They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. And whilst we never recommend that someone copy a competitor’s products, it is always worth knowing their content and digital marketing strategies. The great news is – they are entirely public, it’s totally legal, and everyone does it! Read on to discover the benefits of Using free Competitor Analysers to boost your Digital Marketing.
Content Analysers and Content Competitors
It may sound counterintuitive, but it is essential to distinguish between products and services and ‘content competitors’. Sure, those posting content in your category could be direct ‘competitors’ , but it is more than likely that they simply have similar content goals and needs: e.g. a Health Food Bar in Florida is not scalping your Acai bowl clients on Burleigh Beach, but their content may be more innovative and effective, and therefore – rank higher.
So whether you are getting started and looking for inspiration for your content marketing strategy – or you are a pro looking to get the edge, you have to look at your peers, and if it works for them, it could certainly work for you.
What is the best way to benchmark against the right competitors?
So how do you benchmark against the right competitors? How do you know who they are and how effective are they? The answer is to take advantage of the myriad of highly effective online content analysers and applications. Both free and premium content analysers will give invaluable insight at the click of a button. The even better news is that you can scalp a vast amount of quality content using the free versions, and of course, if you get into and familiar with the app, you can upgrade easily. At Bleo, we recommend starting with the free version to avoid getting overwhelmed
Content Analysers
Some of the best content analysers and planners on the market are: Google Analytics, SEMrush, and the one we relied on for today’s articlr – The Buzz Sumo’s Content Analyser, as it gives a great free overview and offers advanced features for paying users.
Where to start:
Go to : The Buzz Sumo’s Content Analyser
- Enter your subject matter in the query box. In our example, being a digital marketing agency, we (somewhat predictably) typed in ‘content marketing’. In the image below, you can see this gave us immediate insight into the top content marketing content across the globe. You can, if you wish, narrow this down to the country of your choice.
- From here, look for the most popular relevant content listed – and copy the base domain name e.g. www.searchenginejournal.com.au. This will then bring up a list of every piece of content that the journal has produced and its success rate.
Some of the best content analysers and planners on the market are: Google Analytics, SEMrush, and the one we relied on for today’s article – The Buzz Sumo’s Content Analyser, as it gives a great free overview and offers advanced features for paying users.
Note: We didn’t decide “who the competition is” but let the results speak for themselves. Then, identifying who is doing great, in this case, Search Engine Journal – we took a deeper dive into that content competitor to get relevant data. At this stage, you can quickly and easily gain valuable insights into their top piece of content results, including Facebook engagement, Twitter shares, Pinterest shares, Reddit engagement, number of Links and even an Evergreen score.
Qualitative and Quantitative Content Analysis
Data is important and an excellent reflection of who is winning the content game. Still, you must also look past the numbers at other qualitative factors by investigating the following:
- What is the frequency and type of content being published?
- What word count seems to be working best? Shorter or longer articles or even White Papers?
- Who had the most shares versus the most likes? Why?
- Why does one piece of content that succeeds on one platform appear to have little traction on another?
- What patterns do top-performing content types reveal?
- Is content that is performing well still relevant?
- What subjects are they covering?
- What is their style and tone? Is it serious? Academic? Light-hearted? Does it suit your style and brand? If not, start again or reconsider your angle.
- Is content that is performing well at all relevant? For example, a job advert may have been shared many times but won’t be appropriate or applicable to you – so ignore these.
Repeat these Steps on other Top Performing Content Competitors
Basically, whilst content analysers are fantastic at providing both macro and micro statistics, you need to qualitatively assess what you are looking for to create an effective content strategy that will work.
At this point alone, and by repeating these steps for a number of top-performing competitor sites, you could quickly craft a content strategy that a consultant would charge you big money for – all without paying a cent!
Summary
Quantitative and qualitative competitor content analysis is an essential (and wise) part of your content marketing strategy. Premium versions provide a wealth of data and insight but
can also risk overwhelming you. Begin by utilising the plethora of free versions mentioned earlier, or search for a free version online. After all, whoever shows up on page one is clearly doing something right!
