n organization's ability value of competitive intelligence
to learn, and translate in Search Engine Marketing.
that learning into action
When performing competitive
rapidly, is the ultimate research, the goals are to
competitive advantage. – Jack discover:
Welch
• What methods and channels
Many people may believe that your competition is using, i.e.
obtaining top rankings in Google are they using social media such
is nearly impossible. The as video or social bookmarks?
competition for page 1 is fierce
• How entrenched a competitor
and it seems daily there is yet is and how hard it is to unseat
one more marketing must have that them;
you must learn and apply to
• Level of SEO skills; and
achieve top positions.
• Link prospects, so you can
This is partly true. There are trade links, host articles and do
general markets that are hotly reviews.
competitive, such as real estate,
Competitive research should be
health and beauty, weight loss or an integral part of your SEO
general medical supplies. Niche strategy. While it is sometimes
markets present an easier painful to review and compare
opportunity to predict and/or yourself to your competitors, it
manage the outcome of specific will always result in you
search terms.
improving your business and
Far from being an exercise in strategies.
futility, top listings drive
There are several things that
traffic and can lead to you can do to uncover competitive
tremendous success online. You information and here we’ll
may be surprised to learn your cover:
competition can help you get
1. Who is Top “Dugg”?
there faster. Do not overlook the
Social book marking sites can
yield a wealth of information
3. Perform keyword
about your competitors and target research.
market. What are the top stories
Use the search term suggestion
in your niche area? This can help tool at inventory.overture.com,
you to shape content that will and look for keywords and their
draw your target audience. Check permutations with a good search
your competitors to see if they volume. Continue looking at the
have any diggs and if so for what tier 1-type terms until you spot
type of content. There are many an opportunity to build on. Use
social bookmarking sites such as other tools like Google keyword
Mixx, Reddit and StumbleUpon. tools (free),
Digg has a large content base keyworddiscovery.com (paid). Use
which makes it a good site for the keywords you select in this
assessment.
step by adding pages to your
2. Determine link site, a common and 'must-do' SEO
popularity.
practice.
Using tier 1 keywords, do a
4. Find sites to target.
Google search. Pick the top three
Go to Google and enter
ranked Google sites. Take this "allinanchor: tier 1 keyword" If
information and check the link your tier 1 keyword is weight
popularity using loss you will type “allinanchor:
marketleap.com.
weight loss.” This will restrict
Take note of the number of the results depending on the
incoming links. You want to number of links coming into a
review sites with the lowest site based on that key word
number of incoming links and phrase. You are using this to
highest Google rankings. Do not determine sites from which you
limit your review to Google but will target links. You can
check Yahoo and MSN results as combine this with "allintitle:"
well.
as well - showing keywords used
in tag of your pages(s). about your market, trends and
5. Read their content.
your position. Include online and
Read and keep competitive offline channels in your research
marketing messages you receive in to get a comprehensive view of
email or traditional mail. Review your competition. Use tools like
the messages, call to action UrlTrends to track your progress
statements, and special offers. and SpyFu to look at advertising
What are they doing to engage costs, giving you an indicator of
customers and encourage them to your competition's activity,
buy? How does this compare to spending and strategy.
your marketing messages? Visit
The hard work is worth it as
their website and compare it to someone once famously remarked,
your own. Is the site easy to “competition breeds excellence”
navigate? Does the content and that excellence can result in
encourage conversion? Do they a dramatic upside to your bottom
emphasize call-to-action line.
statements like "download a white
paper," "sign up for this
now"? Are they using long tail border-style: solid;
keywords, such as "weight loss border-color: #FFFFFF;
products for women in South background-color: #F5F7FB;
Beach?" If they are using this border-left: #BAC9FF 1px solid;
method, you should consider border-right: #BAC9FF 1px solid;
employing it in your efforts. margin-top: 5px; margin-bottom:
Competitive research is an 10px;" valign="top"
integral part of any marketing align="center">
effort.
Competitive intelligence provides valuable information type="text/javascript">
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About the Author:
Jon Rognerud is a recognized authority on the subject of SEO (Search Engine Optimization), and has spent over 15 years developing online solutions at companies like Overture and Yahoo. His business, ChaosMap, provides informative articles and resources about search engine marketing. He provides internet marketing architectures and designs.
Article Tags: competition, google, sites
