Story Based Question
You’re managing SEO for a local gym called “FitLife Gym” in a competitive city. Lately, you’ve noticed an uptick in new gyms opening nearby, and you’re feeling the pressure to stay ahead. You know that local SEO is key to getting more customers, but you’re not entirely sure where you stand compared to your competitors. You start thinking, “What are they doing differently? How can I make sure that when someone searches for a gym near me, they find FitLife Gym instead of the competition?”
To answer these questions, you decide to perform a competitor analysis for local SEO. But how do you start, and what should you focus on to outshine your competitors?
Exact Answer
To perform a competitor analysis for local SEO, follow these steps:
- Identify Local Competitors: Find businesses that target the same audience in your area.
- Analyze Google My Business (GMB) Profiles: Check their GMB listings for accuracy, reviews, and photos.
- Examine On-Page SEO: Look at their titles, meta descriptions, headings, and use of local keywords on their website.
- Study Backlinks: Use tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush to analyze their backlinks and find opportunities to earn similar ones.
- Review Content: Check the quality and relevance of the content on their site, focusing on local content and keywords.
- Monitor Reviews and Ratings: Take note of their online reviews and ratings on Google, Yelp, and other platforms.
Explanation
Competitor analysis is crucial for local SEO because it helps you understand what your competitors are doing well and where you can improve. By identifying their strengths and weaknesses, you can uncover opportunities to optimize your business’s online presence. Here’s how you can dive deeper into each part of the analysis:
1. Identify Local Competitors
Start by searching for keywords related to your business, like “gym near me” or “best gym in [Your City].” Look at the businesses that show up in the top results and map out your local competitors. These are the businesses you need to compare yourself against. Pay attention to their location, services, and target audience to see if they overlap with your gym’s offerings.
2. Analyze Google My Business (GMB) Profiles
Your competitors’ GMB profiles are one of the first things customers see in local search results. Check their business name, address, phone number, hours of operation, and services to ensure consistency. A well-maintained GMB profile can significantly impact your local rankings. Look at their reviews—see what customers are saying, and note how frequently they respond to reviews. The more reviews and interactions a business has, the better its local SEO ranking.
3. Examine On-Page SEO
Check how your competitors are optimizing their websites. Visit their homepage, service pages, and blog posts to see if they are using local keywords effectively. For example, do they include city names, neighborhoods, or landmarks in their page titles, headings, and meta descriptions? Look at their content structure and how they organize their pages. Are they making it easy for local customers to find what they need?
4. Study Backlinks
Backlinks play a significant role in SEO. Use tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Moz to check which sites are linking to your competitors. This can help you identify high-quality websites or local organizations that you might be able to connect with for backlinks. For example, local blogs, news outlets, or chambers of commerce could be great sources of backlinks that can boost your local SEO.
5. Review Content
Look at the type of content your competitors are publishing. Do they have blogs or articles about local topics? Do they mention local events, landmarks, or community happenings? Creating local content that connects with your audience can help you rank better for local searches. It also makes your website more relevant to people searching for things in your area.
6. Monitor Reviews and Ratings
Reviews have a huge impact on local SEO. Check your competitors’ reviews across multiple platforms, including Google, Yelp, and Facebook. How many reviews do they have? What is their average rating? Are they getting positive feedback on their services, or are there areas where they might be falling short? Responding to reviews, both positive and negative, can improve your own reputation and signal to search engines that you’re an active and engaged business.
Example
Let’s continue with the example of your gym, “FitLife Gym.” You’re concerned about the new gyms opening in your area, so you want to analyze them to stay ahead. Here’s how you might approach the competitor analysis:
- Identify Local Competitors: You search for “gym near me” and notice three local competitors: “Active Fit Gym,” “Power House Gym,” and “City Fitness.” All three show up in local search results.
- Analyze Google My Business (GMB) Profiles: You check each competitor’s GMB profile. “Active Fit Gym” has 150 reviews, with a 4.5-star rating. “Power House Gym” only has 30 reviews, but they respond to each one. “City Fitness” has 200 reviews but hasn’t responded to any. You take note of how your own GMB profile compares, focusing on increasing your review count and responsiveness.
- Examine On-Page SEO: You visit the websites of these gyms. “Active Fit Gym” uses the keyword “best gym in [Your City]” in their homepage title and has a separate page dedicated to local events and partnerships with local businesses. “Power House Gym” mentions the neighborhood they’re located in on their contact page. “City Fitness” seems to lack location-specific keywords. You decide to add more local keywords to your site and create a page about fitness events in your area.
- Study Backlinks: Using Ahrefs, you see that “Active Fit Gym” has backlinks from local health blogs and city directories. “Power House Gym” has backlinks from local sports clubs. You reach out to these same local sources for potential backlink opportunities.
- Review Content: You notice that “Active Fit Gym” has several blog posts about outdoor fitness activities in your city, while “City Fitness” doesn’t seem to publish any content. You decide to start writing content about local outdoor workouts and fitness tips for the area.
- Monitor Reviews and Ratings: After reading through their reviews, you see that “Active Fit Gym” gets frequent praise for its equipment, while “Power House Gym” is known for its friendly staff. You focus on highlighting the unique aspects of your gym, like personal training programs, and encourage your members to leave positive reviews.
By systematically analyzing your competitors in this way, you can identify areas where you can improve, discover new local opportunities, and ensure that “FitLife Gym” stays competitive in the local SEO race.
Performing a local SEO competitor analysis helps you understand what your competitors are doing right and where you can outperform them. By focusing on local keywords, GMB profiles, content, backlinks, and reviews, you can position your business to capture more local customers and rank higher in search results.