Whether your website is providing entertainment or information, selling a product or a service, you can fully expect to have competition. Who are these competitors though? And what makes their online presence so strong? More importantly, which ones are constantly raising the marketing bar?

If you’re serious about the success of your online business, you should find out as much as you can about your industry and the top business within that industry. This is called Competitive Research and is anything from examining search results for competitor’s pages and backlinks, to researching possible keywords that you’ll use in your web copy. Luckily there are many free tools and resources available that can help you collect the information you need.

Here are just a few.

Identifying the Competition

You can’t know what you’re up against until you properly identify your direct competition. Depending on your industry, this may be as easy as plugging your best search term into Google (assuming you’ve at least done some basic keyword research).

Search Engines – They not only provide valuable information about your competition, but search engines such as Google, Yahoo & Bing also help you determine who your competitors are. In many cases, your direct competitors are the sites that appear in the top 10 listing for the terms you’re aiming to rank for.

Directories – Authority directories, such as BOTW and DMOZ, can also help you identify your competitors. These directories are often human-edited and therefore careful attention is paid to which sites are chosen for inclusion. Simply locate the most suitable category for your site and then take note of the sites that are already listed there.

Get Technical – If you’re really interested in knowing precisely whom your competitor is, you can also use tools such as DNSStuff and DomainTools. For example, you might find out the actual name of your competitor by viewing the domain registrar information, which is particularly handy if you plan to contact them directly. Having their name is also useful for finding their social media or forum profiles (which can give you a clue into their marketing efforts and knowledge level).

Evaluating the Competition

After you’ve identified your competition, you’ll need to rate them according to how strong they are so you can determine the steps you’ll need to take in order to compete with them. Use some of the following tools will help give you an idea of why your rival is doing so well and what kinds of payoffs they’re reaping as a result.

Competitive Data – Have you ever wondered how much traffic a certain site was receiving? Although it’s not possible to find out exactly, you can use tools such as Alexa and Compete to find general info about traffic, such as visitor estimates, which keywords may be bringing traffic to your competitors’ site and even which other sites might be sending traffic to your competitor.

Ranking and Page Strength – How did your adversaries get such good rankings? The Firefox addon; SEOQuake, can help you answer this questions and more by showing you the age of a domain, how many links it has (from which types of sites) and even which popular directories it may be listed in. With Trifecta you can evaluate things such as an individual page or an entire domain’s strength or the reach of a brand (i.e. it’s ability to draw traffic). The only downfall of this tool is that, as a non-paying member, you can only generate 1 report per day.

Note: SEOQuake comes with a sort of a warning not to overuse it and why. Make sure to read it.

Detailed Backlink Analysis – Since backlinks are a main part of online competition, I recommend that you pay special attention to just how many backlinks your top competitors have. Conducting a detailed analysis will not only give you insight into how many links you’ll need to compete, but it also allows you to locate link opportunities for your own site. Use the Yahoo Site Explorer and the “linkdomain” command (i.e. linkdomain:competitorsite.com) and take note of not only the amount of their links, but also the type of sites their links are coming from. Don’t forget to use tools such as LinkVendor to check the number of social bookmarks and their backlink anchor text too.

Monitoring the Competition

Now that you know who your main competition is and you have an idea of what they’re doing right, you can do things such as monitor mentions of their brand or domain name, keep up to date on any press releases they’re doing or media attention they’re getting or even find out certain information about how much they might be spending on ads. Simply set up some Google Alerts (for their domain or brand name) and with regular use of tools such as SpyFu and WhosTalkin you’ll be able to keep up to date on practically any mentions regarding your competitor.

Although I’m definitely not suggesting that you outright stalk your competitors, I am suggesting that you identify who they are though, and strive to improve upon whatever they do, marketing wise. Doing so can give you the edge you need to compete, and maybe even beat, the competition.

Search Engine Marketing is a highly effective S.C.A.M. and, if you’re a website owner, I highly recommend that you get in on it. Before you put on your criminal hat though, let me explain what I mean by S.C.A.M.

What Is SEM?

Search Engine Marketing is defined as marketing a website online by using various techniques or tactics that make it more visible or attractive to search engines. Search Engine Marketing strategies can include (but are not limited to) search engine optimization (SEO) and the use of Pay Per Click (PPC) ads.

Since, SEO involves using various strategies in the development of a website to enhance its organic search listing and PPC ads are sponsored listings, where the advertiser pays the search engine each time the ad is clicked on, you could therefore say that SEM is a Search Created Advertising Medium (S.C.A.M).

Three good reasons to get in on the S.C.A.M.

If you’ve got a website and it’s not getting any traffic then it’s time to get serious about marketing it. By not doing so, here’s what you’re missing out on:

Traffic – Whether you started a website to showcase your dazzling kneesocks or your mad crazy obsession for BBQ, without traffic (i.e. visitors) it’s all pointless. Traffic, at the very least, will provide you with; visitors who’ll read your content and share it with others and people who may be interested in buying your products or services. Search engine traffic is perfect because you can tailor certain aspects of your website in order to capture the most targeted traffic imaginable.

Attention – The very reason you started your website in the first place. A great SEM campaign can attract a lot of attention and get people talking about your website – which is just what you want. People talking about and sharing your website’s resources will result in backlinks, which are a very important aspect in search engine marketing. The more websites that link to yours will show the search engines how popular your site is and also keep the search engines crawling your content regularly.

Directly Measurable Results – Unlike many standard advertising methods, search engine marketing provides measurable results. Using website analytics, you can keep track of how well your keywords are converting, how well your ads are performing and basically how your visitors are reacting to your website. This information is invaluable for shaping a website that speaks to visitors and keeps them coming back again and again.

How to get in on the S.C.A.M.

Although, you can’t become a SEM expert over night, there are some things you can immediately do in order to facilitate your own success.

Optimize your website – SEO is too often overlooked because of the work involved in making a site search engine friendly. If you’re hoping to gain significant search engine traffic though, SEO is a necessity. At the very least, do the keyword research and find out what people are searching for when it comes to your offerings. Use some of those keywords in your page titles and Meta descriptions. Once you see the results this provides, my guess is you’ll be inspired to learn about it and implement even more SEO techniques.

Create valuable content – Be an authority on your subject and produce content daily, giving visitors a reason to come back tomorrow and the next day. Search engines will also appreciate the fact that every time they visit your website, there is fresh new content awaiting them. Your keywords will come in handy for deciding what to write about as well. For example, if you eventually want to rank for the highly searched for phrase “knitting needles”, you could plan on publishing a series of varied posts or articles based on the term. Remember to make your content available via RSS feeds and newsletters too.

Promote via Social Media – Get involved in a few social media communities. Not just for the purpose of promoting your website though. Find people who are likeminded and connect with them. From there you can grow a network of people who are willing to lend you a hand when you’re trying to launch a new service or even if you’ve just published a new article or post you want to promote. People in social media communities are extremely knowledgeable but somewhat untrusting when it comes to spammers and phishers. By taking from the community as well as generously giving back, you’ll most likely end up forming lasting relationships, which can be extremely helpful along the way.

Remember that almost any website can be marketed and monetized – that is, it can make money. Often times though, you’ll need to embrace the S.C.A.M. to make it happen.

Being a professional search engine optimization consultant, answering the same questions about SEO is something I frequently do. Often times, clients are anxious to get started because they know profits can be boosted yet they only have a vague idea of what SEO is and what it truly means to optimize a website for organic search.

I find that people, who are curious about SEO, generally ask questions so they can determine a) what type of a commitment a SEO campaign will involve and b) how much time and effort will be required on their part. Understandably so, they often have many questions about the whole process and more importantly, the results they can expect to enjoy.

Here are the questions that seem to be reoccurring among potential clients who contact me, and my general responses to said questions:

1. What’s involved in the SEO process?

This is the number one question I get and believe it or not, their reaction to my response actually helps ME determine, right then and there, the type of client this person will be. If they’re interested in a full campaign, I believe it’s important to explain EARLY on that depending on the industry they’re competing in, embarking on a SEO campaign will often require making MANY (sometimes uncomfortable) changes to a website including (but not limited to); restructuring the navigation, revamping page URLs, implementing 301 redirects, creating unique page titles and meta data for every important page on their site to name a few.

If they’re still on board after that I usually explain that along with making technical changes, there will often need to be fresh content produced daily and daily promotion via social media sites and link building. This lets them know that there will be SOME type of commitment involved on their part after you finish the campaign.

If they’re still on board at this point then you know you’ve got a potential client who a) recognizes there’s hard work involved and b) is willing to make the necessary changes to facilitate the results (some are willing to make drastic changes whereas others will fight tooth and nail to keep things the same).

I would then go on to explain how I personally approach a campaign (it’s different for everyone), which generally entails thorough analytics research, keyword research, content creation and link building.

2. Are META tags important?

Yes and no. There are many people who will tell you that META data is no longer important when it comes to ranking in the search engines. Too me though, even if META data can no longer help you RANK, there is still benefit to be had by using it. Tags such as “nofollow” or “noodp” can be useful for specific tasks, but when optimizing pages for organic search, the META tags I focus on are simply the title tags and the description tags.

The title attribute:

Many websites make the mistake of using their domain or site name as the sole text within their page titles. By doing this they are failing to understand that their page titles are the most valuable way to tell both visitors and search engines what their page is about. For this reason, it’s important to create unique and descriptive page titles for EACH page on your website, using keywords that people would search for to find your services.

The description attribute:

By using the META description tag you’re not only giving the search engines a clearer description of your content, but you’re also enticing searchers to click on your listing because what you write in that tag gets used in the SERPs… sometimes word-for-word. The META description tag is therefore and excellent place to use your keywords to describe your company and services.

The keywords attribute (and why I don’t use it):

As for the META keyword tag, I don’t use it because it hasn’t provided value since 1997 and I believe the only purpose it now serves is to let your competitors in on which terms you’re targeting. Back in the early days, search engines relied on the META keywords to tell them what the sites content was about. Unfortunately, people began to abuse the system and the majority of search engines have since discounted the tag. My personal advice is to ignore the keyword attribute and let your competitors do their OWN keyword research.

3. How long before I see results?

Depending on the campaign goals and objectives, results can be almost immediate. For example, a site which has unknowingly blocked the search engines from accessing their website via their robots.txt file, can experience positive results as soon as the mistake has been found and fixed and the search engines have been enticed to come back and re-crawl the content. For rankings, once a site has been optimized and link building has been initiated, results can be seen anywhere from a couple of hours to a couple of weeks. The competitiveness of the terms matters a lot though. Obviously it’s easier/faster to rank for “Seattle hypnosis” than it is to rank for just “hypnosis”.

4. What happens after you’re finished working on my website (i.e. will the results last forever)?

Again, this depends on the goals of the campaign and the competitiveness of the industry. If the campaign goal was to figure out WHY Google won’t index the site, and the cause was determined to be the fault of a mis-used robot.txt file, then as long as the robot.txt file is formatted correctly, the results will last forever. If, on the other hand, the campaign goal was to rank #1 for a very competitive term, then chances are there will need to be some continual work in order to STAY #1 after the initial rank is achieved.

I think a good campaign will focus on the long-term success as well as the short-term though. That is, when systems are initially implemented (to get backlinks for example), consideration should be taken as to whether the technique will still be viable after the campaign is over. As a professional link builder, the link building system I implement for you today, should still be providing value (i.e. backlinks to your site) in the future.

5. How much does SEO cost?

This is different from one SEO to another. A big agency or firm may charge substantially more than a small consultant, but a small consultant may take longer to perform the work due to less employees. You’ll find that the big agencies are more likely to charge a flat rate for the entire campaign which could run anywhere from $5,000 all the way to $100,000+, whereas the small consultant will generally charge by the hour at a rate of approx $40.00 to $200.00+. If you’re a business owner who’s new to SEO and not sure of the results it can produce, my advice is to start out with a few hours of work from a smaller consultant before you decide to shell out the big bucks with the big corporations.

If you’re considering the services of an SEO professional I think these are perfectly good questions to start out by asking. No matter what though, remember to keep your focus on providing a website which is easy to access by both search engines and searchers alike with content that provides maximum value.

I definitely don’t envy newcomers in today’s SEO arena. Back in the day, there were only a handful of “authorities” on the subject and they were all teaching identical techniques and tactics because it was what worked. Today, the rules have changed and there is now a myriad of blogs, sites, forums, feeds, articles, ebooks and “experts” peddling SEO advice. And with so much information to now weed through, I’m guessing that the problem for newbies has shifted from finding things to read and learn, to deciphering which advice to absorb and which to tune out.

Since Search Engine Optimization can be an overwhelming topic at best, I’ve gathered some – harder to find – tutorials, guides, articles and tools, which I consider to be reputable. There’s enough information here to wet a newbies whistle, but hopefully not so much as to overwhelm and confuse. I’m not saying that after using them all, you’ll be a SEO master (you’ll never master SEO) but I believe they’re an excellent place for an aspiring SEO to at least get their feet wet before they decide to dive in. It may even be useful to the SEO veteran who forgot some of the basics along the way (we’re all guilty of that sometimes).

1. SEO Glossary

The SEO industry uses terms and acronyms, which the beginner will most likely not be familiar with. If you’re new to the industry and you plan on reading a lot of content in order to learn some SEO skills, it is advisable to begin with a glossary. On the other hand if you already know what GYM SERPs are and you’re on a first name basis with 301s or Spiders, then you should probably just skip this and go optimize something (while I SMWC for even suggesting that you read it).

2. Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide

Published by Google in Nov 2008, this handy .pdf is useful for site owners who are new to the topic of SEO and wish to improve their sites’ interaction with search engines. Following the best practices outlined within will make it easier for search engines to both crawl and index your content. It will also give you a better understanding as to what the GOOG is looking for when it comes to your website. Don’t expect any spilled secrets though.

3. Beginners Guide to Search Engine Optimization

SEOmoz is one of the most respected online authorities for aspiring and beginner SEOs. Although their guide hasn’t been updated since 2006 it’s still full of great information on the basics of SEO and how to implement it. In fact, it provides a complete overview of most of the processes, techniques and strategies used by many search engine optimization specialists. You can also choose from 4 different formats to view the guide in. Use all 4 for maximum benefit (okay no, not really).

4. SEO Mini-book Tutorial

A comprehensive SEO “mini” book that covers almost everything related to SEO including; what SEO is, promoting your site to increase traffic, why links are important and everything in between. Although it’s referred to as a “mini”, I’ve seen full-fledged books that have less information than this, so I believe it’s definitely worth a read. Not that size matters or anything.

5. SEO Basics Video Tutorials

Since a person can only read so much SEO information (without their heads exploding), I’m glad there are some good alternatives to reading available. Here you can watch videos and learn the ins and outs of title tags, how to check a sites’ backlinks and basic Google operators. If you prefer the “learn by video” approach, you can also search for “SEO” on places such as Youtube.com and IMBroadcast.com.

Bonus: The video narrators voice resembles the little Geico gecko.

6. A Beginners SEO Toolbox

Before you do any SEO work yourself, learn about some basic tools that were invented to make your life easier. This article will tell you why no serious SEO should go without Firefox and which SEO related plug-ins to install with it. If you have no idea why you should look into using a Greasemonkey then this article is definitely for you.

7. Starting the SEO Process

A collaboration of information put together from two different forum threads by someone who was new to SEO. Learn about SEO basics, strategies, considerations, execution and starting out on the right path. Be sure and read the entire thread, as there are some insightful comments from SEO veterans within.

8. SEO 101 Radio Show

Tune in daily to the SEO 101 show on WebMasterRadio and learn Search Engine Optimization from square one. They aim to dish out helpful information for the beginners without overwhelming them with geek speak. Listeners can call in (or tweet) their questions and there are always special guests talking about such topics as keyword selection, SEO techniques and link building as well as social media and search engine marketing which are natural progressions after SEO.

9. Custom SEO Search Engine

If none of the above works for you or if you’ve plowed through it all and you’re thirsting for more, you could always try searching for your own resources. Ugh, not in the conventional way though. Here’s a custom search engine that searches a variety of only the top blogs and sites for search engine optimization on Google today. Since their goal is to help people find the best sources of search engine optimization information and resources, you’re bound to find something to your liking.

10. ???

I came across hundreds of resources while researching this article and I found it difficult to choose one last site/tool/guide to add to the list. I’m therefore leaving this one up to you guys.

What beginner SEO resource would you add to the list?

Before any marketing campaign can get off the ground, there is some essential information that needs to be looked at. This includes target audience information, recent statistics and reports, and most importantly, keyword research – that is; what words or phrases is my target audience using to find my services/products/content?

Unfortunately, many site owners fail to understand the importance of conducting the research and, in turn, they fail to reach their full organic traffic potential. In reality, keyword research is possibly THE most important aspect of any online venture, especially where the outcome involves the intention of gaining significant natural search traffic.

Keyword research will generally uncover information that can be used to:

- help customers find you online
- better define your business to users
- create targeted anchor text
- create more descriptive page titles and Meta descriptions
- create compelling titles for blog posts
- find targeted topics to write about
- create/word your website navigation or internal linking structure
- create online marketing/promotional materials

If you’re selling anything online, be it a product, content or whatever, chances are there are more than just a few phrases your potential customers will use to try and find you. And since the search engines aren’t exactly openly sharing that info (with site owners at least), conducting keyword research is the only way to investigate what those phrases might be.

The Keyword is only as Good As the Data is Reliable

As with any project, ensuring you’re using the right tools for the job will make your mission easier. There are both free and paid tools available – some being more reliable than the others. Be wary of tools with “to good to be true” numbers. Wordtracker.com, KeywordDiscovery.com and the Google Adwords Keyword tool are all safe bets. Try using a combination of them all to get an average of search frequency for terms across the board.

Don’t confine yourself to using strictly keyword research tools though. Use “word” tools such as the dictionary, thesaurus or synonyms.com. Use “idea” tools such as kwmap.net and seedkeywords.com. There are also tools such as Google Insights and Google Sets. Even holding a small focus group among your friends and family to generate new ideas and different thought patterns can be helpful.

Remember to utilize tools you already have though. For example, if you have an existing website, it also helps to keep a record of what gets typed into your in-site search feature. Knowing the #1 term people search for once they get to your site is extremely valuable information for giving your users exactly what they’re looking for.

Deciding Which Terms to Target

After you’ve done the research and before you decide to target a certain keyword or phrase, carefully consider each of the following.

Relevancy – is the term relevant to my products/services/content?

Driving the wrong type of traffic to your site will do little more than cause your bounce rate to skyrocket. You’ll want to make sure that the keywords you’re targeting will actually provide traffic that is of value to you and more importantly, that you’re able to provide value to the people searching for them.

Search Frequency – is there enough search traffic to warrant targeting the term?

Once you’ve decided that the keyword is relevant, you’ll need to decide if it’s worth targeting based on how much traffic you can expect to receive. Try not to get too hung up on the amount of potential traffic though. In other words, don’t just pick the 5 top searched for terms and strictly target those. Instead, aim for a good mix of all search traffic big and small. Since it takes more time to rank for the competitive (i.e. highly search for) terms, plan to target those for the long-term while focusing on the less competitive ones for the short-term.

Competition – is the competition realistic? How hard will it be to rank for the term?

Generally speaking, the higher the search frequency the more competitive the term will be and the harder it will be to rank for. Typically if a search already returns more than one million results, you’ve clearly got your work cut out for you. Don’t necessarily shy away from the terms that have high competition though because now that you’ve identified those high traffic terms, you can use the opportunity to examine the sites that DO rank for them while you formulate a game plan.

Factors to Consider

Although, some keyword research campaigns will be more straightforward than others, there are some factors you should be aware of and carefully consider when doing your research. For example, remember to also examine plural vs. singular and slang forms of your chosen terms. Also look for word variations. A website that sells or promotes “running shoes” may not realize that “sneakers” also has a high search frequency. Or a site that sells taillights may be missing out on major traffic because they failed to also target “tail lights” (variation) or “tail light” (singular).

It’s also important to remove any bias you have and keep a very open mind by not getting stuck or hung up on one particular word or phrase. After all, the purpose of conducting the research in the first place isn’t to validate what you think you already know, it’s to uncover new avenues that you may have never even thought of.

“Never in the last 100 years of business has there been such an even playing field for moms and pops and corporations as there is on the Internet right now. Knowledge can outdo cash – for a little while longer. Get educated and get in the game while you still can.” – Rae Hoffman, Sugarrae.com

When it comes to marketing, mom and pop businesses are often at a disadvantage on the web due to their limited budgets and lack of knowledge. In fact, bigger companies with deeper pockets can easily crush the little guy by investing in slick online marketing campaigns carried out by professionals. This is because big brands usually have one important thing that mom and pops do not; Capital.

Without enough capital, not only are mom and pops faced with the challenge of how to compete with the larger companies but they must also figure out how to do it while spending as little as possible. This is not an easy task when trying to outshine companies that have seemingly unlimited budgets.

In today’s Internet though, small businesses have the opportunity to get in the game by capitalizing on what sets them apart from their larger, richer counterparts. Instead of letting big challenges stand in their way, mom and pops can turn challenges into golden opportunities.

Here’s why.

1. Mom and pops have more time to personally devote to their own marketing strategies.

If you want to hire a professional web marketer who will eat, live and breath your website, then be prepared to pay a small fortune for it. As a micro business owner, you have an advantage in that you have the time to (learn to) be that marketer, especially if your business is brand new.

Spend time each day reading about SEO and different marketing tactics but (most importantly) put them into action and keep only what works. Examine your competition to determine what they’re doing and improve on it. Make friends with other site owners via forums and blogs and ask them questions about what methods have worked/not worked for them. Look for free ways to learn such as, webinars, tutorials and SEM videos on sites such as imbroadcast.com and youtube. Join some social media networks (be careful though – they can be timewasters!) and connect with people who are in your boat as well as people who have been in your boat and are now successful at what they do. Until your business grows, you have ample time… use it by learning some marketing expertise and constantly looking for opportunities to gain more expose.

2. Mom and pops have the ability to create REAL relationships within their market.

With the explosion of social media as a marketing tool, it’s easy for a corporation to have a blog or even a twitter account. But how many companies will take the time/effort to actually connect with their audience on a personal level? As a small business owner you have the perfect opportunity to get to know the market you’re serving via social media communities. Connecting to your audience on a personal level not only gives you a marked advantage where market research is concerned (i.e. straight from the horse’s mouth) but it also makes your company more approachable to it’s potential customers. What do they like/not like? What kind of content are they interested in? What do they really want? Find out what they like/want/need and then give it to them. Just remember to be open, available and most importantly genuine.

3. Mom and pops know their product/service better than any outside marketer ever could.

In the beginning, with my automotive related e-commerce store, I sought out the services of a professional marketer. He recommended all sorts of things including which keywords I should target, how my navigation should be done/worded and what type of content I should be using. I quickly realized though, that this person didn’t know very much about my industry or my products and was trying to apply a “one size fits all” marketing campaign. For example, he didn’t realize that people most often searched for automotive parts by vehicle make, model and year and was recommending that I group my products by manufacturer. This made no sense to me as my experience had taught me that most consumers didn’t give a hoot about the manufacturer of the aftermarket products they were buying. It was then that I realized – no one could ever know my products or industry better than I do.

As a mom and pop operation, you are the expert when it comes to your products or services. You are familiar with the many industry terms, manufacturers, associations etc. Who then is better equipped to determine proper keywords? Category structure? Proper product naming and descriptions?

Always do the research, but as an industry insider, don’t forget to apply what you already know.

4. Smaller local terms are easier to compete for and are often more beneficial to the mom and pop then to the large corporation or brand.

Long tail or even local search terms are sometimes over looked by larger companies who instead focus on the big generic high traffic terms. There is sometimes greater benefit to ranking for the more obscure or less searched for terms though, as they can target users who may be closer to making a purchase decision. Granted, the higher traffic terms will garner your business more exposure (i.e. ranking for just “socks” as opposed to “long white tube socks medium”) but scooping the smaller terms may generate some capital while helping to get your foot in the door.

5. Corporations are held to stricter standards than mom and pops.

Take blogging for example. A mom and pop operation can surely blog about matters of business in relation to running their companies however they are also afforded more freedom to blog on a more personal level about things that naturally make them human (as opposed to corporations who blog just to seem more human). Since blogging is an excellent marketing strategy for any business why not take the time to personalize the experience for your users? Too much professionalism turns readers off. As a small business owner, you can loosen up a bit and have more fun with your blog than the stuffy corporate types can.

At the very least, if you’ve tried to beat em’ but are thinking you might as well join em’, do the research before you blindly hire a marketing company. There are some excellent and very reputable ones out there however there are always two sides to every coin and many a small business owner has been taken for their precious money by a smooth talking marketer.

However you decide to tackle your small business challenges, genuine marketing for long-term success while being actively involved in the process, is always best practice.