Whether you’re a start-up looking to gain market share or an established business trying to identify new areas for growth, one of the most important things you can do is to keep a close eye on your competition. And while there are many traditional methods for research (such as attending trade shows and reading industry publications), in the digital age, one of the best ways to gather intelligence on your competitors is through their website.
In this article, we’ll show you how to effectively spy on your SEO competitors, so you can learn from their successes and avoid their mistakes.
1. Use Google Alerts to Monitor Competitor News
Google Alerts is a free tool that allows you to monitor the web for mentions of specific terms. You can use it to track competitor news, product launches, and even changes to their website.
To set up an alert for your competitor, simply go to google.com/alerts and enter the competitor’s name in the “Search Query” field. Then, select “Show Options” and choose how often you want to receive alerts and what type of results you’re interested in (such as “News” or “Web”). Finally, click “Create Alert” and you’re all set!
2. Use Google Search Console to Monitor Competitor Rankings
If you want to track your competitor’s SEO progress over time, Google Search Console is an invaluable resource. This free tool from Google lets you see how often your competitor’s website appears in Google search results, which keywords they’re ranking for, and even which pages on their site are getting the most clicks.
To get started, simply add your competitor’s website as a property in Google Search Console. Once it’s been verified, click on “Search Traffic” and then “Search Analytics” to see all of the data that’s available.
3. Use Google AdWords’ Keyword Planner to See What Competitors are bidding on
If your competitor is running Google AdWords ads (and chances are they are), you can use the Keyword Planner tool to see which keywords they’re targeting. Simply create a new campaign and then click on “Keyword Planner.” From there, select “Search for new keywords using a phrase, website or category.” Then enter your competitor’s URL into the “Your product or service” field and click “Get Ideas.”
You’ll now see a list of all the keywords that your competitor is bidding on. You can use this information to help inform your own keyword strategy.
