When it comes to SEO, competitive intelligence is critically important. In any given industry and geographic location, there are hundreds (sometimes thousands) of companies competing for the ~10 organic spots on the first page of Google (excluding the map / local listings). Before you make a single optimization to your website, perform a comprehensive SEO analysis on the websites that rank well in your industry and for the best keywords for your business. You’ll achieve far greater long-term SEO results if you follow this process (vs. shooting from the hip).
NOTE: You’ll probably want to do some tracking of your own website and execute a keyword research campaign even prior to performing a competitive SEO analysis. Just because your competitors are targeting a particular keyword, doesn’t mean it’s a good one! You’d be amazed at how frequently otherwise successful businesses optimize their website for the wrong keywords! To learn more about running a well-executed keyword research campaign, contact us.
At a minimum, you’ll want to answer the following questions as part of your competitive SEO analysis are:
General Website Questions:
- Is their website coded in CSS/HTML or tables?
- What are the primary ‘calls to action’ on their website?
- Are they tracking conversions of these ‘calls to action’?
- How many pages is their website?
- Do they have a site map and privacy policy?
- What is their service area?
- Are they using flash, videos or other interactive design elements?
Specific SEO Questions:
- What keywords are they targeting on their home page and primary sub-pages?
- What is their keyword density on each website page – which keywords are being targeted most heavily?
- Who are they linking to and what types of websites are linking to them?
- What is the anchor text of the in-bound links pointing to their website?
- Have they optimized their website for local search?
- How does their website rank organically on Google, Yahoo and Bing for their target keyword phrases?
- Do they have a social media marketing strategy?
- Are they utilizing article directory websites and online press-releases?
- Do they have an active pay-per-click campaign?
These are just the basics – there’s far more information that you can and should obtain. The insights derived from performing a competitive SEO analysis are critical to developing an intelligent long-term SEO strategy. Companies in highly competitive markets (law firms, plumbers, roofing companies, home remodeling companies, etc.) will need to perform this type of analysis at least once every 6 months and once per quarter might be even more appropriate.
For small (and not so small) companies that don’t have the time or expertise in-house to perform this type of SEO analysis, Blue Corona has developed several cost-effective and turn-key competitive SEO analysis packages. Drop us a line to learn more.






