5 Competitive Research Tools To Boost Your SEO Performance
An organization's ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage. ? Jack Welch
Many people may believe that obtaining top rankings in Google is nearly impossible. The competition for page 1 is fierce and it seems daily there is yet one more marketing must have that you must learn and apply to achieve top positions.
This is partly true. There are general markets that are hotly competitive, such as real estate, health and beauty, weight loss or general medical supplies. Niche markets present an easier opportunity to predict and/or manage the outcome of specific search terms.
Far from being an exercise in futility, top listings drive traffic and can lead to tremendous success online. You may be surprised to learn your competition can help you get there faster. Do not overlook the value of competitive intelligence in Search Engine Marketing.
When performing competitive research, the goals are to discover:
? What methods and channels your competition is using, i.e. are they using social media such as video or social bookmarks?
? How entrenched a competitor is and how hard it is to unseat them;
? Level of SEO skills; and
? Link prospects, so you can trade links, host articles and do reviews.
Competitive research should be an integral part of your SEO strategy. While it is sometimes painful to review and compare yourself to your competitors, it will always result in you improving your business and strategies.
There are several things that you can do to uncover competitive information and here we?ll cover:
1. Who is Top ?Dugg??
Social book marking sites can yield a wealth of information about your competitors and target market. What are the top stories in your niche area? This can help you to shape content that will draw your target audience. Check your competitors to see if they have any diggs and if so for what type of content. There are many social bookmarking sites such as Mixx, Reddit and StumbleUpon. Digg has a large content base which makes it a good site for assessment.
2. Determine link popularity.
Using tier 1 keywords, do a Google search. Pick the top three ranked Google sites. Take this information and check the link popularity using marketleap.com.
Take note of the number of incoming links. You want to review sites with the lowest number of incoming links and highest Google rankings. Do not limit your review to Google but check Yahoo and MSN results as well.
3. Perform keyword research.
Use the search term suggestion tool at inventory.overture.com, and look for keywords and their permutations with a good search volume. Continue looking at the tier 1-type terms until you spot an opportunity to build on. Use other tools like Google keyword tools (free), keyworddiscovery.com (paid). Use the keywords you select in this step by adding pages to your site, a common and 'must-do' SEO practice.
4. Find sites to target.
Go to Google and enter "allinanchor: tier 1 keyword" If your tier 1 keyword is weight loss you will type ?allinanchor: weight loss.? This will restrict the results depending on the number of links coming into a site based on that key word phrase. You are using this to determine sites from which you will target links. You can combine this with "allintitle:" as well - showing keywords used in tag of your pages(s).
5. Read their content.
Read and keep competitive marketing messages you receive in email or traditional mail. Review the messages, call to action statements, and special offers. What are they doing to engage customers and encourage them to buy? How does this compare to your marketing messages? Visit their website and compare it to your own. Is the site easy to navigate? Does the content encourage conversion? Do they emphasize call-to-action statements like "download a white paper," "sign up for this newsletter" or "buy this product now"? Are they using long tail keywords, such as "weight loss products for women in South Beach?" If they are using this method, you should consider employing it in your efforts.
Competitive research is an integral part of any marketing effort.
Competitive intelligence provides valuable information about your market, trends and your position. Include online and offline channels in your research to get a comprehensive view of your competition. Use tools like UrlTrends to track your progress and SpyFu to look at advertising costs, giving you an indicator of your competition's activity, spending and strategy.
The hard work is worth it as someone once famously remarked, ?competition breeds excellence? and that excellence can result in a dramatic upside to your bottom line.
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, http://www.chaosmap.com, provides informative articles and resources about search marketing.
Related Articles:
The World's Tourism Search Engine Launches
Launched this week is 'The World's Tourism Search Engine" www.Everything-About-Tourism.com . It's an easy to use data base directory all in alphabetical order to simplify searching for the International Travel Industry via over 70 different categories and 200 Countries.
Ethical SEO Marketing Company Unlimited Web Solutions Expands Website, Pricing Structure & Facility
Unlimited Web Solutions, a leading SEO and Internet marketing company, has announced the expansion of their facilities, pricing structure and website. This expansion gives customers more options for Search Engine Optimization training and online marketing plans while increasing the client's access to the desired services.
Use eBay as Cheap Traffic!
Did you know that according to alexa, www.eBay.
ButtonALL, the Internet's Universal Remote Search Engine Launches
4What, LLC today launched ButtonALL (buttonall.com), the Internet's universal remote search engine. ButtonALL gives users a single screen search page bundling the most popular websites on the Internet.
Search Engine Optimisation: The Holy Grail to Improve your Ranking
Anyone who wants to increase traffic to their site should take search engine Optimisation into consideration. This is a method that takes advantage of search engine algorithms in order to create the highest possible rank in the list of results and it is only logical that the higher the rank is, the more likely people are to click on the link to a website.
Google Talk Reviewed
So you're sick and tired of AOL Instant Messenger. You're looking for something fresh and new that will just work.
SelfStorageNet.com Offers a New Online Self-Storage Facility Search Engine and Get-a-Quote Service
Online database of over 30,000 U.S. self-storage facilities provides multiple storage rent quotes delivered to you free by email.
How to Increase Your Google Adwords Quality Score Fast
Laser-targeted website traffic is known as the biggest gem in generating wealth in an Internet based venture or E-commerce The most important factor for a website is to be visited by people who are interested in the product or service the website promotes
Make Money Google Adwords
Internet Marketing: Internet Marketing Seo Cape Verde Online marketing is beautiful because it flattens the playing field for all players, big and small. The key is search engine optimization. Regardless of how much money a dominant company in an industry throws at search engine rankings, they will never have an inherent advantage over you. They have no leverage, because there is nobody to buy off. The best they can do is buy advertisements, which fewer people click. If you get the top ranking on Google, Yahoo and MSN for your keywords, nobody can knock you off unless they do a better optimization job than you do. In no way, shape or form would this ever be possible in the brick and mortar world unless you have a monstrous amount of cash. Y...
Launch of Search Engine Optimisation Consultancy in Norwich, UK
After five years working as an in house SEO, Kes Phelps launches Search Engine Optimisation Consultancy in Norwich, Norfolk, UK. Specialising in on page and off page SEO and working with small to medium sized businesses.
Avoid Search Engine Blacklisting
The best way to avoid being blacklisted by the search engines is to avoid using some questionable techniques that were once popular to gain high rankings. Even if your website is not blacklisted by using some of the techniques below, it may be penalized (buried in the rankings) so your traffic will suffer all the same.
Traffic Is Important For Sales At Your Website
There are only a few goals that every internet marketer strives for, traffic and sales, everyone talks about it and it sounds a lot easier than it is, it takes time and patients if you are doing it the natural way. People on free auto surf programs or anything free are usually looking for free stuff. I feel strongly that of all the different ways to market a business online, SEO is not only the easiest, but the safest for the business owner.
Luscious Linking Strategies
LINKING = PUBLICITY: You want publicity! You want to be seen and found and discovered! You can help yourself tremendously by understanding the importance of tags and social linking.
PPC & SEO
PPC is an e-marketing strategy, which enables you to get instant results. If you advertise your website on PPC search engines then you will get the desired traffic and the required results immediately. You will not have to wait long to see good results. The best part is you can stop PPC ads any time you want. You can test different keywords through this medium. This marketing strategy does not require well designed websites, just requires strong keywords. You can bid on large amount of keywords and can try out keyword variations.
Company Offers Free SEO Audit Reports to Online Business Owners
UK Based Internet Marketing Company Provides Website Owners With Cost Free Analysis
