Competitive. Crowded. Content marketing is tough.
- Low barrier of entry… Anyone can write and press the publish button.
- High competition… Huge players have already built massive audiences.
So how are you doing? Are you beating your competition at content marketing? It’s a tough question to answer. There are lots of ways to measure.
No single metric can predict success. But when you see them all together, you’ll get a sense for a few things:
Which brand is more committed to content?
Which brand is getting more traction?
Which brand is likely to win in the future?
This evaluation of rivalry looks at six chief aspects: material, transportation, search engine optimization, online media, email promotion and complex content techniques.
Content
How big? How fast? First, let’s gauge the extent of their website, then let’s see how often they post.
Total body of work
“A person’s “lifetime body of work” (LBOW) is an important thing to consider.” Some brands have published tons of content. Others have far fewer useful articles on their domain. More isn’t always better, but it’s a factor.
To find out how many pages are on your site and the webpage of any competitor, use the “site” command while doing a search on Google. If you type “site:http://webaddress.com” into the search bar, you will be able to find out how many pages are on that specific website.
Publishing frequency
I’m unaware of any means of measuring this, so you’ll need to visit their website and start calculating the posts. It should be a breeze to locate, so long as the material has datestamps.
It is a good idea to take away the dates from your blog, except for when you are publishing news pieces. Removing dates from blog posts should be one of the 15 elements taken off of your website.
Releasing information regularly does not necessarily guarantee success, but it does play an important role.
Traffic
It is impossible to get an exact figure for traffic as many of the tools utilized for estimating it are not entirely accurate. Alexa is probably the most popular. SimilarWeb is probably the most accurate. So let’s use those two.
Alexa
Alexa rankings don’t provide an exact number for the quantity of website users, however it is often used to gauge how well- known the website is. A lower numerical ranking should indicate more website traffic. According the article cited above, the correlation is .702.
Search Optimization
It is simple to obtain info on the competition’s SEO initiatives since rankings are open to the public. We recommend two tools for this, Moz and SEMrush. Moz shows the general likelihood of ranking. SEMrush shows the number of phrases they’re raking for.
Domain Authority
This is a strong sign of how intense the rivalry is. Domain Authority is an indicator of the comparative rank of you and your competitors. Whoever’s higher has more horsepower in search. The fastest method to compare you with them is to utilize Open Site Explorer for inputting both of you.
Number of ranking keyphrases (non-branded)
Use SEMrush to check their rankings. Most websites are listed as important for an extensive number (at minimum hundreds) of phrases. Input your websites into the tool and look at the number on the left side. Obviously, your business will already show up when searching for its name, so disregard that. What matters is the number of “non-branded” keyphrases. These expressions do not feature the company name. If you invest in the paid account (it is worth it!), you can activate a filter to block out any branded phrases.
Social Engagement
This is another important yardstick. The brand with the larger and more interactive audience will benefit. The individual who succeeds in this will be rewarded with additional social exposure and further networking privileges.
Social media followers
Pick whichever network is important to your brand. For B2C companies, it typically translates to utilizing Facebook, while B2B tend to lean towards LinkedIn. Twitter tends to be relevant to everyone. Look at the size of your following in relation to theirs.
Average new Twitter followers per day
Tools exist that can determine the rate of increase of someone’s Twitter followers. They demonstrate the average number of new followers every day in contrast to the average number of unfollowers every day. User the “Compare Users” feature in FollowerWonk. Be sure to pick “Compare Users They Follow” from the dropdown options.
Average shares per post
Who gets shared the most? Some marketers are good at making sharable content. Some marketers simply have a knack for getting other people to pass on their message.
A number of different elements can lead to the act of sharing: titles, visuals, incorporating collaborators (check the section following) and automated social media programs. Here is the best way to find out how often something is shared, no matter the approach.
Email Marketing
Each and every marketer who takes their work seriously pays great attention to email marketing. Email does not belong to a company like Google, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn do. It’s the list you own. It gives you less reliance on those companies to generate traffic.
There is no third party present when someone reads an email from a brand. Below are the two primary strategies for undertaking an analysis of email marketing competitors.
Email list size
This is a key comparison. It’s also not necessarily visible. If the competition knows how to increase the number of email subscribers by adding social proof to a signup form, that quantity can be seen on the blog or in a popup display.
Email frequency
Posting material on a blog does not have an uncomplicated method of being assessed. Sign up to your rivals’ bulletin and monitor how many emails arrive.
Advanced Content Strategies
Content can go far beyond blogging. Certain companies are taking much greater strides in developing and pushing out their material. Let’s acknowledge the strategies being used and recognize those who are making themselves more competitive.
Collaborative content
Including keywords is good for search traffic. Everyone knows that. However, the majority of marketers overlook something: incorporating people will lead to better social traffic.
We conducted a competitive review of content marketing strategies which included an examination of collaboration. Examine recent posts for self-promotion; look for content featuring the names, photos, and opinions of people who have influence.
This usually means:
- Contributor quotes
- Roundups
- Contributing guest bloggers
- Interviews
Marketers who join forces with others for their content gain large-scale networking and social media advantages in the long run.
Publishing research
We have previously stated that the majority of content receives neither links nor shares. Nevertheless, research stands out as the most impressive form of content.
What are content marketing analytics tools?
Any system which provides data to help make strategic content marketing choices is known as a content marketing analytics tool. Typical uses of these technologies are finding words and phrases used for search engine optimization, assessing the performance of webpages, and monitoring the links on a website. The greater number of these you can combine, the deeper your competitor examination will be, and the more resilient your decisions will be.
Starting with an SEO program is beneficial due to the fact that the top tier systems usually have a good selection of apparatus for doing content marketing examination and competitor analysis. Other resources may be necessary to monitor the effectiveness of content on social media and specialized tools may be necessary for specific evaluations – such as analyzing loading times for page speed.
You can set up an automated system so you can extract data from Google’s PageSpeed Insights to compare your site’s loading time with other sites.
In the following section we will be examining the optimal content analytics systems for marketing. First, though, here’s a quick summary of the types of analysis you want to perform:
- Content performance: Tracking and analytics tools to measure the performance of your own content.
- Page performance: Tools to measure loading times, Core Web Vitals, etc.
- Keyword research: Find new keywords and analyze search volumes, plus other keyword performance metrics (CTRs, conversions, etc.).
- Content audits: Identify content that needs updating, combining, or removing.
- Link audits: Analyse your link profiles (internal and external) to identify issues.
- Content opportunities: Find new content opportunities from emerging search trends, competitor analysis, or keyword gaps in your strategy.
- Engagement analysis: Tracking engagement with your content across channels (search, social, email, etc.).
- Reporting: Attribution and reporting tools that prove the value of your content marketing efforts.
In order to take advantage of your rivals’ top content marketing concepts, you will need to utilize analytics software that grants you the option of gauging the efficacy of several websites all at once.
For instance, a usual exploration of words tool just recommends associated queries, depending on a compilation of queries that you enter. However, for evaluating other firms, you must have a keyword application that permits you to insert various websites and acquire a register of the phrases they are intending to rank for so you can contrast the findings with your plan.
7 content marketing analytics tools to beat your rivals
In this section, we’re looking at some of the best content marketing analytics tools for competitor analysis:
- SimilarWeb
- Semrush
- Ahref
- SpyFu
- Alexa’s Site Overview
- Searchmetrics
- Buzzsumo
Upon first examination, many of these systems appear comparable. Still, each one possesses exclusive qualities and operates with a varied set of data for examining. We will delve deeper into it later, but the best results will be obtained from recombined data when using a variety of analytics applications that pull information from various sources.
#1: SimilarWeb
One of the earliest companies to specialize in assessing rivals, SimilarWeb aims to provide insight into how a website measures up to other competitors. You can compare the amount of traffic and interaction on all of your marketing platforms and uncover which of your competitors are performing better and then copy their strategies that have been successful.
The results of a keyword analysis from SimilarWeb indicate the prime words that are bringing people to the websites of your competitors. Besides looking at how many people are searching for something, this tool also presents key word statistics, like click-through rates and how many clicks come from pay-per-click sources versus organic sources, so you know how to decide which content to pursue. The keyword tool can also uncover new expressions relevant to your searches and new modes of using search engines so that you can get ahead and start using them before anyone else.
#2: Semrush
Semrush is renowned for its exhaustive search and contender assessment platform which collects data from more than 800 million sites, 21 billion key phrases, 43 trillion connections, and more. You can take a look at your rivals’ internet traffic, major keywords, past search performance, references to the brand, and much more by utilizing it.
The comparison tool simplifies the process of determining how your SEO, PPC, and social media campaigns match up to your main competitors and finding ways to get ahead of them.
Semrush delivers comprehensive keyword evaluation, demonstrating the purpose behind contrasted search requests so you can diagnose how firms are obtaining most of their traffic. For instance, some contenders may accumulate a huge amount of visits from searches with their name in it, as opposed to those that depend strongly on questions for retrieving data. Next, you can investigate which inquiries for information are causing a rise in traffic to find new keyword and content possibilities.
Data keywords also include details of how often they are being searched for, what percentage of traffic other opponents are accumulating, and how challenging it is to use these keywords – so that you can decide which opportunities you should take on.
#3: Ahrefs
Ahrefs has numerous similarities to Semrush, and both sites have tools that are equivalent. If you’re in need of an SEO software system and are only looking to pay for one, these two are likely your best options. In other words, Ahrefs contains some specific characteristics and different data which are vital if you wish to get the complete analysis from multiple sources, specifically in the context of competitive research.
#4: Spyfu
While both Semrush and Ahrefs attempt to give a complete SEO analytics service, Spyfu has a greater emphasis on analyzing opponents. The features Spyfu offers in terms of traffic analysis, keyword research, and historical performance data are comparable to other sites, but they are especially sophisticated when it comes to competitive comparison.
For example, you can keep track of websites that are becoming popular using the keywords you are targeting to identify emerging competitors and take action before they surpass you.
#5: Alexa’s Site Overview
Alexa’s Site Overview offers a rapid examination of websites to identify search terms and topics, determine user engagement in social media, view overall traffic, and analyze the search and social aspect.
Alexa may not be as intricate as Semrush and Ahrefs, yet it has lots of unique metrics, such as the Alexa Rank and various channel engagement scores. Alexa also provides a keyword analysis to identify suitable keywords, along with scores of relevance and popularity to quickly increase search traffic. Then, the social engagement investigation tool can be utilized to recognize the most successful content matters with engagement evaluations so you can uncover how your rivals are creating a following across their social networks.
#6: Searchmetrics
Searchmetrics provides an extensive selection of services for SEO, monitoring market conditions, and predicting customer demand. Additionally, it includes its own strategy for evaluating competing companies. By keeping tabs on your rivals in the search engine ranking system, you can recognize them and use their success stories to help you come up with ways to get the better of them or stay in the lead.
#7: Buzzsumo
Most of the resources we have examined to this point center around SEO and search engine marketing, but how well people interact with your content is also a great indication of how effective your content marketing approach is. Buzzsumo is one of the supreme social surveillance apps accessible, featuring its very own competition scrutiny feature.
By performing a competitive analysis, you can identify which topics and material your rivals are having success with across all of their social media channels. This instrument is invaluable in helping you determine which types of content are successful for your rivals on the different social media sites – such as photo posts on Facebook or videos on Instagram.
Searching for words that are relevant to a particular topic is normally linked with optimizing a website for search engine results, however its importance for content discovery on the leading social media sites should not be overlooked. Buzzsumo provides a way for people to discover relevant keywords, inspect search patterns, and monitor CPC prices for paid social marketing initiatives.
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