Do you understand how crucial it is to assess local SEO competition in order to rank highly in search engines? If not, keep reading. Today we’ll look at the fundamental (but frequently neglected) component of SEO analysis: competitor analysis. You will discover how to spy on your competitors and why you should do so.
What is local SEO competitor analysis?
The study of how your rivals are doing from a search engine optimization standpoint is known as Competitor’s SEO Analysis. It also displays the route to success, indicating the distance between where you are now and where you want to be in the future. You may use the competitors’ analysis to establish a plan for outranking your competition and what kind of financial resources will be required.
You should learn it since it may provide you with a significant leg up when starting a new project or giving your local SEO a boost if you already have a site up and running, but you aren’t positioned well in the SERP.
What does an analysis of local SEO competition provide us?
Analyzing the competition in terms of local SEO is critical. It enables you to analyze the competitor’s website positioning, as well as develop, implement, monitor, and adjust your own SEO strategy to the current competitive environment.
When we look at local SEO competition, we may discover the strengths and weaknesses of our rivals in both an offensive and defensive strategic context, which can help us determine risks and possibilities.
The study can reveal our rivals’ strategic flaws, which we may use to our advantage. For example, if our opponents do not put any effort into SEO, we may take advantage of this shortcoming by putting little into organic marketing.
From a defensive standpoint, it allows us to defend against rivals who may try to use our flaws for gain. If one of our rivals is working on content that is similar to ours, we can enhance our own material so as not to have an overload in the SERPs.
To sum up, the competitive analysis provides us with a clear path to achieve and surpass our rivals.
What are the best ways to assess local SEO competition?
There are a few critical stages to consider while analyzing local SEO competition.
Find out who your SEO competitors are
If you don’t know what your competitors are doing, it’s impossible to analyze the local SEO. The identification of SEO rivals is straightforward in some circumstances (they may be guessed from the existing ones, with which you interact on a daily basis), but not in others: there are sites that rank highly for the keywords of your interest and have a lengthy list of rivals.
Examine your competition’s websites
Once you’ve figured out who your SEO rivals are, go over them in depth. Examine the sites for professionalism, whether they are of high quality, and if they are ever-changing content. You may already draw initial conclusions about your SEO competitors after conducting this preliminary study.
Analyse the keywords of your competitors
Keywords are the basis of SEO. As a result, if your rivals use keywords appropriately, their website will rank highly in search engines. You may utilize this information to develop an SEO strategy and begin focusing on keywords for your site.
Check up on your Google My Business page
Check Google my business account for user reviews, as well as additional information such as overall rating, location pin on Google Maps, and so on.
Examine the backlinks of your competitor
Another approach to boost your SEO is through backlinks. As a result, study the links that refer to rival sites, how many there are and where they originate from, etc.
Take a look at the other SEO elements
Backlinks and keywords are crucial for SEO, but they aren’t everything. To assess their domain authority on Google and other search engines, it’s necessary to look at the number of pages indexed in search engines (and other factors). The amount of pages indexed in search engines is another element to consider.
Examine the competitors’ social media presence
When a firm operates in Social Networking, its reputation on search engines is significantly impacted. The company’s activity confirms its existence and vitality. As a result, an examination of competitors’ behaviour on social media cannot be neglected.
Examine your rivals’ pay-per-click campaigns
Paid advertising campaigns are frequently used to boost site traffic. Google Ads is the most popular PPC (Pay-Per-Click) platform. So grab these, think about them, and devise your own approach.
Study SERP metrics
Additionally, the SEO metrics such as domain authority, page authority, Facebook shares, backlinks, and monthly visits may provide valuable information on how difficult it will be to outperform your competitors.
In reality, metrics like volume, competition, or keyword difficulty tell almost half of the tale. Even a promising keyword can’t thrive if Google and users believe your competitors to be more authoritative than you. So, learn all you need to know first and then devise your own plan.