Competitive Research: How to Battle Your SEO Enemies – And Win
This is a sponsored post written by Topvisor. The opinions expressed in this article are the sponsor’s own.
They say you should know your enemy.
The same is true for your online competitors.
You should know your rivals if you want to get ahead of them.
But how exactly can you conduct a smart competitive research today?
Know Your Enemy
Many businesses are still doing manual research and competitor rank tracking at best. Unfortunately, these methods are not 100 percent accurate.
Ignoring your competition can cost a lot: sudden drops in rankings and conversion, wasted money, etc.
To avoid these headaches, you should take competitive research seriously.
Want to know if you’re doing it right?
Answer the following questions:
- Are you sure you know all your competitors?
- Do you keep a close eye on them?
- Do you regularly assess your performance and compare it with your competition?
- Do you steal your competitors’ best ideas and learn from their mistakes?
If you answered “yes” to all the questions above, congratulations! You’ve mastered the competitive analysis.
If not, don’t worry. There’s always room for improvement.
Here’s how you can get ahead of your competitors – and how Topvisor tools can help you.
Getting to Know Your Competitors
We believe you have a list of competitor names on your mind. Where did you get those names?
Through research, you probably discovered some competitors’ names before you started your business. Perhaps you already met some of the owners in person.
But the online market is huge. So, what about the others?
Are you sure you’re not missing anything? The best way to find anything is with Google, isn’t it?
Just open Google, type in a niche-related keyword, and see a list of websites that provide the same services, sell the same goods, and write blog articles on the same topics. This old, but proven, method can take a lot of time.
Here comes Topvisor Snapshots tool. It collects snapshots – search results replicas for a given keyword, processes collected data, and builds eye-candy graphs and reports. The tool is extremely easy-to-use:
- Add a list of keywords or find new keyword ideas.
- Track search volume to get accurate Visibility data.
- Run the tool.
The tool’s interface includes two tabs: Snapshots and Competition overview.
On the Snapshots tab, you can view, analyze, and compare search results for the given keywords over the applied period.
Find out your competition for the given keywords and see how your website performs against your rivals in the top 10 or top 20. Note that you always can add a new competitor you missed to your own competitor list for later analysis.
The Competitor overview tab provides in-depth insights on your competition.
View graphs and visual reports based on your keyword pool and see where you stand among your competitors.
Compare your website performance side by side with your business opponents by visibility, average position, and keyword distribution across tops.
Want to know who your top and most successful competitors are?
The tool builds an overall chart that displays how top websites perform based on the several metrics. Note, that you can always add a competitor you missed.
Keep a Close Eye on Your Competition
We strongly recommend that you track competitor rankings regularly. Think of it as your safety net.
By tracking your competition you always stay alert. Learn from your competitors’ mistakes when they suffer from ranking drops or react immediately if they suddenly improve their rankings.
You can use your favorite rank tracker or check rankings manually.
In Topvisor, we track the rankings of your first five competitors for free. You can add them in the Snapshots tool or manually, and schedule free daily or weekly reports.
Assess & Compare Your Performance
Competitor research isn’t just about spying on your opponents. It’s also about analyzing data and acting accordingly. Don’t forget to set your rankings side by side with your rivals’ and see how you perform.
Topvisor Snapshots tool allows to find new competitors and get an overall picture. If you want to dig deeper and analyze keyword and ranking data over a specific period, try the Compare mode and a Summary tool on the Dynamics page. Both tools are free to use.
Switch to the Compare mode to set your rankings against competitors’ and analyze them over the specified period of time.
To view visual graphs and compare performance by different metrics, use the Summary tool. The tool calculates Visibility, Average position, and Keyword distribution across tops. You can sort and filter data if needed.
Learn from Your Competition
Knowledge is power, isn’t it? So, the last step is to learn how to benefit from the data you have collected.
You can learn from your competitors by taking their best ideas and applying them to your business.
With the free Topvisor grouping tool, you can steal the keyword structure of your most successful competitor within a couple of minutes – all for free. Here’s how simple it is:
- Move to the Competitor overview tab in the Snapshots tool and find your #1 competitor website.
- Add it to the Competitor list.
- Check competitor rankings (we check rankings of the first 5 competitors for free).
- Run free Keyword grouping by relevance.
- Congratulations! You’ve just got a complete keyword structure of your most successful competitor.
Learn from your competitors. Find and apply their best ideas to improve your own performance. Analyze search results snippets, run website audits, apply the competitive keyword research, and be open to new ideas.
Summary
You need to conduct a thorough competitive analysis. It’s an essential part of a daily marketing routine.
Conduct a manual research and use tools to get the best results possible. Know your competitors and learn from them to boost your performance – and win!