“Why can’t I be number 1?” “Why am I always behind (insert site here)?”
“How do they do it? Why can’t I do it?”
Sounds familiar? If you find yourself in a similar situation, it’s time to change tactics. So don your spy glasses and your trench coat as we embark on a journey called “competitive analysis.”
Competitive analysis is the process of discovering what makes other sites tick. Some call it spying but that’s such an ugly word. Let’s stick with competitive analysis shall we? The main idea behind competitive analysis is to find out what steps did the other camp do to reach a better ranking. Ready to walk on tip-toes? Then read on.
1) Check out the source – the source code of your competitor’s site may provide you with a plethora of information. From the metadata, to the actual content, careful scrutiny might just reveal what keywords they are targeting or software they are using
2) Bring out the tools of the trade – If you struck out with the source code, you can try using the different available programs around the Internet, like the Keyword Density Analysis tool to bring possible keyphrases that they are focusing on. There are also several free and paid SEO tools that help you analyze websites in-depth. This includes SEO Spyglass, WebCEO, etc. Use these tools to cross-examine the competition.
3) Know who they’re working with – Snoop around and see who are linking your competitor’s site. No need to be obvious about your activities, a simple search from Google or Yahoo can reveal this information.
If all goes well, after the stake out, you should have in your hands the information that you need. From keywords to possible backlinks, all you need to do now is to analyze and decide which are worth keeping. Applying them to your site is just one way of using the information gathered. Just remember, mum’s the word.
2 Comments to "Turning Your Competitor’s Success to your Advantage"
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Well, I guess , you couldn’t completely call it “spying”,but if doesn’t harm anyone ,why not?.But does it work , i mean it could even fire back , wont it ?
I can’t imagine how it would backfire unless:
1. Your competitor’s success doesn’t necessarily stem from organic SEO (maybe it could be social media marketing, paid reviews, which got them all the backlinks etc.)
2. You immediately assume that you must apply ALL of your competitor’s techniques to your own SEO campaign. You should just “spy” on your competitor not to imitate them, but to figure out which aspects of their campaign work, how much (approx) they spent on those efforts, and what you could do better.