What To Analyze On Competitors Sites For SEO

Understanding what competitors are doing right and wrong in their SEO efforts can offer invaluable insights.

In this article, we’ll dive into the key elements to scrutinise on competitors’ sites to elevate your own SEO game.

Evaluate Their Use of Schema

Schema is crucial for enabling rich results in search engine results pages (SERPs). However, it isn’t a panacea for higher rankings.

By analysing competitors’ schema libraries with tools like Semrush or Moz, you can identify which rich results they are capturing. Next, check for errors, warnings, and unused fields to find optimisation opportunities.

Remember, don’t use schema elements that aren’t relevant to your content, or it could cause issues. Focus on deploying relevant schema effectively to gain a potential SEO advantage.

Content Analysis

Detailed guides or how-to posts may rank well for specific keywords, but copying them won’t help you. Identify what competitors have missed or what irrelevant content they have included. You need to be thorough here.

Ensure your content is concise, well-formatted, and easy to scan. Consider using tables or charts for comparisons if it improves readability.

By focusing on what really matters and eliminating fluff, you create a better user experience that search engines may reward with better rankings.

Backlink Quality Not Quantity

Backlinks matter, but quality over quantity is the mantra.

Pull backlink reports using tools like Majestic SEO and focus on competitors with high-quality, relevant links.

Find quality links they have and also identify opportunities they’ve missed. Pursue backlinks that are valuable and cater to your specific niche for longer-term SEO stability.

Also, be wary of competitors paying for links. These often temporary gains can come with penalties in the long term. Building genuine, high-quality backlinks is a more sustainable strategy.

Page Structure and Crawling Priorities

Analysing competitors’ site architecture can reveal their keyword and topic focus. This can guide your own SEO and content strategies effectively.

Examine their robots.txt files, meta robots tags, and sitemaps to understand their prioritisation of pages. This might offer clues about their revenue-generating content or less obvious SEO strategies.

Breadcrumbs can show keyword trends they are pursuing, providing insights for your own optimisation efforts.

User Experience and Engagement Metrics

A seamless user experience can set you apart.

Evaluate competitors’ page layout, load times, mobile responsiveness, and overall user interface. Are their pages easy to navigate?

Look at metrics like average session duration, bounce rate, and pages per session to assess user engagement. Tools such as Google Analytics can be particularly helpful here.

Focusing on user experience can lead to a boost in both user satisfaction and search rankings.

Social Signals and Content Sharing

Social media signals, while not a direct ranking factor, can influence SEO indirectly.

Analyse where and how competitors are sharing their content. Which platforms are they using, and what kind of engagement are they getting?

Use this data to refine your own social media strategy, ensuring that your content gets the maximum reach and engagement.

Adapt and Innovate

Lastly, remember that SEO is an ever-changing landscape. Keep adapting and innovating your strategies.

Monitor competitors regularly and stay ahead by implementing new, unique tactics that they may not have considered yet.

Analysing competitors’ SEO strategies can provide a wealth of information.

By focusing on what’s working for them and identifying their gaps, you can create a more effective and unique SEO strategy for your site.

Source: Searchenginejournal