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How do I gauge competition?

by danstelter
3 replies
  • SEO
    • |
There's a ton of methods. How do I know what the competition level is? The number of sites returned in a Google search can be, but what if I'm in a popular niche and it's actually really easy to rank higher than the rest of the competition?

I guess what I want to figure out is how soon can I rank highly for certain keywords, and how long will it take to rank for more competitive keywords? I'd love to hear your ideas!
#competition #gauge
  • Profile picture of the author RayW
    Two things:

    - # of search results with quotation marks around the keyword (anything below 30,000 is low competition)

    - the number of backlinks to the top 10 pages (if there are sites with mediocre on-page seo and less than 100 backlinks on the first page, you can probably rank for it easily)
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    • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
      Originally Posted by Ray Wynn View Post

      Two things:

      - # of search results with quotation marks around the keyword (anything below 30,000 is low competition)

      - the number of backlinks to the top 10 pages (if there are sites with mediocre on-page seo and less than 100 backlinks on the first page, you can probably rank for it easily)
      I would ignore both of these things when analyzing comptetition.

      The 10 sites on the first page are your competition. You can search in quotes and fine a million pages where page one is pretty easy to beat, and you can find keywords with 10,000 pages where the top 10 are extremely tough. Never use this as a way to determine competition. Ever.

      Number of backlinks is also misleading. A site could have less than 100 backlinks, but they could be damn good backlinks. A site could also have 5000 trashy backlinks that you could probably beat with a small quantity of good backlinks.
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  • Profile picture of the author DPM70
    danstelter - a lot of this is about experience. Have at it - see how you do. If it doesn't work out first time - try, try again.

    I'll always do a quick test of the following:
    search for your keywords
    intitle:"keyword"
    inurl:"keyword"
    inanchor:"keyword"

    If those are showing in the low hundreds - I'd have a go (heck, I'd go for it in the low or higher thousands when you get some experience). Write unique content based on what you think the searcher would like to find. Brainstorm questions about your niche/keywords - how would you search for such info? Write your posts in exact answer to those questions. Pose the question in your titles. "How can I find x,y,z", "what's the cheapest x,y,z" etc.
    Backlink your posts with the best backlinks you can find or afford. Avoid spammy blasts of '1000 whatever links' for $7.
    Ask the questions that your customers are asking in your posts and then answer them well. Talk in the first person singular if necessary.
    check the top 10 sites' on-page and backlinks in one quick hit with a tool like Market Samurai.
    Start off easy, low competition, move on up as you get more experience.
    Take the 30 day challenge if you've never done (I think it's called just "The Challenge" now).
    Don't expect to make a million this year. Take baby steps at first - make your first dollar - make your ten dollars - you'll start to see what works for you.
    Keep at it and it will come eventually. It's a tough playing field but if you enjoy a challenge then this will be right up your street.
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    I don't build in order to have clients. I have clients in order to build. - Ayn Rand
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