If you want to stay ahead of the competition, it’s important to know what they’re doing SEO-wise. In this blog post, we’ll discuss how to spy on your competitors and see what tactics they’re using to rank higher than you. We’ll also show you how to find out which keywords they’re targeting and get a list of their backlinks. Let’s get started!
Which Tools Should I Use?
A great place to start is with one of my favorite research tools, Ahrefs. Although relatively expensive, it offers a free trial that lets you see a list of your competitor’s backlinks and their estimated organic traffic. You can also see what keywords they’re ranking for and how difficult it would be to rank for them.
Another great tool for spying on your competitors is SEMrush. It offers similar data as Ahrefs, but also includes information on paid search traffic and AdWords data. Moz Pro is another option that offers a wide range of tools for SEO, including competitor analysis.
Once you’ve identified which tools you should be using, it’s time to start spying on their SEO tactics. One of the best ways to do this is by looking at the keywords they’re targeting.
Which Keywords do They Rank For?
The first step is to find out which keywords your competitors are ranking for. This can be done with a tool like Ahrefs (which we’ll be using throughout this blog post). Simply enter the URL of your competitor into Ahrefs’ Site Explorer and go to the “Positions” report.
This report will show you all of the keywords your competitor is ranking for, as well as their rankings and search traffic. It’s a great way to see what terms your competitor is targeting and get some ideas for yourself.
Get a List of Their Backlinks
The next step is to get a list of your competitors’ backlinks. This can be done with Ahrefs’ “Backlinks” report.
This report will show you all of the websites that are linking to your competitor. It’s a great way to get some ideas for link building and see where your competitors are getting their links from. You can also use this report to find out if any of your competitor’s backlinks are worth acquiring for yourself.
Once you have a list of their backlinks, you need to analyze them and determine which ones you should try and get. You can do this by using the “Domain Rating” and “URL Rating” metrics in Ahrefs.
The “Domain Rating” metric is a measure of a website’s overall link popularity, while the “URL Rating” metric is a measure of the quality of a website’s backlinks. You can use these metrics to determine which backlinks are worth acquiring for yourself.
Outsource Your research
If this all sounds a bit too technical, then you can outsource your competitor research. There are a number of agencies that offer this service, or you can use a tool like Upwork to find a freelance researcher.
Scaling Up
Once you have determined how your competitors rank and for which keywords, it’s time to start link building. This can be done by acquiring some of the same backlinks that your competitors have. This will help you to improve your own ranking and hopefully overtake them.
Of course, this is a time-consuming task and should be done over many months, but you can also outsource link building to a third party. There are many places to find link builders, but be sure to do your research first to ensure you’re getting good value for your money.
Once you’ve gathered this information, it’s time to put it to use! Try replicating some of your competitor’s tactics and see if you can rank higher than them. Keep in mind that it takes time and effort to rank high in search engines, so don’t expect results overnight. But with patience and hard work, you can outrank your competitors and achieve the SEO success you desire.
SEO is a never-ending cycle of research and analysis. By spying on your competitors and using the tools we’ve discussed in this blog post, you can stay ahead of the curve and rank higher than them. So what are you waiting for? Start spying on your competition today!
