Competitive SEO
As online competition continues to grow, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has become a vital strategy for businesses looking to attract traffic and customers. While many companies understand the basics of SEO—choosing relevant keywords, creating optimized content, and acquiring backlinks—these fundamental tactics are no longer enough in highly competitive industries. To truly stand out, businesses must embrace competitive SEO.
What is Competitive SEO?
Competitive SEO involves analyzing and outperforming your top rivals in search engine rankings. The process starts with identifying your key competitors. To do this, enter your primary keywords into a search engine and take note of the top-ranking websites. Repeat this process with multiple relevant search terms, and compile a list of the five or six websites that consistently rank high.
Avoid general sites like Wikipedia that may appear in the results. Instead, focus on direct competitors offering similar products or services. Once you have identified these key competitors, it’s time to analyze their SEO strategies.
Uncovering Backlink Opportunities
Backlinks are a crucial ranking factor, and understanding where your competitors are getting theirs can help you gain an advantage. Use a backlink checker tool to analyze the inbound links pointing to each of your competitors. These tools not only show you who is linking to them but also provide insights into the authority of those linking websites.
A free backlink checker is available on Neil Patel’s website. Alternatively, premium tools like Ahrefs and SEMrush offer more advanced backlink analysis.
Once you identify the websites linking to your competitors, reach out to them and request backlinks to your own content. If they linked to your competitor’s site for valuable information, they might be willing to link to yours as well—especially if your content provides equal or greater value.
Identifying Content Gaps
Another key aspect of competitive SEO is content gap analysis. This involves identifying keywords and topics your competitors are ranking for that you are not. Professional SEO tools can help with this process, and many offer free trials to get started. Ahrefs, for instance, provides one of the most comprehensive databases of indexed websites.
Example: Finding Gaps for CaliforniaMissionGuide.com
When researching competitors for CaliforniaMissionGuide.com, we identified several relevant competitor sites, including:
- californiamissionsfoundation.org
- californiamissionstrail.org
- californiafrontier.net
- californias-missions.org
- californias-missions.org
- californiamissions.net
Using Ahrefs’ Organic Keywords report, we extracted keyword data from each these competitors to understand which search terms drive traffic to their sites:
Next, we used the Ahrefs Content Gap Tool to find keywords for which the competitors ranked but CaliforniaMissionGuide.com did not.
By scanning this list, we identified opportunities to enhance existing content and create new pages focused on high-value keywords. In some cases, this meant adjusting keyword emphasis, while in others, it involved adding entirely new content to cover overlooked topics:
As competition on the web increases, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has become essential to bring traffic and customers to business websites. Most businesses today understand the basics of SEO: choose the right keywords to target, write content that is focused on those keywords, and acquire inbound links to the website.
Applying Competitive SEO to Real Businesses
At Metro.Agency, we have helped many of our clients improve their SEO by leveraging competitive analysis. One such case involved Expert Support, an outsourced technical writing firm. Despite having a well-crafted website which clearly explains their services, Expert Support felt that some competitors were consistently attracting more traffic.
Our analysis identified several keywords that were missing from the Expert Support website, or were not sufficiently emphasized. Additionally, we discovered that one competitor generated significant traffic by creating dedicated pages for every type of technical writing service. Their comprehensive approach allowed them to rank for a wide range of search terms.
Rather than cluttering their website with excessive pages, as their competitor did, Expert Support strategically integrated high-value keywords into their existing content. This approach helped them improve their search rankings while maintaining a clean and user-friendly site structure.
Key Takeaways
- Identify Your Competitors: Find the top-ranking websites for your target keywords.
- Leverage SEO Tools: Use platforms like Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Neil Patel’s backlink checker for in-depth analysis.
- Analyze Backlinks: Discover where competitors are getting their backlinks and reach out to those sources.
- Perform a Content Gap Analysis: Identify keywords and topics your competitors rank for that you don’t.
- Optimize Your Content Strategy: Enhance existing pages and create new content to fill competitive gaps.
By implementing these competitive SEO strategies, businesses can improve their visibility in search results and gain an edge over their rivals. If you’re ready to take your SEO efforts to the next level, a thorough competitive analysis can provide the insights needed to drive success.
For expert help contact Metro.Agency. Our experienced SEO team can help with keyword research, competitive analysis, and link building to bring you new traffic and new business.