The benefit of a competitor analysis in SEO work
All successful digital strategies include a competitor analysis. They provide valuable insights into improving your website and identifying who you must compete against in search results. This article explains why competitor analyses are so important and how to integrate them into your SEO strategy.
Book a meeting and talk about SEO with usWhat does a competitor analysis include?
The approach to a competitor analysis varies, but the end goal is always to create a picture of the competitive landscape. Positioning is crucial in marketing, and this is especially evident when discussing search engine optimisation. By understanding where your competitors are visible, you can gain inspiration on where you have the best opportunities to appear.
Why competitor analyses are important
Identify strengths and weaknesses
By analysing competitors’ websites, you can start to create a picture of what they do well and where they fall short. This provides valuable information for improving your own website and where to focus your efforts.
Understand the market landscape
Competitor analysis helps you understand the market landscape and which players dominate the search results for the most important keywords. This allows for more effective positioning.
Discover new opportunities
Analyses can reveal new keywords, customer journeys, and target groups that you might not have considered before.
Improve your SEO strategy
By understanding what works for your competitors, you can adjust and enhance your own strategy, saving time and resources in the long run.
How to perform an SEO competitor analysis
Identify your competitors
Start by identifying your main competitors, those who sell similar products or rank highly for your keywords. Remember to keep an open mind and use as many tools as possible to challenge any preconceived notions.
Analyse their websites from a technical perspective
Many tools allow you to gain insights into competitors’ technical performance and internal link structures. However, we always recommend aiming for a flawless report in Lighthouse; don’t settle for a slight improvement over competitors.
Compare their backlinks
We have an article on link strategy. Stealing links from competitors is generally very challenging, but this review helps provide insights into their domain authority.
Investigate competitors’ keywords
Find out which keywords they rank for and whether they have optimised their content for these keywords. It is especially interesting to examine the keywords they have missed, which often represent low-hanging fruit.
Analyse their content
Look at the type of content they publish and see if they use interesting methods to generate leads or maintain engagement.
Common mistakes in competitor analyses
Ignoring small competitors
Do not focus only on the biggest players. Smaller competitors may have innovative strategies from which you can learn.
Focusing solely on competitors' websites
Focus on improving your own website rather than constantly comparing yourself to others. Additionally, it is often more effective to break new ground where the largest competitors are not yet visible.
Forgetting to update the analysis
The SEO landscape is constantly changing, with updates like the SGE update, for example. Regularly update your competitor analysis and adjust your strategy accordingly. We are happy to help set up a real-time dashboard where you can monitor developments.
Summary
Competitor analyses are a crucial part of a successful SEO strategy. When you understand what competitors do well and where they fall short, you can identify new opportunities, improve your strategy, and better position your website. A well-executed competitor analysis can be the difference between staying ahead or falling behind in the SEO world.
