How do you perform competitive research for SEO?
-
What metrics tell you the most when you're looking at your competitors across the search landscape?
- PageRank/MozRank
- Inbound links
- Keyword rankings
- Alexa/QuantCast/etc.
- Pages indexed
- Something else entirely?
What numbers speak volumes to you when you want to get an idea of how you benchmark against your competitors? And how do you communicate these results?
-
Thanks Pashmina - I think you really hit the nail on the head when it comes to traffic share.
I believe that tools like Hitwise and comScore can present some pretty compelling data around traffic share - have you used them, are they worth the cost, and do they work any better than the tools you list above?
-
Jonathon, this is a good idea for a post. Let's cover the metrics you've listed here quickly first, then other things not mentioned.
- Page Rank - ignore and don't present. It's not exactly easy to move the needle on this month to month.
- Moz Rank - better than page rank, and present as a baseline and compare to competitors.
- Inbound Links, not just number, but number of unique domains.
- Keyword Ranks, aggregate by #1, top 5, top 10, top 20.
- Alexa, in the same chart/area as Moz Rank.
- Pages indexed, yes, only if they're running flash, or have no content to speak of. And educate why redoing website or serious content dev is priority numero Uno for their SEO.
I also think it's important to present them with data that acts as a "carrot" The above stats can show them how they rank against their competitors, but the connection in terms of what they'll gain by out ranking them on those stats isn't clear. I also like to collect data from Spyfu, Keyword Spy or Compete on their comeptitors traffic. If the data is there, you can chart their **traffic share. **This shows them how much traffic & clicks they're missing out on by not ranking high enough.I think this number speaks volumes.
-
Although I am still learning a lot from everyone here I usually start off on competitor research by asking my client who they think their competitors are. Then I perform searches for a range of their keywords and identify online competitors (who are often a different bunch to the clients).
Things that I look at include:
- Search Trends (Use Google Insights for keywords)
- Likihood Client + Competitors sites are to convert from users perspective
- Competitors Ranking URLs Page Authority (and Page Rank)
- Competitors Domain Authority
- What elements of onsite they are optimising
- The range of other keywords they are targeting
- Inbound Links (to domain and ranking URLs)
- Link Velocity (Majestic SEO is pretty damn good for this)
- Whether they have keywords in their URLs
- Anchor Text of inbound and internal links
- Internal Linking of sites
- Their Use of social media
This isnt an exhaustive list by any means and each time I run audits and competitive research I find new things that are (probably) affecting rankings.
The thing is, there is no way to cookie cut research as search engines themselves are evolving.
-
All you need to know is right here:
http://www.seomoz.org/keyword-difficulty/
Type in your keyword and the SEOmoz tool will determine the difficulty for you. It analyzes all sorts of metrics for you so you don't have to. However, if you were to do it manually, here's what I would look at:
1. How many root domains link to you vs. your competitors?
2. What is the Page Authority/Domain Authority of you vs. your competitors?
3. How do you score with this tool vs. your competitors? http://pro.seomoz.org/tools/on-page-keyword-optimization/new
4. Using Majestic SEO, how fast are you acquiring new links compared to the rate of your competitors?
That's the biggies I would look at.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Improving SEO for a Niche Blog - Seeking Advice
I am a college student studying Information Sciences and was "hired" by my uncle over the summer to work and maintain his baseball-related website, which he started in 2016. His posts provide very in-depth information but were created without a focus on SEO. I've noticed that a competing site, which seems to have started as an e-commerce site, is ranking higher than my uncle's site for the query "how much does a baseball weigh." Interestingly, this competing site ranks for keywords like "mass of baseball," even though these exact keywords are not present in the post. Given the recent Google updates and changes in rankings, I'm trying to understand: How can an e-commerce site with seemingly less specific content outrank a detailed blog post?
Competitive Research | | sf9090
What strategies can I employ to improve the ranking of my uncle's site for this specific query?
Are there tools or methods I can use to analyze why the competitor is ranking higher and how to address it?
I recognize I am not well-versed in SEO, so any insights or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!0 -
What's a good way to get started with competitive research?
Hi all, SEO noob here. I'm doing an audit for a firm that makes specialized accounting software. It's a relatively new firm, with a barebones website. My client has identified three direct business competitors. In addition, I see indirect competitors (such as product reviews) on the SERP for a relevant keyword phrase. I want to provide actionable advice for my client. What information should I present? I'd like to help my client understand: Why my client's competitors are outperforming them on the SERPs What my client needs to do to overtake their competitors What information should I present to my client? Thanks, all.
Competitive Research | | AndyKubrin0 -
Pre Launch New Website SEO Best Practices
Hi All, I am currently mid development of a website (no testing page yet) and want to make sure I am doing my due diligence in regards to SEO. Are there best practices to always complete while a website is being built? If so what are they? I've gotten to the stage where I've read every blog on the planet and now maybe too much info. I am also focusing my Keyword Analysis around competitor research to write great copy from, but seem to be falling down a rabbit hole of way too many keywords. Is there agencies/services that would just be hired to do Keyword Research for my needs? Thanks a lot!
Competitive Research | | Krackle0 -
Technorati - SEO Benefit?
Would listing my content / blogs on Technorati have an SEO benefit? A few months ago, I did a piece of analysis on our competitiors' link profiles and then ranked the linking root domains to get the highest scores. Technorati was one of the domains with a high domain authority and is also relevant to our business. On the other hand, I've seen on whiteboard Friday's that directories are losing their importance. My gut feeling is that this is something that is worth doing because it is easy to implement but that we shouldn't expect amazing returns in terms of traffic / page authority scores. Your opinions would be much appreciated 🙂
Competitive Research | | RG_SEO0 -
SEO's done, 301s in place, old site STILL outranks new site. What to do?
Since Sep 2010 I have had a site up with minimal SEO optimization (www.chrisbrushmusic.com). Oct 29, 2012, I launched a new site on a new domain (www.chrisbrushdrums.com) with more content and tons of SEO work behind it. The content of the new site is significantly different from the old site, and I wish to keep the old site around. I have 301's in place for specific URLs on the old site that point to the new site. I have submitted xml sitemaps for the new site. As of now, the old site still outranks the new site (i.e. Google search for "nashville session drummer" and my old site is #9 - my new site is nowhere). What should I do? Thanks.
Competitive Research | | cbrush0 -
Training Recommendation for In House SEO
Hi, I'm a business owner who has been dabbling in SEO for years. I have a bright, capable employee with a development/coding background and I would like her to start doing full time SEO for me. (competitive analysis, link building and content marketing specifically - I like the strategy laid out here and would like her to implement it for me) What do you think is the best training resource for her to develop an in-depth understanding of SEO for my business? Any recommendations for specific courses she can take? Thanks.
Competitive Research | | plrkieran0 -
Keyword Research - tools
Hello all, I would like to find better synonyms for my keywords, and dig deeper to bid / place strategy into place for them. I am currently using the adwords too but it only gives me closely related keyword ideas. Is there something "free" which can give me a better co-relation data to work with? Thanks Aditya
Competitive Research | | shanky10 -
What tools do you use for competitive link analysis?
I have been using SEO Spyglass lately but it can be very slow at times. Wondering if there are any other accurate/robust tools out there.
Competitive Research | | rmteamseo0