Why competitor analysis Matters

In every community, multiple businesses and business types vie for prominence within a limited geographic radius. As such, when it comes to online visibility and local seo, competitor analysis isn’t just a best practice – it’s a necessity. Understanding and responding to your rivals’ strategies, strengths, and weaknesses is the cornerstone of a winning local SEO campaign.

Identifying Your Local Online Competition

Before you can analyze your competition, you need to identify them. A business you consider a competitor offline may or may not be a competitor online, which will determine whether or not you can learn and apply anything from how their web presence is structured. Furthermore, at a local level – and depending on the service or product – you may very well find large players like big box stores or ecommerce offerings appearing in the search results.

• At a local level, there may not be much to be learned from a tactical perspective, but you do need to understand what and who you are up against in order to develop strategies for any given keyword or topic.
• Reviewing your competitors’ GBP can reveal how often you need to post content or how many reviews you need to compete.
• Conduct an incognito Google search for your primary keywords in your target location and review local directories or use tools like Whitespark or BrightLocal to identify where your competitors are listed.

Key Areas Of Local SEO Competitor Analysis

On-Page SEO Analysis

• Examine the primary website content of any competitors outranking your website, focusing on relevant local keywords you want to be found for.
• What keywords do they use in their titles, page headings, and link anchor text? These are presumably the keywords they have optimized for.
• Assess their structured data/schema markup, which helps search engines understand the context of their content.
• Assess their website’s user experience and mobile-friendliness by running a Google PageSpeed Insights report on any of the competition’s ranking pages, along with the same on your own, to see what gaps exist.

Google Business Profile (GBP) Optimization

• Review your competitors’ GBP to see how often they post content or how many reviews they have.
• Pay close attention to their keyword usage in business descriptions, the quality and quantity of photos and posts, and their engagement in the Q&A section.
• Pay attention to their posting frequency.

Local Citation Analysis

• Conduct an incognito search and review local directories, or use tools like Whitespark or BrightLocal to identify where your competitors are listed.
• Focus on the consistency and accuracy of their NAP information.
• A study by Moz found citation accuracy is a key factor in local search rankings.

Local Link Building Analysis

• Use tools like Ahrefs or Semrush to analyze your competitors’ backlink profiles.
• Identify their link sources and assess the quality of those links to see if it would be worthwhile to pursue the same.
• Review your competitors’ websites to see if they’ve established local partnerships.

Review And Reputation Analysis

• Analyze the volume, sentiment, and recency of your competitors’ Google, Yelp, or local/industry directory reviews.
• Pay attention to how quickly and how your competition responds to reviews, both positive and negative.

Local Content Strategy

• Creating and sharing relevant, high-quality content that your customers and prospects want to read, like, and share is key to providing expertise while building authority and trust.
• Identify content gaps and opportunities to create unique and valuable content for your local audience.

Expanded Strategies To Gain An Edge Through Competitor Analysis

Identify Gaps And Opportunities

• Review your competitor analysis to reveal where your rivals are falling short.
• Prioritize these gaps, considering factors like search volume for related keywords and the potential for increased customer engagement.

Reverse Engineering Successful Strategies

• Identify the elements of your competitor’s successful strategies.
• Brainstorm ways to improve upon what they and you are doing.
• Focus on adding value and differentiation.

Hyperlocal Content Creation

• Go beyond generic content. Focus on creating content specific to your target location.
• Focus on establishing your business as the trusted source of local information, particularly in areas where you have unique expertise and experience.

Building Local Relationships

• Participate in local events, join local business associations, and collaborate with other like-minded businesses on joint promotions.
• The goal is to create a network of local connections that can amplify your reach, credibility, and trust.

Monitoring And Adapting

• Regularly monitor your competitors, identify any new entrants or tactics, and adapt your strategies as needed.
• Track key metrics, such as keyword rankings, organic website traffic, content publishing/sharing, and review volume.

Turning Competitor Insights Into Local SEO Success

By properly identifying the competition and understanding your rivals’ strengths and weaknesses, you can identify opportunities to improve your local search visibility and stave off any threats as they arise. Remember, SEO is a continuous process that requires ongoing monitoring and adaptation. By leveraging the tools and strategies outlined here, you can work towards gaining and maintaining an edge in local SEO. More resources on competitor analysis can be found in our guides and articles.

Key Takeaways

* Conduct a thorough competitor analysis to gain an edge in local SEO. * Identify gaps and opportunities to improve your local search visibility. * Reverse engineer successful strategies to improve your local SEO. * Create hyperlocal content to establish your business as a trusted source of local information. * Build local relationships to amplify your reach, credibility, and trust. * Monitor and adapt your strategies as needed.

Conclusion

In conclusion, competitor analysis is a vital component of any successful local SEO strategy. By properly identifying the competition and understanding your rivals’ strengths and weaknesses, you can gain a significant edge in local search visibility.