The competition among those engaged in search engine optimization and digital advertising campaigns has never been greater, but there are an abundance of very powerful tools available – some of which marketers may likely already be aware of – that can help them “close the gap.”
Amazon subsidiary Alexa.com, for example, a favorite of old-school digital marketers around the ‘Net, recently added to its existing collection of already impressive competitive analytics tools, offering up new “gap analysis” features and capabilities that should give marketers an opportunity to capitalize on their competitors search strategies, improving their search performance and brand awareness along the way.
Alexa has introduced a new Competitor Backlink Checker and made several new updates to Competitor Keyword Matrix, both of which shuold help marketers uncover and close any ‘gaps’ in their keyword and backlink strategy that competitors have taken better advantage of. Let’s take a closer look.
The revamped Competitor Keyword Matrix now provides more robust insights into how competitors have strategized and performed in both organic and paid search. The ‘matrix’ now essentially allows marketers to uncover keywords they can capitalize on that their competitors are already using to drive traffic. Powerful stuff in the highly competitive search ecosystem
The data that is being made available through the feature can be used to find low-competition organic keywords, long-tail organic keywords, and keywords that show purchase intent. SEO’s and SEM’s will also be able to see how competitors stack up against one another with the system’s new Share of Voice visualization that summarizes performance across all relevant keywords.
Keywords may be the foundation of any good search optimization and advertising campaigns, but Alexa appears to know full well that links are likely what matters most to today’s marketers.
The new Competitor Backlink Checker, for example, will enable marketers to visually compare backlinks for up to ten competitive sites at once, providing an opportunity to evaluate which websites are linking to most, or all, of their competitors. In addition, a new gap filter will help SEO’s surface the sites from which they have not yet earned links. The new feature should give marketers using the system an edge as they plan their backlink strategy and build an outreach list.
Thanks to Alexa.com’s website traffic statistics, marketers will know which sites they should pursue first for content promotion, ads, partnerships, and/or backlinks. These solutions should in effect help marketers prioritize their SEO and SEM efforts.
“With these key product enhancements, we’re continuing to provide marketers with even deeper insights into how they can improve their share of voice in search,” said Andrew Ramm, President, Alexa.com. “By taking advantage of these competitor gap analysis tools – and combining them with our robust SEO research and site audit capabilities – marketers will be able to find, reach, and convert their target audience more effectively.”
Marketers are most likely familiar with Alexa.com as the company that defined website popularity through its Alexa Rank. The technology it has developed, and the data it has access to, can offer up some rather interesting insights into brands audience and the opportunities it presents them with.
Marketers can try Alexa.com free for seven days but it will cost upward of $150 per month for access to the full marketing stack.
