When you operate in a niche market, there are loads of opportunities to stand out, but there are also lots of challenges that you have to overcome. Smaller, niche markets can offer smaller growth potential and it can also be harder to maintain this growth long-term.
Not only that, but niche markets can be tougher to penetrate and although there may be less competition, if this competition is already well-established, you’re having to fight harder for a smaller piece of the pie.
So, the more you know about the competition, the more likely you are to succeed. A competitor analysis can give your business an edge and open up new opportunities that you might not have known about.
In the guide below, we’ll discuss how to do just that.
1. Determine who your online competitors are
First and foremost, you need to gather information such as customer reviews, feedback and interesting data to help you determine who your online competitors actually are and from their you can learn about their target audience and if there are any untapped markets within your niche.
A mistake a lot of businesses make is assuming that their local or national competitors will automatically be their main online competitors which isn’t always the case.
You should let the data inform you about who your real online competitors are. To do this you need to establish the keywords and topics you want to rank for. Then study the backlink profile, content topics, site structure, and technical performance of the websites that are ranking well for your target keywords.
3. Define your target audience (and look for untapped markets)
You should also look at testimonials or feedback to see who is engaging with their brand and therefore, who you should be targeting.
Having a better understanding of your target audience and what they like can help you craft a detailed marketing, sales and branding strategy.
This, in turn, will help you to be more targeted in your products, services and campaigns. This can increase your chances of offering the best possible customer experience and making a sale.
2. Perform a backlink analysis
A backlink analysis examines all the websites linking to your competitor, assessing their quality, relevance, and influence on your search rankings. You can collect this data using tools like Ahrefs and SEMrush, which list their inbound links and their sources. Once you have this information you can then review each backlink based on their relevance, domain authority, anchor text, organic traffic etc. This will determine their overall strength and give you an idea of how far apart their website is from your own and what kind of backlinks you need to acquire to bridge that gap.
3. Exploit competitor weaknesses
Reading your competitor’s customer reviews an tell you a lot about what they’re doing right and possibly what they’re doing wrong as well.
The feedback they receive can be used to improve your offering. By identifying areas where your competitors are falling short you can create a list of ways to outperform them.
This is a particularly useful tactic if you have a large competitor who is dominating your niche but is dropping the ball in specific areas. That’s your opportunity to hone in on those areas and make them strengths for your business and a viable alternative for your target customers.
Perhaps their shipping is too slow, their website is glitchy or perhaps their customer support is less than helpful. Whatever the case may be, you can use this information to make sure you’re addressing these pain points to offer better services to your customers.
4. Shape your goods and services
Based on the information you gather about your competitors, you can make some big decisions about your business. Having looked at what they are doing, you might decide to adjust your product to bridge gaps in with current goods or services in your niche.
Alternatively, you might change your pricing model and promotion strategies so that you either match or surpass your key competitors. If you sell physical products, this might also shape what delivery options you offer to customers.
5. Look for gaps in your content
A content gap analysis identifies topics and keywords your competitors are ranking for that you aren’t.
Start by making a list of your main online competitors and identify their top performing pages. To determine what makes it a top performing page, look at metrics like the organic traffic coming to it and the number of keywords it’s ranking for.
Once you have identified the best performing content you can then compare these pages and posts against your own content to see what’s missing or underdeveloped on your website.
This process can reveal valuable topics your audience is searching for but you haven’t covered, as well as ways to strengthen existing pages. Performing a regular content gap analysis will ensure that you remain competitive and keep your finger on the pulse of your audience’s searching habits.
6. Refine your position in the marketplace
By doing thorough research and looking over your competitor’s website, social media and other online content, you can see who they are targeting and how they’re going about it. You can get a better idea of their communication style and how customers engage with this.
This can help you to refine your own position in the marketplace, determining your unique selling points (USP) as well as using their messaging to shape your own. More on this next.
7. Explain your USP
As we’ve said, one of the biggest competitive advantages you take from this analysis is the ability to identify (or even create) your USP and decide how you’re going to showcase this in your content and branding.
This gives you the opportunity to explain why your offerings are better than your competitors across all relevant content. In doing so, you can generate sales and boost your branding, something which is important when you’re operating in a niche market.
8. Identify and utilise relevant keywords
Part of your competitor analysis should be an in-depth SEO analysis. This will highlight relevant keywords that your competitors are using and those that they rank for on search engine results pages (SERPs).
There are some great online tools out there you can use. Alternatively, you can work with an SEO agency that will be able to dig deeper and provide this information for you.
You can then use these keywords to generate genuinely useful content that can help to increase traffic and drive sales. You’ll know which words are hardest to target and which are most important. This can help you to try and knock your competitors down in SERP rankings, as well as shape your content strategy.
9. Guide your content
As well as keyword research, a detailed competitor analysis can help to shape your web content. Looking at your key competitor’s website, you can see how they describe their goods or services. This will help to inspire your own content such as slogans, tag lines and blog posts.
In order to give yourself a competitive edge, you can take what other brands have done and make it even better. You can be creative, innovative and improve any areas where they fall down.
10. Strengthen your sales strategy
Finally, as well as the points we’ve touched on so far, a competitor analysis can help to strengthen your sales strategy.
Through in-depth research, you can get to grips with your competitors’ main sales tactics and results. This might involve looking at their social media, adverts and any other marketing materials you can access.
But of course, just because they are putting this content out there, it doesn’t mean it’s working. So it’s a good idea to look at the engagement their online posts and content receive as well. This will help you to determine the most beneficial digital channels for your brand.
Key Takeaways
- Identify who your real online competitors using data, not assumptions
- Analyse competitor strengths, weaknesses, and customer feedback
- Identify content and keyword gaps to improve search visibility
- Refine your USP and positioning based on market research
- Use insights to improve products, pricing, and sales tactics
