competitive research for seo - smx east 2014

SMX EAST 2014 • #SMX CASIE GILLETTE • KOMARKETING • @CASIEG

COMPETITIVE RESEARCH FOR SEO

EDITION

HI. IT’S 2014.

IN THE LAND OF GOOGLE, YOUR

COMPETITORS HAVE TOP RANKINGS IN SEARCH RESULTS

FOR SOME OF YOUR PRIME KEYWORDS. HOW DID THEY DO IT? TODAY WE LOOK AT

HOW TO ANALYZE YOUR COMPETITORS COMPETITIVE RESEARCH FOR SEO

SMX EAST 2014 • #SMX CASIE GILLETTE • @KOMARKETING • @CASIEG


When looking at search results, we want to know who our competitors are, what type of content is ranking, and why they are ranking. Unfortunately, it’s not that easy. So often, I’ll look at a result and it just isn’t clear to me what is going on.


The results just don’t make sense. In the words of Dark Helmet, I want to know “What the hell am I looking at?”


THINK BIG PICTURE To really understand what is happening, we can’t just point to a set of backlinks and assume that’s why they’re ranking. We have to look at the bigger picture.


COMB THE DESERT!


WHY ARE THEY RANKING? STRAIGHT TO THE SOURCE


•  SEO PLUGINS •  A/B TESTING CODE •  SCHEMA MARKUP •  OPEN GRAPH TAGS •  ADWORDS •  ANALYTICS

Source code can give you a wealth of information on your competitor’s marketing efforts. For example, the code for an SEO plugin can show you they are at least acknowledging SEO. We can also identify if they are running paid campaigns, retargeting campaigns or A/B testing.



There are also a few tools out there that can help you keep tabs on your competitors. Tracked Content is a paid tool that monitors both HTML and on-page copy and will notify you when a specific page changes. It also keeps revisions so you can compare.



Change Detection is an oldie but a goodie. Similar to Tracked Content, it will monitor pages and send you an alert when anything changes. It will also show you where the differences are on the page.


UNDERSTANDING LINKS Knowing what types of links are pointing to a competitor’s site can give you a pretty good idea of what type of marketing they are doing. It can also present potential opportunities for you.



Most people are familiar with Open Site Explorer. It gives you the breakdown of who is linking to your site, the top pages, top anchor text, etc.



Majestic also has a pretty good tool that will help you find out information on your competitors’ links.



Raven’s Research Central basically takes those tools and that data and puts it into one place.


If we go back to our first slide and look at who is ranking, we can take that piece of content and put it into Research Central.



We will get all of the statistics and site metrics around the link and then we can break it down even further.



You can get the anchor text data to determine how people are linking to the page. This can also help show you if perhaps the company is/has done some SEO in the past.


We can see the neighborhoods around the URL. What other sites are on the same IP? Is the competitor setting up microsites or using a link network?



We can also get semantic data. For me, this is the biggest advantage. We now have an understanding not just of how people are linking or what is perhaps on the page, but we have an understanding of what that page is actually about.


CONTENT ANALYSIS


•  SEO PLUGINS •  A/B TESTING CODE •  SCHEMA MARKUP •  OPEN GRAPH TAGS •  ADWORDS •  ANALYTICS WHERE DO I SPEND MY BUDGET?

It’s one of the biggest challenges we hear from clients, potential clients, friends, etc. Competitive analysis can help you identify where to start, saving you time and money.



One of the best ways to figure out what type of content is on a site, is to scan it! Screaming Frog will list all of the URLs on a site, giving you insights into competitive content.



•  /BLOG •  /ARTICLES •  /NEWS •  /WHITEPAPERS •  /VIDEOS •  /RESOURCES

SOME SITES BLOCK SF. SIMPLY CHANGE THE USER AGENT



OPEN SITE EXPLORER

SEMRUSH

MOZ RANK TRACKER

Other tools can help you determine how specific pieces of competitive content perform. OSE can show you top linked pages, SEMRush will tell you which piece of content is ranking for a specific keyword.


SOCIAL ANALYSIS We can gain a better idea of who a competitor’s audience is by looking at not just company social profiles but by who is actually sharing their content.


•  AUDIENCE •  SHARED ASSETS •  TOP INFLUENCERS •  TOP CONTENT

Social can help you reach a new audience, it can tell you which assets tend to be shared, and it can help you identify influencers in your industry that you may not have known existed.



BuzzSumo is an amazing tool for identifying top content and top social sharers. For example, if I want to know who’s sharing my competitors content, I can put in the domain, and choose “View Sharers.”



BuzzSumo will then show me who those profiles are (Twitter specific) and you can break it down by company, blogger, journalist, etc.



CHECK OUT AJ KOHN’S RIPPLE BOOKMARKLET FOR THIS.

Google+ ripples are also an excellent way to find specific people who are sharing content.



One of Facebook’s “newer” features, allows you to watch other pages. Keep in mind, those pages are notified that you are watching them.


LOOK TO EMPLOYEES Company employees can give you some inside tips on what’s happening. It’s an easy, and often over looked competitive tactic.


FOLLOWERWONK

Followerwonk allows you to search Twitter bios by keyword. Searching a company can give you an easy list of employees to follow. Create private lists so you don’t look like stalker.


TOPSY INFLUENCERS

Topsy Influencers can give you both employees and even non-employee influencers for a brand.


LINKED QUERIES

Then of course there is LinkedIn. Along with general queries, you can use advanced search queries to find specific positions within a company.

SMX EAST 2014 • #SMX CASIE GILLETTE • KOMARKETING • @CASIEG

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competitive research for seo - smx east 2014

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