Competitive AnalysisA different approach

Dave Sottimano

Reactive VS Proactive

ReactiveWhen:Understand the landscape (Rank checking, site audits, link analysis)

Understand what works. (Algorithm changes, keyword targeting, traffic data)

It becomes dangerous when:Fuelled by emotional decisions based on panic and fear

There’s a time and place for reactive

Expose dev/test/staging servers

Leak information on social media

What do I want to know about the leaders?

What they’re doing now?

Not cool, you’re too late.

You know what’s really cool?

Knowing thethe Future.

Being Proactive When:

Getting insider informationStaying ahead of the curve - “skating to where the puck is”Beating the competitor NOT copying.

It becomes dangerous when:

You start using illegal tactics to uncover information

Getting insider informationSet up a couple of niche sites (satellite

sites). Optimize site for:

Hi Will, I am writing on behalf of a large English kitchen retailer and would like to enquire about text link advertising on your site. Please will you provide the options and pricing you offer? I look forward to your response Kind regards,

Turned into “can I buy a link”

There’s an unbeatable, unpredictable competitor

gaining ground.

Source: Aaron Wall http://www.seobook.com/google-mmo

Staying ahead of the curve. Not just SEO anymore.

You know what’s coming, what are you doing about it?

Can you see yourself in this picture?

Putting it into practiceYou know Schema.org has been designed to assist search engines, mark it up!

You know that mobile devices are taking a bigger piece of the pie, where’s your mobile version?

You know writing quality content will always get you through tough algo updates

You know that creating a Chrome Experiment will get you a link from Google

Chrome Experiments

http://www.chromeexperiments.com/detail/robots-are-people-too/?f=

There is no tool to beat your competitors, it’s just a

change of mindset

Here’s a tool anyways. http://dis.tl/a4u-2011

What you can expect to find.

1

2

3

Set up a satellite site trapDon’t make silly mistakes and expose yourself!

Try something new & “cool”Stay ahead of the curve, don’t worry about failingJust keep trying

Your 2 simple actions

Thank you! Twitter:

@dsottimano

Here’s the tool again: http://dis.tl/a4u-2011

Send hate mail here: David.Sottimano@distilled.net