We’re going to explore today how to drill down on your online SEO competition for local Brisbane businesses. Especially now that we’ve had a tough month with floods and the obvious economic effects even for those not directly affected.
If you want to investigate the undergarments of your online competition, look no further than Yahoo Site Explorer. This handy wee tool shows you incoming links (inlinks) of ANY website.
Success leaves clues. Also bad back-linking leaves clues, so don’t get too confused.
Some blog comments with your signature are propagated through a site, leading to 20 links which only really count for one vote. On forums like meetup.com, you’ll find a similar occurrence. So don’t get too excited by the final number… quality counts.
If you want to recreate someone else’s inlinks, first ensure they know what they are doing, and then ensure that your target keywords are exactly the same. Probably you will want to have your own strategy and use a professional – for about $40 per hour, it could be well worth it.
Next – Gather SEO Competition Data
Anyhow, the next step is to gather your SEO competition data on the top five websites for your niche keyword searches. E.G. For ‘copywriter Brisbane’ results are: heart harmony #1, snappysentences #2, power of words #3 etc… ‘Copywriting Brisbane’ brings up entirely different results.
If I wanted to be absolutely sure of my own placement, I would use Market Samurai and the SEO Competition module. This is because your own computer gets to know your ‘most clicked’ results, so could be showing your website higher than it is to others.
Check Yourself Out – in Google’s SERP
Check how your website looks with “Instant Preview” on the Search Engine Results Page – hit the magnifying glass near the title. Compare your preview to others around it. Compare your title and bolded keywords to others above it. Like when we look in the mirror, we want our listing to appear attractive in every way!
I presume that you already know your top five keyword phrases with the most traffic. No? Then use Market Samurai or Google Adwords Keyword Tool to find them. (I can also help you with this service if you’re needing to rewrite your website copy anyway).
Please note my upcoming presentation at B2B Brisbane meetup on the topic: Writing Your Way to a Distinctive Online Presence. February 9, at 6:15 pm. If you miss out on the last spot, I may be doing this presentation again in Redcliffe in March or April.