Small business SEO agencies are experts at conducting competitor analysis. These professionals use sophisticated tools and data to study a company’s online presence, including website content, keywords, backlinks, etc.
By examining these elements of your rivals’ websites, you can gain valuable insights into what works and what doesn’t. Keep reading to learn more about the factors marketing professionals consider during competitor analysis.
Competitor Keyword Usage
One of the critical components that a small business SEO agency will assess during competitor analysis is keyword usage. This involves identifying the specific keywords and phrases that your competitors are using to attract their target audience. The agency uses advanced tools and software to reveal which search terms bring traffic to your competitors’ websites.
Beyond identifying these keywords, the agency will also scrutinize how effectively your competitors use them. This includes examining factors like keyword density, keyword placement (such as in titles, headers, and meta descriptions), and the relevance of the keywords to the given content.
This comprehensive analysis gives you a clearer picture of your competitors’ keyword strategy, providing valuable data to optimize your SEO efforts.
Competitor Backlink Profile Assessment
Assessing the backlink profile of your competitors is another important task that small business SEO agencies handle diligently. Essentially, backlinks are external links that point to your competitors’ websites. They significantly impact search engine rankings.
Here’s how the agencies develop a backlink profile:
- Identifying Backlinks: The first step is to identify the sources of these backlinks. An SEO agency uses advanced tools to find which websites link back to your competitors’ pages.
- Evaluating Backlink Quality: All backlinks are not equal. Some are from reputable, high-authority websites, while others may be from lesser-known sites. Quality backlinks are a positive signal to search engines and can boost a website’s ranking.
- Checking Relevance: The agency checks if the sites linking to your competitors are relevant to their business. Backlinks from related industry domains carry more weight.
- Analyzing Backlink Text: The text used in the backlink, also known as anchor text, is assessed. This can reveal the keywords your competitors are targeting.
- Monitoring Number of Backlinks: Lastly, the agency will monitor the number of backlinks. A sudden increase could indicate that your competitor has launched a new campaign.
A detailed backlink profile assessment can reveal critical insights about your competitor’s SEO strategy, helping you make more informed decisions about your own.
Content Quality
Another crucial aspect a small business SEO agency pays close attention to is the quality and type of content your competitors produce. This involves critically analyzing their blog posts, articles, whitepapers, infographics, videos, and other content they use to engage their audience.
The agency will evaluate the relevancy, accuracy, and thoroughness of the information presented in these content pieces. They will assess the overall presentation and readability of the content.
This includes compelling headings, easy-to-read fonts, engaging images, and a clear call to action. The agency will also check if the content is updated regularly and whether it effectively addresses the target audience’s pain points.
By understanding what type of content resonates with your potential customers, you can tailor your content strategy to meet their needs. This will improve your SEO performance.
Social Media Presence
In today’s digital landscape, a business’s social media presence is just as crucial as its website. Recognizing this, your small business SEO agency will also analyze your competitors’ social media activity and follower engagement.
The agency will monitor various aspects such as:
- Social Media Platforms: The agency identifies which platforms your competitors are active on. Are they focusing on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, or a combination of these platforms? Knowing where your competitors are putting their effort can help you decide where to focus your own.
- Posting Frequency: The frequency at which your competitors post content on their social media platforms strongly indicates their social media strategy. Your SEO agency will monitor this and compare it with Industry standards.
- Follower Engagement: Understanding how customers interact with your competitors’ posts is invaluable. The agency checks the likes, shares, comments, and other forms of engagement each post receives.
- Content Type: Your agency will also analyze your competitors’ content on social media. Whether it’s blog posts, product updates, behind-the-scenes photos or videos, customer testimonials, or industry news, understanding what content resonates with the audience can guide your social media strategy.
- Response Time: The time your competitors take to respond to their followers’ comments and messages can also reflect their customer service and brand reputation. A faster response time can indicate a high commitment to customer satisfaction.
A detailed analysis of your competitor’s social media presence can provide actionable insights to boost your social media strategy.
Website Structure
Another pivotal aspect that a small business SEO agency focuses on is the structure of your competitors’ websites. A well-organized website structure is critical for user experience and search engine optimization. An effective website structure enables users to navigate the website easily, find the necessary information, and take desired actions, such as purchasing or filling out a contact form.
The agency examines how intuitively the website’s pages are linked and how effortlessly users can move between them. They scrutinize elements like the website’s menu structure, the layout of the pages, the smoothness of the user interface, the consistency in design, and more.
In addition, the agency will look at the website’s breadcrumb trails – a secondary navigation scheme that reveals the user’s location on a website. It also helps search engines index the website more efficiently.
SEO Techniques
A small business SEO agency gives considerable attention to the SEO techniques that your competitors employ. This includes meticulously examining elements like meta descriptions, title tags, and header tags.
Meta Descriptions
Meta descriptions summarize a web page’s content below the clickable link on search engine results pages (SERPs). These descriptions play a significant role in attracting users to click on the link.
The SEO agency identifies and assesses the meta descriptions your competitors use, focusing on the keywords they have included, the relevance to the page content, and the overall persuasiveness of the descriptions.
Title Tags
Title tags are another crucial SEO element that the agency scrutinizes. Title tags are HTML elements that specify the title of a web page and are displayed on SERPs as the clickable headline for a given result.
They are paramount for usability, SEO, and social sharing. An SEO agency assesses your competitor’s title tags for keyword usage, uniqueness, length, and relevance to the page’s content.
Header Tags
Header tags (H1, H2, H3, etc.) identify headings and subheadings within your content from other text types (e.g., paragraph text). These tags not only make your content easier to read for users but also help search engines understand the structure of your page and the importance of your content.
By recognizing and understanding your competitors’ techniques, your small business SEO agency can help you make strategic decisions to enhance your website’s SEO performance.
Online Reviews and Reputation
Online reviews and reputation carry substantial weight, which a small business SEO agency recognizes. This integral part of competitor analysis involves assessing your competitors’ customer reviews, ratings, and overall online reputation.
The SEO agency will first examine the number of reviews your competitors have across various platforms such as Google My Business, Yelp, and industry-specific review sites. They assess both the quality and quantity of these reviews. Are they predominantly positive or negative? How many reviews do they have compared to you?
In addition to the ratings, the agency will also read the content of the reviews, paying close attention to the aspects of the business that customers highlight, whether positive or negative. This could offer clues about what customers value most in your industry.
Website Speed
Lastly, a small business SEO agency also checks how fast your competitors’ websites load. This is known as website speed. A website that loads quickly offers a better user experience and has an advantage over slower-loading websites.
Search engines like Google also reward faster-loading websites with higher rankings. The agency uses site speed testing tools to measure the time it takes for pages on your competitor’s websites to load fully. It then compares the results with the industry benchmark.
If your website isn’t loading as quickly as a competitor, an SEO agency will determine why. With their help, you can speed up your website and improve the user experience.
Our Small Business SEO Agency Is Here To Help!
Do you need help analyzing your competitors? If so, you need to contact our small business SEO agency. Our goal is to help you gain a competitive edge and succeed online.