quality. Simply put, link analysis shouldn\u2019t be done without it.\u00a0<\/p>\nSEO: It\u2019s a Moving Target<\/strong><\/h5>\n
<\/p>\n