How Competitor Analysis Can Help With Your Keyword Research | Lesson 7/8 | SEMrush Academy

Summary

In this keyword research lesson, Greg Gifford, VP of Search at Wikimotive, emphasizes the importance of competitor analysis for SEO insights. He suggests using tools like SEMrush to discover which keywords competitors rank for and analyzing their ad copy and backlink profiles to identify valuable keywords and content strategies. Gifford also recommends a manual review of competitors' sites to understand their content quality, optimization techniques, and unique selling propositions, providing actionable insights for keyword research and SEO strategy.

Takeaways

• 🔍 Competitor analysis is a valuable tool in keyword research, providing insights into effective strategies and keyword choices.
• 🛠️ Leveraging competitors' SEO efforts can be particularly helpful when starting with a new client or entering an unfamiliar industry.
• 📈 Competitors' keyword research and content strategy can offer clues about high-value keywords and phrases.
• 🌐 Using tools like SEMrush to analyze competitors' ranking keywords and their difficulty scores can help assess the potential traffic and value.
• 💰 Examining both high and low cost keywords from competitors' ad campaigns can reveal important and potentially high-converting phrases.
• 📝 Analyzing ad copy can provide insights into competitors' messaging strategies and what they believe will attract customers.
• 🔗 Investigating competitors' backlink profiles can highlight important content and concepts that have resonated with their audience.
• 📚 Paying attention to unique links and pages with fewer competitors can identify less competitive but worthy concepts to target.
• 👀 Manually reviewing competitors' sites can reveal content quality, writing style, and optimization techniques that are effective.
• 📋 Checking the raw code of competitors' pages can uncover schema markup, heading usage, and page structure that contributes to their SEO success.
• 🎯 Reviewing title tags, H1 headings, alt text, and meta descriptions can provide insight into competitors' optimization strategies and customer engagement tactics.

Q & A

Who is Greg Gifford and what is his role in the video?

Greg Gifford is the Vice President of Search at the US-based SEO agency, Wikimotive. In the video, he is teaching a lesson on how competitor analysis can be beneficial for keyword research.

What is the main topic of the seventh lesson in the keyword research course?

The main topic of the seventh lesson is the use of competitor analysis to aid in keyword research, providing insights into valuable keyword phrases and optimization strategies.

Why is competitor analysis important for SEO?

Competitor analysis is important for SEO because it allows you to gain insight into what strategies are working for others, especially in unfamiliar verticals or locations, and helps you understand which keyword phrases are most valuable.

What does Greg Gifford suggest doing with a new client in an unfamiliar vertical?

Greg Gifford suggests leveraging the competitor's work by analyzing their SEO strategies, content, backlinks, and page optimizations to quickly learn about the vertical and identify valuable keywords.

How can competitor research help with local business SEO?

Competitor research helps with local business SEO by providing insights into what works best in a specific location, allowing you to understand local keyword preferences and optimization tactics.

What tool does Greg Gifford recommend for analyzing competitors' keywords?

Greg Gifford recommends using SEMrush to pop in a competitor's URL and analyze which keywords they are ranking for, including their keyword difficulty scores and potential traffic.

Why should you check both high-cost and low-cost keywords in competitors' campaigns?

Checking both high-cost and low-cost keywords in competitors' campaigns provides insight into what phrases are valuable enough for them to pay for, indicating potential profitability and conversion rates, as well as identifying less competitive, yet targeted, long-tail keywords.

What can ad copy analysis reveal about a competitor's marketing strategy?

Ad copy analysis can reveal the most important aspects of a concept that a competitor believes will entice customers to click through to their site, showing their understanding of customer engagement.

Why is analyzing a competitor's link profiles part of keyword research?

Analyzing a competitor's link profiles is part of keyword research because it helps identify pages with the most inbound links, indicating important content to their audience and potential areas of opportunity for your own content.

What should you pay special attention to when analyzing a competitor's backlinks?

You should pay special attention to unique links where a competitor has a page about a concept that's getting inbound links but no one else is, as this indicates a worthy concept with less competition.

How does a manual review of a competitor's site contribute to keyword research?

A manual review of a competitor's site helps you assess the quality of their content, their writing style, content length, media usage, schema markup, and page structure, providing insights into what works for them and why.

What should you check on a competitor's site to understand their optimization strategy?

You should check the optimization of title tags, H1 headings, alt text on images, and meta descriptions to understand how they are attracting and engaging customers.

What is the final step suggested by Greg Gifford for learners of the keyword research course?

The final step suggested by Greg Gifford is for learners to take the test on the SEMrush Academy page to become officially SEMrush certified.