Are you starting out on your SEO journey and unsure of the best keywords to target?
Or are you curious to know how your competitors appear higher on Google’s search engine results page (SERPS) than you do?
In this blog, we’ll look at the best ways to identify the keywords that your competitor is ranking for, so that you can use this information to your advantage, perform your own research and outrank your competitors!
What is competitor keyword analysis?
Competitor keyword analysis is the process of identifying the keywords that your competitors are ranking for.
If these keywords are working well for your competitors, chances are, they’ll work well for you.
Why do competitor keyword analysis?
By conducting keyword analysis of competing sites, you might find keywords that are worthwhile targeting. This may include keywords that you hadn’t considered using.
By creating content on your site that is appropriately optimised for these keywords, you may outrank your competitors on the results page. In turn, this will increase the amount of organic search traffic that visits your site.
What are the benefits of competitor keyword analysis?
There are many benefits of conducting an analysis of your competitors ranking keywords, including identifying new keyword opportunities that you’re currently missing out on.
By discovering the keywords that your competitors are focusing on, you’re arming yourself with the information you need to outrank them on the SERPS. Simply do what they’re doing, but better!
Regularly monitoring the keywords of your competitors can help you determine when things start to change. If your competitors start focusing resources on new keywords, this could indicate a shift in market trend, searcher intent or customer expectations.
How do you do competitor keyword analysis?
When it comes to identifying the keywords that your competitors are targeting, online SEO tools are your best friend.
Online marketing tools such as SEranking, Ahrefs and Semrush all feature competitive analysis tools that will help you discover what your competitors are ranking for.
It’s as easy as pasting the URL of your competitor’s site into the analysis tool. Some of these tools (usually the paid versions) can even help identify your competitors if you’re unsure.
These tools deliver valuable insights into the keywords your competitor’s site is ranking for, including a list of keywords and their searcher intent, their average monthly search volume and a difficulty score.
Alternatively, you can use Google Keyword Planner to find the paid keywords that your competitor is targeting. While paid keywords aren’t the same as organic keywords, (you bid on these terms within Google Ads, organic keywords drive traffic from the search engine results pages), they will give you a fair indication of the search queries that your competitors are focusing on.
Competitor keyword analysis is a valuable, but often overlooked, area of SEO. From finding keywords that you hadn’t considered before to identifying a change in content focus, keyword analysis offers insights that will help outrank your competitors.
Being beaten by your competitors on Google’s search engine results page? Contact the expert team at Engage Web today to find out how we can help.
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