You should watch the webinar along with this slideshare - http://www.semrush.com/webinars/view/all-i-got-was-this-lousy-data-competitor-analysis.html This webinar (slideshare) is about using SEMrush data and third-party software like MS Excel to improve your competitive analysis strategy. This is for the beginner to immediate and shows you how to analyze SEMrush data by using Excel tricks such as pivot tables and formulas to draw accurate conclusions about your competitors that will help you improve your Google AdWords and organic search optimization campaigns.

1. I TRIED COMPETITOR
ANALYSIS AND ALL I GOT
WAS THIS LOUSY DATA
ORIGINAL AIR DATE:
WEDNESDAY
MARCH 26, 2014
2:00PM EST

2. DAVID BLACK
CUSTOMER SUCCESS DIRECTOR
SEMrush, USA
DAVID_BLACK@SEMRUSH.COM
TWITTER: @THEGUYATSEMRUSH

3. WHERE DO ALL THESE DATA COME FROM?
MASSIVE DATABASE CONTAINING 106 MILLION
KEYWORDS
RECORDING BILLIONS OF SERPS EACH YEAR
LARGER SAMPLE SIZE = MORE ACCURATE
CONCLUSIONS AND ANALYSIS
AGGREGATING AND “REPACKAGING” SERP DATA
TO PREPARE IT FOR ANALYSIS

4. TODAYS WEBINAR - COMPETITOR ANALYSIS
ALIGNING YOUR GOALS WITH THE CORRECT DATA - VISUALIZE THE END RESULT
ACCESSING THE CORRECT DATA
ANALYSIS - TAKING IT A FEW STEPS FURTHER
ORGANIC AND PAID DATA IMPLEMENTATION
IDEAS CONVEYED IN THIS BROADCAST ARE STRICTLY MY OWN

5. GOAL/DATA RELATIONSHIP - PAID SEARCH
THE ULTIMATE GOAL - DRIVE MORE CONVERSION-WORTHY
TRAFFIC
CAMPAIGNS TEND TO FAIL BECAUSE THEY LACK COMMON
SENSE.

6. GOAL/DATA RELATIONSHIP - PAID SEARCH
IMPLEMENTATION:
BREAK DOWN YOUR KEYWORD LIST INTO FOCUSED THEMES AND
USE THAT AS YOUR ADS GROUPS
HOW YOU DO THAT SHOULD BE BASED ON YOUR GOALS AND
WHAT YOU WANT TO MEASURE

7. GOAL/DATA RELATIONSHIP - PAID SEARCH (CONT.)
SECOND COMPONENT - COMPELLING, ATTRACTIVE AD COPY
THIRD COMPONENT - A SOLID LANDING PAGE
ARE THE TITLES, URLS AND SEMANTIC CONCEPT RELEVANT TO THE TARGETED KEYWORD?
IS THE PAGE EASY TO NAVIGATE?
ARE YOU PROVIDING THE RIGHT USER EXPERIENCE (DESKTOP VS. MOBILE)?
ENSURE A GOOD QUALITY SCORE BECAUSE QUALITY SCORE x MAX BID = AD RANK

8. GOAL/DATA RELATIONSHIP - ORGANIC SEARCH
THE ULTIMATE GOAL - IMPROVE VISIBILITY & DRIVE ORGANIC REFERRAL TRAFFIC
ANALYZE YOUR COMPETITORS TO HELP YOU CREATE AND SHARE GREAT CONTENT
IT’S NOT AN OPPORTUNITY - THEY MAY RANK LOWER BECAUSE GOOGLE SEES NO
VALUE IN THE KEYWORD/CONTENT RELATIONSHIP
YOU WILL GET RANKED FOR KEYWORDS FOR WHICH YOU DIDN’T OPTIMIZE
INSTEAD, FOCUS ON WHERE YOUR COMPETITORS ARE WINNING
BEAT THEM AT THEIR OWN GAME, ETHICALLY

9. GOAL/DATA RELATIONSHIP - ORGANIC (CONT.)
NO IFS, ANDS OR BUTS…YOU HAVE TO PROVIDE VALUE
THERE’S NO MAGIC BULLET BUT AT LEAST YOU HAVE YOUR COMPETITORS:
THE SEMANTICALLY RELATED KEYWORDS GOOGLE LIKES
TITLES AND URLS
BACKLINKS
ANCHOR TEXT
YOU ALREADY SEE THEIR HAND, YOU KNOW WHAT VALUE
THEIR CONTENT IS PROVIDING

10. FINAL THOUGHTS
A LITTLE DATA GOES A LONG WAY
INVESTING TIME IN COMPETITOR ANALYSIS MINIMIZES TRIAL AND
ERROR & HELPS YOU REALIZE YOUR GOALS SOONER
IT’S NEVER AN EXACT SCIENCE - TAKE WHAT YOU’VE LEARNED
AND USE IT TO YOUR ADVANTAGE