Today’s Ask An SEO question comes from Peter, who asks:
“What is the risk of focusing on what competitors are doing, as opposed to charting your own path? If all competitors are looking at each other, there are no differentiators.
Great question, Peter! And one that comes up a lot.
If a company focuses on what its competitors and industry leaders are doing, it is not creating a better user experience and better solutions for search engine queries.
It goes beyond having no differentiations, but the idea is the same: if everyone is equal, there can still only be one winner.
That includes a position in SEO, but also who promotes a top funnel affiliate based on being unique, which company gets the SMS and email subscriber because it has a better UX, etc.
But before I go into detail about your question, there are two important things to look at with your competitors.
Always Watch What The Leader Is Doing, And Who Is Mimicking Them
If you know what the leader is doing, and who is following the leader, you can see trends and patterns as they fail and win.
This will give you insight into what works and what doesn’t.
By the time you know if it makes sense for you to try something, you’ll have time to learn by watching others’ mistakes while using the time to create a better overall website.
Make Sure The Pages They’re Testing And Changing Are Important For SEO
I, and some of my colleagues, mark pages on client sites that are not important for SEO.
We test them for other channels, knowing that SEO traffic is not important for that specific page. We also know that competitors are looking at these pages and will make the same changes.
When the changes are made, the competitors shoot themselves in the foot, and we move forward.
A great example is a company with a large amount of branded search traffic.
If brand search is the main traffic driver to the homepage, in some collections or categories, SEO on that page is probably not important.
These are the ones where we test UX and average order value (AOV). Our testers don’t worry about what happens to SEO because brand traffic finds it anyway.
Our competitors usually don’t think about it and hurt themselves. Sometimes we did this on purpose to get ahead of them.
On the other end, if everyone is looking at the leader (and everyone else), and you do something different, you can be clear to get ahead of the curve.
Non-SEO pros at those companies may say, “But they do that, there must be a reason for that,” and then follow.
That gives you a clear way to do your own thing and stay off their radars.
If this is your situation, use it to your advantage.
Create a lightning-fast site with clear messaging that says exactly what the page is about.
Now add support documentation, an easy checkout, trust builder, related content (if you’re a publisher), and features that other sites lack.
Features could be lifestyle shots, testimonials, FAQs, specifications, or even extra copy blocks that share uses for the product and compatibility information.
When everyone is focused on each other, you can use this opportunity to do what they are missing and focus on the winners.
This situation also gives you a chance to open related searches, entities and complementary topics.
Once you have them, create related videos for YouTube and see if you can find influencers and content creators to bring attention to your content while your competitors are all doing the same thing.
You do something different becomes more attractive because it is unique in the room.
By focusing on your own path, you set yourself up for success.
And by keeping an eye on what everyone else is doing, you can learn from their mistakes—especially when they crash and burn.
When they do, jump in and take over.
And don’t just think about SEO – look at it from every marketing point of view.
Do you have questions about SEO? Submit via this form.
Featured Image: eamesBot / Shutterstock
Why is competitor analysis important for SEO?
A search engine optimization (SEO) competitor analysis is required if you want your website to be more visible and rank higher than others in your industry. This type of analysis is critical to identifying your site’s strengths and weaknesses as well as staying ahead of the competition.
What is the purpose of a competitor analysis? A competitor analysis, also referred to as competitive analysis, is the process of identifying competitors in your industry and examining their various marketing strategies. You can use this information as a point of comparison to identify your company’s strengths and weaknesses relative to each competitor.
What can we learn from SEO competitor analysis?
SEO competitor analysis (sometimes referred to as competitive analysis) involves researching your direct search competitors to understand their target keywords, content strategy, backlink profile, and more, for the purpose of inverting the most successful elements of these tactics into your own SEO strategy.
How do bloggers rank SEO?
Blog SEO: 17 tips to make your blog rank higher on Google (with real examples)
- Find niche topics (and relevant keywords)
- Use keywords.
- Create buyer personas.
- Publish long content.
- Increase page loading speed.
- Optimize images.
- Increase the duration.
- Reduce bounce rate.
What are the benefits of competitor analysis?
Following are three benefits of regular competitive analysis that can help your business develop a strategy for success.
- Evaluate the viability of new products and services. …
- Assess the effectiveness of your marketing strategy. …
- Identify unserved or underserved gaps.
What are the four benefits of competitive advantage?
In most industries, there are only four competitive advantages that meet the four defining criteria, and they are innovation, culture, customer affinity, and predictive analytics. Innovation is the process of turning a new idea into a unique product, service or experience that delivers value.
What is competitor analysis in SEO?
An SEO competitor analysis is the act of checking your industry’s competitive landscape online, evaluating your SEO competition, and analyzing the information you discover to strengthen your own website’s SEO and climb the rankings.
What are the four benefits of competitive advantage?
In most industries, there are only four competitive advantages that meet the four defining criteria, and they are innovation, culture, customer affinity, and predictive analytics. Innovation is the process of turning a new idea into a unique product, service or experience that delivers value.
What are the 4 competitive strategies? Here are four types of competitive strategy and an example for each:
- Cost leadership strategy. …
- Differentiation leadership strategy. …
- Cost focus strategy. …
- Differentiation focus strategy.
What are the 4 competitive advantages?
The four primary methods of gaining a competitive advantage are cost leadership, differentiation, defensive strategies and strategic alliances.
What are the 4 factors of competitive advantage?
Four factors help the company establish and maintain competitive advantage, namely superior efficiency, quality, innovation and accountability to the customer. Each of these factors are the result of a different competence of a company.
What are the 3 types of competitive advantage?
There are three main types of sustainable competitive advantage: differentiation, cost leadership, and focus advantage.
Why is competitive analysis important in SEO?
Competitor analysis helps identify your competitors | The first benefit of competitor analysis in SEO is that it allows you to determine who your key market competitors are. You will be able to conduct additional research and assess their market position as a result.
What are the two benefits of a competitive analysis? Competitive Analysis in Marketing Every brand can benefit from regular competitor analysis. By performing a competitor analysis, you may be able to: Identify gaps in the market. Develop new products and services.
Why is a competitive analysis important?
The purpose of a competitor analysis is to understand the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors compared to your own and to find a gap in the market. A competitor analysis is important because: It helps you recognize how to improve your own business strategy.
Why is a competitive analysis important to an entrepreneur?
A competitive analysis should provide the entrepreneur with information about how competitors market their business and ways to reach the market by entering through product or service gaps in areas that your competitors do not serve or do not serve well.
What is competitive analysis in SEO?
An SEO competitor analysis is the act of checking your industry’s competitive landscape online, evaluating your SEO competition, and analyzing the information you discover to strengthen your own website’s SEO and climb the rankings.
What is 4 components of competitive analysis explain?
This framework is based on the following four key aspects of a competitor: competitor objectives. Competitors assumptions. Competitor strategy. competitor skills.
What can we learn from SEO competitor analysis?
SEO competitor analysis (sometimes referred to as competitive analysis) involves researching your direct search competitors to understand their target keywords, content strategy, backlink profile, and more, for the purpose of inverting the most successful elements of these tactics into your own SEO strategy.