Competitive intelligence is so important for SEO because it helps you see what your target audience are looking at. You want your business to be seen on search engines like Google. However, when your target customer searches on Google you need to know what they see. Based on this you can make changes and improvements to stand out from the crowd. Overtime, you can work to get to the top of these search engines too.
My favourite tools for competitive intelligence in SEO are real research. Think about the keywords and search terms that you want to be found for. Type these into search engines like Google and see who comes up. If it isn’t your business, then take a look at those businesses that are ranking at the top. What are they doing differently? Are they posting more frequently on social media? Are they using different social media platforms? Do they have more blogs or reviews than you? View your competition as a random consumer – what would they think?
There are some really good tracking tools on Facebook and LinkedIn too. They will show you your competitors and how well they are doing. This will be done in comparison to you. It will give you an opportunity to look at what you are doing and how well you are doing in comparison. If others are gaining more engagement or reach, what are they doing that works? What are you doing that isn’t working. Social media platforms do affect your SEO, but they are often forgotten.
There are companies out there that can do the competitive intelligence research for you. However, we find it better to do it yourself. Remember, don’t take it personally. You might know your local competition and know that they’re not great. But that doesn’t matter. Instead, you need to focus on what they are doing well. This can be used to help your business achieve more online. Use spreadsheets to track your preferred key words and search terms. Track where you are ranking and who ranks above you. On social media platforms track how you are performing against your competition. This will help you to see what is working and what isn’t.
If you need help with your competitive intelligence for SEO and helping your business achieve more than your competition, call our team. We can review the competition with you. Based on this we can recommend the blog posts, SEO content and social media presence you need.
