by Francois Muscat | Sep 24, 2024 | Blogging, Competitor Analysis
Francois Muscat – Digital Marketing Specialist
Understanding your local competitors is crucial for staying ahead in business. At WSI OMS, we excel in providing a detailed and strategic competitor analysis to enhance your local SEO efforts. Here’s an overview of our approach, highlighting how we turn competitive insights into actionable strategies for your success.
1. Defining Your Agency and Identifying Competitors
The first step in our competitor analysis process is to clearly define your agency’s position in the market. This involves identifying local competitors who vie for the same audience. We start by listing businesses in your locality that directly or indirectly compete with your services. This list includes not just the obvious competitors but also those with minimal online visibility but strong real-world competition.
Our analysis begins with keyword research—both explicit (e.g., “underwater basket weaving Dallas”) and implicit searches (e.g., “underwater basket weaving”). We use tools like BrightLocal’s Google Business Profile Audit Tool to gather top results for your keywords and identify competitors based on their presence in search results.
2. Conducting Competitor Keyword Research
Once we have a list of competitors, the next step is to delve into their keyword strategies. This phase involves using tools such as Screaming Frog, SEMRush, and Ahrefs to examine the keywords that competitors are targeting.
We analyze:
- Title Tags and H1 Headings: Identifying the keywords competitors use in their titles and headings.
- Ad Strategies: Reviewing competitors’ paid search strategies to understand their keyword focus and ad copy.
- Content Gaps: Using Ahrefs’ Content Gap Tool to discover keywords that competitors rank for but you do not.
This comprehensive keyword research helps uncover missed opportunities and informs our strategy for optimizing your SEO efforts.
3. Analyzing Competitors’ Websites
A crucial part of our analysis involves scrutinizing competitors’ websites. We run a crawl using tools like Screaming Frog to assess their site structure, title tags, and H1 headings. Our focus areas include:
- Content Optimization: Evaluating how competitors organize their content, including title tags, H1 headings, and image alt text.
- User Experience: Reviewing the overall user experience to understand how their site’s design and structure contribute to their SEO success.
By identifying strengths and weaknesses in competitors’ sites, we develop strategies to enhance your website’s performance and user experience.
4. Examining Competitors’ Inbound Links
Links are a significant factor in SEO, and understanding your competitors’ link-building strategies can provide valuable insights. We use tools like Ahrefs and SEMrush to:
- Identify Link Sources: Determine where competitors are acquiring their backlinks.
- Analyze Anchor Text and Link Placement: Review the types of anchor text and the placement of links to assess their strategies.
This analysis helps us uncover unique link-building opportunities and devise strategies to improve your site’s authority and ranking.
5. Reviewing Competitors’ Google Business Profiles
Competitors’ Google Business Profiles offer insights into their local SEO practices. We evaluate:
- Business Name and Categories: Check if competitors are using relevant keywords in their business names and selected categories.
- Reviews and Photos: Assess the quality of reviews and photos to determine how competitors engage with their audience.
By understanding how competitors present themselves on Google, we can enhance your profile to stand out and attract more local customers.
6. Analyzing Competitors’ Reviews
Competitor reviews provide a window into their customer experiences. We analyze:
- Review Volume and Ratings: Compare the number and quality of reviews to gauge overall customer satisfaction.
- Positive and Negative Feedback: Identify recurring themes in reviews to address common complaints and highlight competitors’ strengths.
This analysis helps us refine your service offerings and improve customer satisfaction by addressing areas where competitors fall short.
7. Using BrightLocal’s Tools for Efficient Analysis
To streamline the competitor analysis process, we use BrightLocal’s tools, including the Google Business Profile (GBP) Audit Tool and the Local Search Audit Tool. These tools offer comprehensive insights into competitors’ performance and highlight areas for improvement.
Why Choose WSI OMS for Your Competitor Analysis?
At WSI OMS, we provide a detailed, methodical approach to competitor analysis, leveraging cutting-edge tools and techniques. Our goal is to transform competitive insights into actionable strategies that drive your local SEO success. By partnering with us, you gain access to expert analysis and customized strategies that help you outshine your competitors and achieve your digital marketing goals.
Ready to elevate your local SEO game? Contact WSI OMS today to learn more about our competitor analysis services and how we can help you dominate your market.
Want to Do Your Competitor Analysis Yourself? Here’s a Checklist
Internet Consultants who want to do their own competitor analysis can follow this easy checklist:
Define Your Business and Competitors
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- Clearly outline your business’s niche and target audience.
- Identify local and relevant competitors in your industry.
Conduct Keyword Research
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- Use tools like SEMRush, Ahrefs, or Moz to identify competitors’ target keywords.
- Analyze title tags, H1 headings, and meta descriptions of competitors.
Evaluate Competitors’ Websites
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- Perform a site crawl with tools like Screaming Frog.
- Assess content quality, site structure, and user experience.
Examine Competitors’ Backlink Profiles
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- Use Ahrefs or SEMRush to identify where competitors’ backlinks come from.
- Analyze the type of backlinks and anchor text used.
Review Competitors’ Google Business Profiles
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- Check business names, categories, and keywords used.
- Assess the quality and quantity of reviews and photos.
Analyze Competitors’ Online Reviews
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- Evaluate review ratings and common feedback themes.
- Identify strengths and weaknesses based on customer reviews.
Utilize Local SEO Tools
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- Employ tools like BrightLocal’s GBP Audit Tool and Local Search Audit Tool.
- Review competitor performance metrics and local SEO practices.
Identify Content Gaps and Opportunities
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- Use tools like Ahrefs’ Content Gap Tool to find missed keywords.
- Develop strategies to fill content gaps and leverage opportunities.
Benchmark Against Competitors
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- Compare your website’s performance with competitors’ metrics.
- Set actionable goals based on your findings.
Implement and Monitor Strategies
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- Apply insights from your analysis to optimize your SEO strategy.
- Regularly monitor your progress and adjust strategies as needed.
By following this checklist, you’ll be well-equipped to perform a thorough competitor analysis and enhance your local SEO efforts effectively.
Need a competitor analysis for your clients? Then contact us for more information today.
by Francois Muscat | Aug 20, 2020 | Blogging, SEO
Blogs and SEO go hand in hand in the digital marketing industry. If you’ve been neglecting your SEO strategy, you could spend a lot of time on creating content for your blog without seeing the organic traffic you’re aiming for. We’ve rounded up 5 SEO tips to help you drive organic traffic to your blog.
Driving organic traffic to your blog with our SEO tips
1. Don’t write blindly
The most common mistake made by bloggers and writers is to think that trending topics will drive massive amounts of traffic to a blog. While a trending topic may be a great way to grab attention, you’ll need to be an established, trusted name in the industry you’re writing for (with lots of followers) to benefit from writing about a trending topic. If you’re not a well-known expert in the industry, you won’t be the go-to resource, and the interest in the trending topic you just wrote about will die off long before a large number of readers find your article or post.
You can remedy this by writing what we call “evergreen content” that will keep attracting the attention of readers for a long time. Evergreen content is not time-sensitive, and stays relevant for long after it has been published, driving traffic to your blog over several months or (even better) years. Evergreen content does not rely on a specific event or trend to remain relevant, instead it remains valuable for readers over a long time and does not need to be updated often to remain factual and correct.
Research is key to understanding if your topic is trending or evergreen. You can research topics by using search engines, keyword research tools (to determine traffic) and by looking at what your competitors and other writers in your industry or niche are ranking for. Another great tool to determine if your content is evergreen is Google Trends. Do a quick search for your topic and you’ll be able to see if your topic has a notable “spike”. If there is a spike, it means that your topic could be trendy (or possibly seasonal) which makes it less applicable in your search for evergreen content. If the line is more or less straight (with spikes and dips), it might be an evergreen topic. Try searching for “Christmas” and “social media” for a demonstration of how this tool works.
2. Understand why people are searching for a specific term
If you want to rank better on SERP, then you need to have an understanding of why someone could be searching for a specific topic so you can write content that answers the question. Google wants to deliver the best search results to its users, so if you miss the “why” of the search, then your content will not be aligned in a way that will get you to rank.
When someone searches for “coffee” they’re most likely looking for a place nearby that sells coffee. So, if you’re writing about the history of coffee, you won’t rank above the results that provide direct, relevant information. If you’re in the coffee industry, think about answering some more pertinent questions such as “where can I buy a vegan latte” or “summer coffee recipes”.
3. Write deep, not long
Many resources about SEO and blog writing will tell you that your content needs to be over 2000 words in length or some other number. Instead of trying to hit an arbitrary number, rather take a look at what is typical for your industry and write enough content to answer a specific search query.
You need to focus more on covering your topic in depth so that your reader gets all the information they might need in one place. Google wants to provide its audience with great results, and that includes giving them results that answer their questions comprehensively.
Use the search engine results page (SERP) to ensure that you cover the most important aspects of your topic by reviewing the results that already rank and checking that you’re covering what your audience may want to know from a search query.
4. Earn links by creating valuable content
Google will know that your content is relevant and valuable to others if your content is linked to by others. While it seems simple, it is incredibly powerful to have other bloggers, writers and online sources to link to your content. It shows Google that you know what you’re talking about and that you are a trust-worthy source of information.
Whatever you do, don’t be tempted to buy links or gain them through similar schemes. This goes against Google’s user policy and can get your page(s) or entire website removed from rankings altogether.
There are ways to create link-worthy content, including sharing unique insights and personal experiences that people will genuinely be interested in. You could also curate information into a definitive guide and provide an insider look at the information that people would typically not have access to (data that you’ve gathered or research that you’ve done). The key here is to be ethical about how you provide information- be sure that you’re allowed to share information, credit your sources and don’t plagiarise information from other writers.
5. Spend time on your title and description (H3) title tag meta description
This is where you need to get a little creative without crossing the limits of what is displayed. Because Google truncates your title tag and meta descriptions, you need to keep them short and sweet while using your chosen keywords and attracting attention with powerful terms, also called power words.
Keep your title under 50-60 characters and your meta description under 160 characters. Put your keywords first (or as close to the beginning as possible) and create something that will get the reader to stop scrolling and click on your post.
If your SEO strategy needs a revamp, contact WSI OMS to find out how we can help you to drive organic traffic to your blog with an improved SEO strategy.
by Francois Muscat | Dec 14, 2019 | Blogging, Digital Media Marketing
Blogging might be an integral part of digital marketing but, unfortunately, not everyone is a born blogger. We’ve created a guide that will help you to not only write better blogs and target the correct audience, but that will also help you to stay on-trend and improve your reputation as an authoritative source in your industry.
Digital Marketing Guide to Being a Better Blogger:
Topics and Targeting
If you know who you are writing for and you pick topics that will speak to them, you have half the battle won. Take some time to find your audience, research them and brainstorm topics they will be interested in. Once you’ve determined your audience, you can alter your tone of voice and address pain points they might be experiencing. By speaking to the correct people in the correct way and providing answers to their questions, you’re paving the way to becoming a “go-to” source for issues they experience.
When brainstorming topics suited to your audience, be sure to maintain a balance between evergreen content and trending topics:
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- Evergreen content will rarely become outdated and can easily be updated with minor changes. It includes topics that will drive traffic to your blog, long after being published (nothing time-sensitive goes in this category).
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- Trending topics may have a shorter life span, but if the topic is relevant for a short time, it can drive a surge of traffic to your blog, especially if the content has an edge of exclusivity to it. However, don’t rely exclusively on trends to drive the majority of traffic to your blog. If you do, you’re setting yourself up for a large time investment in creating new trendy content all the time.
Writing
Here are a few valuable tips to keep in mind when you are writing:
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- Start with an outline for your post (that will guide your writing) and if this outline can be valuable to your audience, incorporate it into your post. You don’t need an outline for every post, but the more complex your post, the more valuable this roadmap becomes to your audience.
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- Keep your writing concise, but don’t under explain topics. Add just enough information so your post is clear but easy to digest.
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- Keep SEO principles in mind when writing. Also, remember to incorporate keywords into every part of your post, including the title, descriptions, headers and captions. Earn links from other sites by incorporating (and citing) authoritative data and quotes from industry experts.
- Schedule time to go through old posts and update outdated information, maintain links and improve on existing content.
Content
Blogging and content creation is not only about the written word. You can experiment with different types of content to keep your audience engaged. Try using video and images to liven up your posts and if possible, display statistics in a visual format like an infographic.
Your content should cover a variety of topics that range from the following:
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- Tips and resources (to teach your audience and alleviate pain points),
- Information on your products and services (where you can include discount codes or special offers), and
- More personal posts such as success stories and insights into your business.
Use your network
Part of being a better blogger is to understand how to leverage your network. Promoting your content on every possible medium is a start, but you can reach a wider audience by partnering up with contacts in your network and giving them exposure to your followers in return. Invite contributors to help you with the content workload, and offer to be a part of their content creation plan in return. The principle is to create a community that is mutually beneficial for all members instead of ruthlessly competing with other content creators.
Becoming a better blogger should be on your priority list for an improved digital strategy, and once you’ve incorporated these essential principles, blogging will become a much simpler task to take on. Click here to find more of our resources on blogging and digital marketing.
by Marelise da Silva | Aug 13, 2019 | Blogging
While it has never been easier to create content, it has also never been more difficult to make sure that it stands out from the crowd. Even if your blog posts show up in the top ten search results, you need to be able to ensure the click through with a strong headline. While the way in which you create that attention-grabbing headline depends, to a large extent, on the specifics of your content, there are certain types of headlines that are likely to have the biggest impact on your potential readers and get them to click that link. Here are the five most likely to prompt a favourable response:
The “Best” Way to Do Anything
Readers want to cut to the chase. If they are searching for information, they want the best available – and they want it now! Giving them a headline that offers “the best” way to do something, promises them that immediate answer. This type of headline performs extremely well when it comes to SEO.
Make it Quick and Easy
Coming second to “the best” are blogs that offer the “quickest” or the “easiest”. Quick solutions that will make the readers’ lives easier will always be attractive. Sometimes urgency will be the motivation behind the click, at other times, ease and convenience. Either way, you can’t go wrong.
An Air of Authority
For blogs that are more information-based and don’t entail a specific call to action, nothing is more enticing than an appeal to authority. Phrases like “According to science…” or “Experts say…” are always effective in this regard.
The Direct Address
It’s an old technique that dates back at least to the military recruiters of the late 19th and early 20th centuries (“The U.S. Army wants YOU!”). The direct, second-person address is almost always impossible to resist. For example, “What YOU need to do to write better blogs.”
Contact WSI to help you create an SEO-topping blog.
by Francois Muscat | Aug 6, 2019 | Blogging
Blogging is easy, right? All you have to do is pick a topic, throw together a paragraph or two and the job’s done. Well, that seems to be a common perception – but it’s quite far from the truth. Effective blogging is a specialised marketing skill. A good blog has the potential to make your brand a household name, while a bad one can see you relegated to cyber-obscurity. Fully conscious of the irony in blogging about blogging (call it meta-blogging, if you like), we are going to go through the five most common mistakes that bloggers make, why they should be avoided and how you can steer clear of them.
Formal tone and content
A blog needs to be a quick, easy read, written in a conversational tone. If you make it too stiff or fill it with jargon, your readers are likely to click elsewhere before they even get past the first paragraph. Relax, think as if you’re chatting to a friend and then say what you want to say in the simplest, most informative way possible.
Too Broad or Vague Topics
Nothing annoys a reader more than clicking on a link only to find a blog that doesn’t deliver the information it promises or offers too little substance. This is often the result of a topic that is too broad, tries to cover too much ground or offers only basic, general knowledge on the subject. Once you have chosen your subject, zoom in and pick a very specific aspect of it, then address that with a sharp, narrow focus. Try to ensure that the reader sees your topic from a different angle.
Plagiarism
This is probably the most common sin in the blogosphere. Keep your content original, use your own voice and viewpoint and never copy and paste. There are only so many ideas under the sun and it’s often necessary to draw on the ideas of your colleagues, but should you need to do so, make sure you cite your sources clearly.
Random Posting
No matter how good your blog is, it will have a diminished impact if you just post at random, writing on whatever idea comes to mind and not following a schedule. A reader can spot this randomness a mile away and it flags you as sloppy or unprofessional. Before you start writing, develop a content plan that serves your marketing goals. Then execute that plan according to a carefully drawn-up content calendar.
Not Substantiating Your Argument
Just because a blog is informal, that doesn’t mean that you can make statements without backing them up. It may not be an academic essay, but you still need to show proof for your conclusions or at least demonstrate your grounding in your industry’s norms, standards and news. Make sure that you use data and quote sources where necessary. Aside from covering your bases, it will also add gravitas and credibility to your work.
Luckily, if content generation isn’t your forte, or if you need a guiding hand, there are always experts to help. Contact WSI to discuss your marketing content and planning needs.
by Francois Muscat | Apr 17, 2019 | Blogging
Before a software product is released, it has to be tested so that problems can be picked up and fixed. Without this type of software testing, users will encounter problems and become unhappy.
Inspired Testing recently published a series of articles on the often-confusing topic of software testing. From the basics and types of software testing to the core terminologies in software testing, you will have all your questions answered.
Making Sure Software Is Fit for Purpose
Software has to be fit for the purpose that it is going to be used for. Some of the questions that the software testing process needs to answer include the following:
- Does the software meet the requirements fully and correctly?
- Does it work correctly? Do all features work?
- Are there defects in the software?
- What is the quality of the software?
- What is the overall risk if the software is live?
Agile Testing
Many people in the software development industry have heard of Agile, which is a method of developing software that your organisation can learn. Agile is a set of values and principles. Much of the discussion around Agile has to do with following different practices using various methodologies and developing specific tools. While tools might help a team who is trying to follow Agile, they are Agile because of the way they work together, both with clients and other stakeholders in the business.
Inspired Testing uses an Agile approach as it allows them to make hundreds of decisions each week in a collaborative way. The company’s software testers also make use of test cases and use cases to pick up bugs and gain insights about the software they are developing.
In the software development process, a bug or defect has a life cycle. The defect needs to go through the life cycle in order to be fixed and closed. Inspired testing follows a standard defect analysis process to make sure problems aren’t repeated and that the process cycle time improves.
Launching new products in the market requires a long list of software testing practices. From setting up coverage matrixes to make sure that a piece of software has been thoroughly tested to automating certain software testing tasks, performance testing, regression testing and usability testing, partner with them to set up a test plan that will give your software the best chance of success.
