SEO Warrior

Chapter 13. Competitor Research and Analysis

Competitor research and analysis may seem like a copycat activity, but it is not (at least not entirely). It is about understanding what your competitors are doing. It is about examining their keyword and linking strategies while realizing their current strengths and weaknesses. The bottom line is that you are trying to understand what is making your competitors rank.

This activity may comprise elements of emulation, but what you are really trying to do is be better than your competition. Being better (in a general sense) means providing a site with more value and better perception. In an SEO sense, it means understanding all the things that make your competitors rank.

When learning about your competition, it is good to examine their past and present activities, as well as implement ways to track their future activities. Although many tools are available for you to use to learn about your competition, for most of your work you can get by with the free tools that are available. This chapter emphasizes the free tools and research that you can use in your work.

Finding Your Competition

Before you can analyze your competitors, you need to know who your competitors are. How do you find your biggest competitors? One way to do this is to find sites that rank for your targeted keywords. The sites that sell or provide products and services similar to yours are your competitors.

There is a catch if you’re relying only on keywords, though. How do you ...