Content marketers often fall for the same deadly trap during SEO campaigns: “Just keep producing content,”—they say.
Why work hard when you can work smart?
Guess what! Every single day, 6 million blog articles are posted online. Do you still expect your post to stand out?
To distinguish your content from the crowd, you must know how and why your competitors succeed.
Competitor content audits are key to producing unique, engaging content and driving more traffic to your website.
Compiled here are the six steps you should follow for a results-driven audit of your competitor’s content and strategy.
Let’s dive in…
In this article, you’ll undergo a competitor audit to analyze a rival business’ inventory for the same vital marketing clues.
Why work hard when you can work smart?
Guess what! Every single day, 6 million blog articles are posted online. Do you still expect your post to stand out?
To distinguish your content from the crowd, you must know how and why your competitors succeed.
Competitor content audits are key to producing unique, engaging content and driving more traffic to your website.
Let’s dive in…
Hold up… what even is a content audit?
Imagine collecting every blog article, ad, and product page you’ve ever posted to your site. Every piece of textual and visual content is your “content inventory,” and in an audit, your inventory is scanned for strengths, weaknesses, and insights.In this article, you’ll undergo a competitor audit to analyze a rival business’ inventory for the same vital marketing clues.
Step 1: Who are your competitors?
First, it’s essential to define who your competitors really are. Not only should you find your “direct competition,” but identifying your “indirect competition” is crucial too.To identify your competitors, you can simply google your niche and pick the top results, but this is not the ideal option. There are a few ways to achieve a more complete result:
* Market and social media research is a sweet and simple way to find “direct competition” who sell the same or similar products you do.
* Keyword research and Google Search Console help to identify “indirect competitors” that fight for the same search engine traffic you’re targeting.
* Customer feedback highlights both types of competition through the customer journey. Did they choose your product over an alternative? What came up on Google first?
Most likely, you’ll want to audit the entire inventory of textual content on your competitor’s website. However, images, videos, PDFs, and web apps can all be included, depending on the marketing materials you use.
In general, the most common targets in a content audit are:
Step 2: Picking the right types of content to audit
So you know who you’ll be investigating. Now you need to know what to hunt for. If you target the wrong content in your audit, your results will hardly help in future content campaigns.Most likely, you’ll want to audit the entire inventory of textual content on your competitor’s website. However, images, videos, PDFs, and web apps can all be included, depending on the marketing materials you use.
In general, the most common targets in a content audit are:
* News and blog articles;
* Product descriptions;
* “About,” “Contact,” and landing pages;
* Any relevant social media and forum posts.
* Product descriptions;
* “About,” “Contact,” and landing pages;
* Any relevant social media and forum posts.
In 2023, 91% of businesses use video as a marketing tool, and I guarantee your competition does too. Consider auditing your competition’s visual content too.
Professional content marketers have an array of data collection tools on their belt, including:
Step 3: Gather all relevant data
By now, you’ve hopefully collected a stack of URLs to examine. Luckily, the major legwork is done by software these days. Now, it’s time to pick the right tools to extract relevant data for your next content strategy.Professional content marketers have an array of data collection tools on their belt, including:
Semrush Content Audit tool: Access valuable data points like clicks, pages, backlinks, average session time, and more.
Google Analytics: Dive deeper into your competitor’s audience by exploring customer behavior, country of origin, and bounce rate.
Contentsquare: Analyze the entire customer journey, giving you access to the behavior of your competitors' customers from start to finish.
Don’t forget about cybersecurity. Learn about the tools that can help you protect your data when you conduct the research. Is a VPN better than antivirus? Pick one to safeguard your content and website with both options while collecting data.
If it’s your first time seeing search engine metrics, it probably looks like a foreign language to you. However, understanding how this data helps you is simpler than you may think.
If you look deeper than the numbers, you’ll realize that clicks don’t mean everything. For example, a high “click” and “bounce” rate means that your competitor is luring users with their topic but failing to keep their attention for long.
In this example, a big chunk of web traffic can be gained by targeting the same topic. If you can create more relevant, valuable content than the competitor’s post, you could steal that target audience for your business.
Similarly, spotting gaps in your competitor’s content library offers the perfect opportunity to access an untapped target audience.
The most important changes you should make fall into these categories:
Step 4: Learn to analyze the metrics
You’ve got all these numbers, but what do they really mean?If it’s your first time seeing search engine metrics, it probably looks like a foreign language to you. However, understanding how this data helps you is simpler than you may think.
If you look deeper than the numbers, you’ll realize that clicks don’t mean everything. For example, a high “click” and “bounce” rate means that your competitor is luring users with their topic but failing to keep their attention for long.
In this example, a big chunk of web traffic can be gained by targeting the same topic. If you can create more relevant, valuable content than the competitor’s post, you could steal that target audience for your business.
Similarly, spotting gaps in your competitor’s content library offers the perfect opportunity to access an untapped target audience.
Step 5: Apply the insights
With your pocket full of competitor insights, what’s your next move? Are you going to audit your own content inventory?The most important changes you should make fall into these categories:
* Rewrite: After reviewing your competitors' content, do you need to improve on your own? If so, rewrite it and make sure it’s relevant to modern realities. Update it with the latest research and include references to the newest discoveries.
* Remove: You saw what didn’t work for your competitors. If your content strategy includes any of those harmful practices, think about removing them.
* Restructure: SEO is all about structure too. Adjust your headers and formatting to improve your content. Check out the best SEO practices to learn how to spot the
No other time is this more important than when you see a drop in your search engine rankings or web traffic. If your competition is thriving, they’re doing something that you aren’t. Find out what it is and do it better!
As we see an increase in AI usage in search engines, many businesses relying on AI content may see a decrease in traffic. For this reason, it’s crucial to stay on top of SEO and content marketing news.
Who are they, and what are they doing better than you?
Learn to understand the search engine metrics, and you’ll discover a new way to get an edge on your competition.
If applied and monitored on your own site, insights from competitor audits are an overwhelming boost for your content marketing campaign.
Post search description: Want to learn how to audit your competitor’s content inventory for key marketing insights? Follow these 6 easy steps to make your next content campaign stand out.
* Remove: You saw what didn’t work for your competitors. If your content strategy includes any of those harmful practices, think about removing them.
* Restructure: SEO is all about structure too. Adjust your headers and formatting to improve your content. Check out the best SEO practices to learn how to spot the
Step 6: Monitor and adjust
SEO is perpetually changing, meaning that today’s content strategy may not work tomorrow. This is why constant monitoring of the competition is a must, as successful marketers will adapt to the current SEO climate.No other time is this more important than when you see a drop in your search engine rankings or web traffic. If your competition is thriving, they’re doing something that you aren’t. Find out what it is and do it better!
As we see an increase in AI usage in search engines, many businesses relying on AI content may see a decrease in traffic. For this reason, it’s crucial to stay on top of SEO and content marketing news.
Conclusion
It sounds simple, but it’s vital — know your competition like the back of your hand.Who are they, and what are they doing better than you?
Learn to understand the search engine metrics, and you’ll discover a new way to get an edge on your competition.
If applied and monitored on your own site, insights from competitor audits are an overwhelming boost for your content marketing campaign.
Post search description: Want to learn how to audit your competitor’s content inventory for key marketing insights? Follow these 6 easy steps to make your next content campaign stand out.