Competitive analysis is the process of identifying your competitors and evaluating their strengths and weaknesses in relation to your business. This process can be daunting, but it’s important to understand the competitive landscape to make informed decisions about your local SEO strategy. By understanding what your competition is doing, you can develop a strong local SEO strategy to help you stand out from the crowd.
In the first part, we learned how to identify your local competitors. In this second part, we will understand the steps involved in conducting a competitive analysis.
Steps to Conduct a Competitor Analysis for Local SEO
The following are some key steps to help you conduct a competitor analysis. If you need help, you can always hire an experienced local SEO agency to assist you.
1. Check Their Google Business Profile
The first thing you should do is check to see if your competitors have a Google Business Profile (GBP) listing. If they do, look at the information they have listed and see if it is accurate and up to date. You should also see if they have any reviews or ratings. If so, see what people are saying about them.
Your GBP is what appears in the Local Pack results on Google, so it’s important to make sure your profile is optimized for your target keywords.
2. Check Their Website
Another thing to check is your competitor’s website. This can be done by looking at their website design, content, and overall user experience. Is their website easy to use? Is it mobile-friendly? Does it provide the information that users are looking for?
See if it is optimized for local SEO by looking at the title tags, meta descriptions, and header tags. You should also check to see if they have an SSL certificate. This will help you bridge the gap between your website and theirs and also help you do better than them.
3. Check Their Directory Listings
Next, you should check if your competitors have any directory listings. Directory listings are important for local SEO as they help to increase your visibility in search engines.
You can improve your business’s visibility by getting listed in popular directories like Yelp, Yellow Pages, and Foursquare.
4. Check Their Social Media Accounts
Another thing to check is your competitors’ social media accounts. See if they are active on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. If so, see what kind of content they post and how often they post it.
You should also see if they are running any social media ads. This can give you an idea of how they promote their business on social media.
5. Check Their Reviews
In addition to checking their Google Business Profile listing and its reviews, you should also check to see if your competitors have any reviews on other sites like Yelp, Foursquare, or Homestars. See what people are saying about them and look for any common themes or complaints.
You may also want to request that your customers leave you a review on these sites to help improve your local SEO.
6. Check Their Backlinks
Backlinks are links from other websites to your competitors’ websites. Backlinks are important for local SEO as they help to increase your website’s authority in search engines.
A strong backlink-building strategy can help you improve your local SEO and get ahead of your competitors.
7. Check Their Keywords
You should also check the keywords your competitors are targeting for their local SEO campaigns. This will give you an idea of the keywords they are targeting and how well they are ranking for them.
You can then use this information to improve your own local SEO campaign.
8. Compare Your Findings
Once you have gathered all this information, you can start comparing your findings. This will help you see where you stand in relation to your competitors and what areas you need to improve to compete with them.
9. Develop an Action Plan
After you have compared your findings, the next step is developing an action plan. This plan should include things such as creating more targeted content, improving your website design, and increasing your online visibility.
By developing an action plan, you will be able to better compete with your local competitors and improve your chances of ranking higher in search engine results pages. You can also hire an SEO agency to help you with your local SEO campaign.
10. Monitor your Progress
Finally, you need to monitor your progress to see how well your action plan works. You should keep an eye on your website’s traffic, your rankings in search engine results pages, and your conversion rate.
SEO Tools and Resources for Conducting a Competitor Analysis
There are several SEO tools and resources that you can use to conduct a competitor analysis. Here are some of the most popular tools you can use:
- Google AdWords Keyword Planner: This tool allows you to see how often certain keywords are being searched for and how much competition there is for those keywords.
- Moz Keyword Explorer: This tool allows you to research and analyze keyword data to help you find the best keywords for your business.
- SEMrush: This tool provides detailed insights into your competitor’s online marketing activities, including their local SEO efforts.
- Google Search Console: This tool allows you to see how your website is performing in the Google search results and identify potential areas for improvement.
- Ahrefs: This tool provides detailed insights into your competitor’s backlink profile, allowing you to see where they’re getting their links.
- Moz Open Site Explorer: This tool allows you to research your competitor’s backlink profile and see where they’re getting their links.
- Moz Local: This tool allows you to check your business’s listing in popular directories and see how your competitor’s listings compare.
- BuzzSumo: This tool allows you to see what kind of content is popular on social media and identify potential influencers for your business.
How Numero Uno Web Solutions Can Help You Perform a Competitor Analysis for Local SEO
Competitor analysis is a crucial part of any local SEO or marketing strategy. It can help you understand your competition, identify opportunities, and formulate a plan to outperform your rivals. If you’re looking for help conducting a competitor analysis for your business, contact Numero Uno Web Solutions. Our team of experts will work with you to develop an accurate picture of the competition and create a strategy that helps you stand out in your market. Call us at (905) 669-1708 or visit our website today!
