Welcome on board, aspiring marketing wizards! It’s time to put on our detective hats and dive into the exciting world of digital marketing. Our mission today? Competitor analysis! It’s like peeking into your neighbour’s garden to see if their flowers are blooming better than yours, but strictly for learning and improving purposes, of course! So buckle up, grab your note pads as the gurus at our digital marketing company in Canada reveal the secrets behind flourishing in the digital marketing jungle.
First things first, you need to identify your customers – how else will you conduct an analysis right? Start with a simple Google search and see who shows up on top for keywords that are relevant to your business. You can use tools like Semrush, Ahrefs, SimilarWeb and the Facebook Ad Library for this purpose. Figure out who your real competitors are and what strategies seem to work for them.
You can focus on 3-5 competitors and analyse their digital marketing efforts across all channels and platforms. Alternatively, you may decide to examine your top competitors per channel, including the top 3 organic competitors and the top 3 competitors in paid search. No matter your approach, your list of competitors should be up-to-date and relevant to your business goals.
Now that you have pinpointed your competitors, it’s time to dig into their websites. Start with their website design and navigation. Pay close attention to the user experience – how easy is it for visitors to find what they are looking for? What type of content do they feature on their website, and how frequently is it updated? You also need to analyse their use of keywords. Consider the overall look and feel of their website – does it align with your brand image, or does it stand out in a unique way? Note any distinguishing characteristic or functionalities that stand out in their website and find a way to adopt it into your own site.
Considering how widespread and relevant social media is these days, you must analyse how your competitors are utilising these platforms. Identify the social media platforms they frequent and the nature of content they create. Are they more focused on organic content, paid advertisements, or a combination of both? Don’t forget to check out their engagement levels – are they responding to comments and messages from followers? Monitor the frequency of their posts and which kind gets the most engagement. This will give you insights into which platforms and methods are performing the best for your competitors.
This is an opportunity for you to learn about the paid advertising strategy of your competitors using Google Ads. You can use tools such as SEMrush or SpyFu to determine which keywords they are bidding on and what their ad copy looks like. Check where they position their ads and what pages they are targeting users to. This will help improve your own Google Ads campaigns and can also prove fruitful in identifying keywords that you could focus on.
This part of your research will involve a lot of manual work. You have to explore their webpages, analyse the types of content and formats they employ, and identify ways to stand out. You should check:
· The content on their main navigation pages
· The internal linking structure of their website
· The ways in which they present their products or services
· The content formats they use
Additionally, examine how they communicate their unique selling proposition and differentiate themselves from their competitors. This will give you valuable insights into their brand positioning and messaging, which you can use to refine your own marketing strategy.
With all of the information gathered through this competitor analysis, you can gain a better understanding of the strategies your competitors are using to reach their target audience. This knowledge can then be used to improve your own marketing efforts, stay ahead of the competition, and ultimately drive business growth. So don’t shy away from conducting a thorough analysis of your competitors – it may just be the key to success for your online marketing strategy.
Ready to level up your digital marketing game? At United SEO, we turn your business goals into reality – and we do it with style! The team at our digital agency in Canada doesn’t just sit at desks all day, crunching data (although, we do love a good spreadsheet!) We’re out there in the digital wild, exploring the landscape, tracking trends, and wrestling with algorithms to make sure your brand comes out on top. And the best part? We make it all feel like a walk in the park. So buckle up, and prepare for a thrilling ride to the top of the search engine results page!
