Competitor analysis is a vital stage of the search engine optimisation process, yet so many businesses overlook it. Sure, they might glance at their competitors’ sites and curse their rankings, but they never really think about what information on their competitors can do for them. A smart website works data from competitor analysis into its SEO plan.

A thorough competitor analysis can reveal a lot about your competitors’ internet marketing plan. There’s much that their website can tell you, including the exact details of their search engine optimisation. The help of an expert is usually required for this level of competitor analysis, and you can discuss this with us at SEO Consult Australia.

How to analyse your competitors

A good competitor analysis tracks competitor sites on a number of different levels. The site itself is examined, and its entire outgoing links analysed. The site’s link profile is investigated thoroughly. Secondary mentions of the site are also taken into account. Finally, all of this information is compared to where the site sits in the search engine results pages for each keyword and what its ranking is.

If performed on a number of competitors, this kind of analysis can build up a very clear picture of what you have to do with your site’s SEO to get ahead. It can also signal when you’ve set your sights too high and when you should perhaps alter your plans.

Analysed a competitor’s site with an eye to SEO is something you can do for yourself. Scrutinising their site can clue you in on some optimisation or internet marketing techniques that you might have missed, and also inform you of areas where you might be ahead of your competitors.

Sometimes, you might find something on a competitor’s site that is a little off. If you have experience in search engine optimisation, you may be able to identify black-hat SEO techniques that have enabled your competitor to get ahead. At this time, you need to decide whether to report them or not.

It’s okay to report shady operators

There is a general feeling around the net that reporting on competitors when they use underhanded methods of SEO is not acceptable. It’s a feeling that comes from the playground, where the last thing anyone will do is ‘dob someone in’. It’s a silly feeling, and it needs to be overcome.

Every site that fools the search engines is preventing some very well-thought-out algorithms from working effectively, and forcing internet users to accept faulty results. If you’re operating within the rules, it makes your job a lot harder as well. Certainly, if you find yourself scouring competitor sites looking for any little fault that you can run to the search engines with, you have a problem. If, however, you come across a genuinely underhanded attempt to fool the search engines, you’re doing the industry a favour by reporting it.

The truth is that sites that use black-hat SEO are harming the functionality of searching. The fact that you might benefit from a competitor’s downfall is something that you’ll just have to force your conscience to accept.