Outranking your competitors online can seem like a daunting task, but it doesn’t need to be. By following these simple tips and tricks, you can boost your site ranking and get more organic search traffic in no time at all.
Outranking competitors
To outrank your competitors in Google search, you need to understand who they are and what methods they use to rank in search results. This may sound daunting, but it is pretty straightforward.
Once you know what keywords your competitors are targeting and how they’re achieving their rankings, you can use that information to inform your on-page optimization. Then, if your pages are better than theirs in terms of keyword targeting and content quality (as judged by Google), you’ll outrank them.
Identifying the right keywords will allow you to rank higher for specific phrases and uncover valuable long-tail keywords (keywords with three or more words). Long-tail keywords usually have less competition, which makes them easier to rank for.
How to identify your competitors
When scouting out your competition, concentrate on the first page of the search results. It might be tempting to look at the top 10 or even the first few of the first page of results, but this is often too much; there’s not enough information on which you can act. So instead, a glance through the first few results usually tells us all we need to know.
Identifying Your Competitors
The best way to find out who your competitors depend on what kind of site you have:
Business-to-business(B2B) sites. If you have a business-to-business website, it’s likely that you already know your main competitors, as they will most likely be other businesses in your industry. If not, look for directories and lists where similar businesses will be listed together. In some cases, these may also be broken down into the size of the business, level of web presence, or various other factors.
Consumer-to-business (C2B) sites. If you have a consumer-to-business site, your competitors will be businesses in the same industry as yours. However, rather than looking for direct competitors, we recommend identifying companies that tend to rank highly for keywords related to what you’re selling.
Example: Let’s say you operate an online store specializing in children’s toys and costumes for Halloween. A competitive analysis of your market may reveal some of the top-ranking sites that look like solid competitors.
Trying to outrank popular websites can seem daunting, but Google still considers page quality and user engagement when determining search results. Site-wide footer links and over-optimized anchor text can hurt your rankings rather than help them.
How to outrank your competitors
One of the most important things you can do to outrank competitors in search is to create excellent content. Unfortunately, simply having content on your site is not enough to rank well in Google because it doesn’t know whether the article is good. This is why it looks at other quality signals such as:
Page load speed
A slow-loading website means that readers will quickly click away from your page, which harms how it ranks. You may get some website care plans to help you boost your site in no time.
Link equity
Links from reputable sites pass power and authority to you, which improves your standing with Google.
User engagement
Users who stay on your site longer signal that they’re satisfied with what they’ve found there. On the other hand, if they bounce immediately after arriving, this tells Google that their interest has been piqued but waned quickly; therefore, the search engine will assume the content didn’t satisfy them.
Website crawlability
Google must be able to find and access your site so that it can read those excellent articles you wrote.
Monitoring for this information provides an opportunity to make adjustments as needed, such as improving load speed or attracting links from other sites. In some cases, all you need is a few clicks in the Google Search Console (formerly known as Google Webmaster Tools).
If you want to know how we check these things manually, here’s what we do:
1. Check the page speed of the top 10 results for a competitive keyword
We use Ghacks’ website tool, which allows us to analyze a URL and provide a grade on a 0-100 scale. It also includes other valuable tips related to website performance.
2. Check which links from other sites are pointing to a given URL using Open Site Explorer
Open Site Explorer is a potent link research tool that allows us to see how many links a page has and where they come from and what anchor text they use. It’s free for Moz Pro members, or you can get started with the free version at MajesticSEO.com.
3. Look for social mentions on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, etc.
This will tell you how your topic is discussed online on social networks and whether there may be additional opportunities to capitalize on that interest.
4. Find old content that looks out-of-date compared to more recent articles.
If you have a blog, this will help you determine whether an article is more up-to-date than others on your site. This can be helpful in terms of keeping content fresh, but it also tells Google that your old articles are no longer being updated, which could cause them to get pushed down in the rankings.
SEO Tactics
Let’s start with some of the best SEO tactics:
SEO Tactic 1: Identify Your Target Keywords
The most critical SEO tactic you’ll want to implement is to identify your target keywords. These are the keywords people type into Google when looking for products or services similar to yours. They also form part of what we call your “seed list.” Once you’ve identified your target keywords, there are several things you can do to boost your site ranking.
SEO Tactic 2: Use Your Target Keywords in Your Page Content
The next step in outranking your competitors is to incorporate your target keywords into the content on your website. This is the content on each page throughout your site (for example, in the main text). Your target keywords should be included naturally in the title of each web page and its URL.
SEO Tactic 3: Optimize Your Site Structure
The way you structure your site pages can also help to improve search engine rankings. We mean by this having distinct categories so that when someone searches for a particular topic, they’ll find your website associated with similar ones. In addition, you can distinguish between different issues through URLs or methods such as tagging.
SEO Tactic 4: Optimize Your Content for Mobile Search
Over half of all Google searches, including a location, are done from mobile devices, so making sure your site is optimized for mobile search will help you stand out in the SERPs (search engine result pages). However, although having a responsive site design allows users to view your website on mobile devices, it doesn’t necessarily give you a mobile-friendly ranking.
Keys to a Successful SEO strategy
Here are some key SEO strategies you should keep in mind:
Monitor mentions of competitors
Take a closer look at your competitor’s online media mentions. Monitor those for mentions of competitors and take advantage of those opportunities by building them into link outreach campaigns. This is a great way to make your authority.
In addition, monitor those same places for mentions of your competitors’ brands or products to see if there’s a way you can capitalize on it with a guest posting campaign. For example, if someone else has written an article about how much they loved one of their devices, offer up something that talks about how yours may be better or more suited for them.
Build backlinks to a website
Build backlinks to get better rankings. Link building is a time-consuming process, but it’s necessary to build up an authority to push your page above other pages for specific search terms.
Guest posting can be an excellent way to go about this. It’s not the only way, though. Remember that you shouldn’t put all of your eggs in one basket because link-building campaigns are always at risk of being penalized by Google if they are seen as manipulative or unnatural. Cheating the system defeats the purpose of doing SEO work in the first place.
Improve website performance
Slow loading speed, broken pages or images, awkward navigation, and other elements decrease the user’s likelihood of returning. Google uses several measures to determine if your site is “user friendly” and can use this information in its ranking algorithm.
Include unique content on each page
Use author tags with links back to your site. Linking back to your website from other sites is a great way to build authority with Google, but you should also make sure that you’re using author tags correctly for increased click-through rates when people search for your brand online. Use the most common variation of your name as the author tag, along with links back to your personal social media profiles, so they know where else to find you online.
Social signals
Social signals improve the level of trust for your website from users. To enhance social movements, create content that people will share and discuss on their platform. For example, if you post something that people find helpful, they will be inclined to share it.
Make original content
Create original, high-quality content that is useful for your target audience. When you write articles for others, it’s important to remember that Google looks at the number of time visitors spend on your page and how often they return to read new articles or search within site. So if people are staying on your site longer than average, it typically means the content is valuable enough to deserve their attention.
Namaste UI collaborates closely with clients to develop tailored guest posting strategies that align with their unique goals and target audiences. Their commitment to delivering high-quality, niche-specific content ensures that each guest post not only meets but exceeds the expectations of both clients and the hosting platforms. Connect with us on social media for the latest updates on guest posting trends, outreach strategies, and digital marketing tips. For any types of guest posting services, contact us on info[at]namasteui.com.