Competitor SEO: 5 Steps To Overthrow Your Competition & Rank Higher

Navigating the realm of online competition is no easy feat.

Regardless of your domain, industry, or target demographic, there’s a multitude of digital contenders vying for the top spot, often making the path to success feel congested. For newcomers, it can be daunting to see others already reaping the benefits you desire. However, no opponent is insurmountable.

With determination and the right resources, you can find your edge; and in the digital age, that edge is often rooted in SEO. Don’t venture into this competitive arena unprepared! Equip yourself with this guide on Competitor SEO Analysis.

 

So, what’s Competitor SEO all about?

 At its core, it enables you to:

1. Identify the chinks in your competitors’ armor.
2. Leverage these weak points to boost your site’s visibility, drive traffic, captivate audiences, and subsequently, elevate your revenue streams.

The silver lining? The process is more straightforward than it seems. Modern SEO tools streamline much of the heavy lifting, letting you focus on formulating strategies that will leave your competitors in the dust. So, without further ado, let’s dive in.

 

Step 1. Begin with Self-Assessment.

 Before diving into competitor analysis, it’s crucial to have a clear understanding of where you stand. This internal evaluation provides a benchmark to measure against others in your space.

Here’s your checklist for self-assessment:

1. Recognize the keywords associated with your site – those you’ve incorporated and those you aim to in the future.
2. Determine where you rank on Google and other search platforms.
3. Analyze your website’s traffic: its volume, sources, and conversion efficacy.
4. Gauge your engagement levels on all social media platforms where you promote your brand.
5. If you operate a physical business, pinpoint its location.
6. Define the boundaries of your niche – and what lies outside of it.
7. Clarify who your target demographic is – and who falls outside that category.

This foundational information outlines your SEO landscape and serves as your point of departure. By obtaining similar data about potential rivals, you can identify and focus on those who truly challenge your position, sidelining those who don’t. While much of this data collection is straightforward, tools like Google Analytics can offer deeper insights into aspects like traffic trends.

 

Step 2. Identify Your Main Rivals.

Before diving into competitor analysis, ponder the following aspects:

How many rivals warrant your analysis?

What criteria help you differentiate true competitors from the rest?

Which sites should be on your radar for competition?

Is it a continuous battle against the same competitors?

If not, when should you shift focus? How frequently should you introduce new competitors to your list? Let’s unpack these considerations.

 

How Many Rivals Should Be In Your Scope?

While analyzing a single competitor won’t yield comprehensive insights, going through a hundred is overkill and impractical. The exact number of competitors might vary based on your industry, but a well-curated list of about ten to twelve significant players should offer ample data to refine your SEO approach.

 

How Can You Differentiate Between True Rivals and Others?

Identifying genuine competitors isn’t solely about who appears in your analysis.

A true competitor will:

• Target similar keywords as you.
• Cater to the same audience demographic.
• For local businesses, they’ll function within your geographic area.

 

How to Select Which Sites to Challenge & Should You Continuously Battle the Same Sites?

 It’s essential to strategize. While you’ll find many sites meeting the aforementioned criteria, not all are immediate challenges. Begin with sites that are marginally ahead; they’re your low-hanging fruit. As you make progress, raise the bar by competing against tougher rivals. However, stay vigilant with sites you’ve surpassed; they might bounce back.

 

Is There a Need to Constantly Update Your List of Competitors?

Dominant players in your domain are likely to remain consistent over time. But the landscape is dynamic, with sites vying for supremacy. Some might ascend, others may falter, and fresh contenders could emerge. To stay updated and relevant, it’s prudent to reassess your competitive landscape every couple of months.

 

 

Finding Competitors Made Simple:

Kickstart your competitor hunt with the WebCEO’s Dangerous Competitors tool. Here’s a streamlined approach:

1. Begin by populating the Keywords tab with your rank-worthy keywords.
2. Specify your desired search engines and associated locations in the Search Engines section.
3. If you’re already aware of certain competitors, input their URLs in the Competitors tab; if not, you can bypass this.
4. Once saved, the tool curates a list of potential rivals.

Now, individually explore these websites, zeroing in on those fitting the previously outlined criteria, marking genuine competitors. To keep a tab on these selected domains for in-depth analysis, simply activate tracking by clicking on the flag icon next to each URL.

 

Step 3: Unraveling the Strengths & Gaps in Their Content.

To gain the upper hand over rivals, grasp these essentials:

1. The ‘Who’ is clear by now.
2. Now, let’s decode ‘What’ to surpass.
3. ‘How’ to do it follows in step 4.

Content remains paramount, and those ranking above you have tapped into its power. Yet, no content is impeccable – and therein lies your opportunity.

Delve into competitor analysis to uncover:

• The variety of content they curate: From blogs, articles, case studies to multimedia like images, videos, or podcasts. It’s likely that a competitor might not excel in every category. Identify these gaps: introduce superior content in these areas.
• Their top-performing pages. These form the cornerstone of their success and might be challenging to eclipse. However, don’t shy away from targeting their weaker content segments highlighted below.
• Content pieces that aren’t reaching their potential. Many quality pages don’t attain the rank they deserve; your competitors aren’t immune to this.
• Outdated or subpar pages that are underperforming. These present a ripe opportunity for you to craft better content and ascend in rankings.

How To Obtain Comprehensive Insights Into Your Competitors’ Site Performance:

Initiate a distinct project for their website using WebCEO. Then, navigate to the ‘By Page’ section under the ‘My Site Rankings’ report.

Expert Advice: Sign up for your competitors’ newsletters and updates. While organic traffic is valuable, a well-executed email strategy can rival the impact of SEO. Review emails from multiple competitors and identify areas of enhancement; there’s always scope to elevate your game.

 

Step 4: Delve into Your Competitors’ Keyword Strategy.

As we dive deeper, it’s time to explore the “how.”

This phase will help you uncover the keywords your competitors bank on and determine your next move.

It’s not merely about mimicking their strategy. It requires a more refined approach, yet the starting point is understanding their keyword usage.

Launch the WebCEO’s Keyword Competitor Analysis tool.

Input a website’s URL to unveil its keyword strategy. Create a list derived from your rival’s keywords and then:

1. Identify the keywords that you’ve already integrated into your site. This helps ascertain if both you and your competitor are vying for the same keywords and audience. If there’s a substantial overlap in your keyword strategies, outperforming them might be challenging. Consider focusing on competitors with less keyword similarity.
2. Recognize the keywords you haven’t utilized yet, particularly those mid- to long-tail ones with significant monthly searches (preferably in the thousands) that exhibit clear user intent.
3. Pinpoint keywords that aren’t giving your competitors a high rank. Incorporate these relevant keywords into your strategy, as they offer a more straightforward path to surpassing your competitors. Verify their performance for specific keywords through the Keyword Ranking Comparison report.

Analyzing competitor keywords can offer a wealth of fresh insights, but discernment is crucial. This principle holds true for the broader scope of competitor SEO as well.

 

Step 5. Leverage Their Link Profiles to Enhance Your Backlink Strategy.

Crafting a robust link-building strategy can be a challenging aspect of SEO, yet the returns can be significant. High-authority and relevant backlinks can notably enhance your rankings, and studying your competitors can guide you to these valuable links.

To start, delve into their link profiles.

Use WebCEO’s Competitor Backlink Spy tool for this.

This tool reveals pages that link back to your competitors’ websites, prioritizing them based on their authority, helping you to identify the most influential domains swiftly.

However, acquiring an effective backlink goes beyond just high authority; it must be enveloped in pertinent content and possess a contextually appropriate anchor text. So, indiscriminately selecting the first page isn’t advisable. Ensure its relevance before considering it as a potential link source for your site.

Additionally, analyze shared backlinks among competitors.

Upon examination, you might find common backlink sources among competitors. Occasionally, you’ll spot gaps indicating the absence of a competitor’s backlink on a particular page. Such gaps present opportunities for you to establish a link before your rival does.

Now, in terms of actual link-building, the methods span from straightforward to highly intricate.

Some simpler tactics include:

• Suggesting replacements for defunct links.
• Proposing updates for outdated link references.
• Recommending inclusion for non-linked mentions of your brand. Whereas, more challenging techniques encompass:
• Crafting unparalleled content.
• Participating in expert interviews.
• Achieving virality with your content. Ultimately, the foundation of successful link-building is consistently generating relevant and top-tier content.