As I analyze these reports, I’m looking at a few things in order to gain some insight:
1. Determine search intent
What type of search is this, based on the top 10 results? Given that all 10 pages are educational articles on what to feed a new kitten that include advice, charts, lists, and more, I can conclude that the search intent is informational. This means that product pages or location landing pages are not likely to rank on the first page of Google for this keyword.
2. Look for the SERP Feature
Is there a SERP Feature present, and if so, what’s the format? In this case, there is a Featured Snippet in a list format. When I click into the URL that has captured the Snippet, I’m looking for the on-page attributes that have been implemented, such as an H2 tag and a bulleted list.
3. Examine page titles
What are the title tags for the top 10 results? In this example, I see a lot of questions that a potential customer may ask themselves: What should I feed my kitten? How Much to Feed a Kitten? What Do Kittens Eat? I can conclude that Google understands that a new kitten owner has a lot of questions, and the results will represent valuable resources that will help the user answer those questions, not sell them products or services.
4. Evaluate your competitor’s authority
The average Domain Authority® of the top 10 sites for this search is 63, which means it’s fairly difficult to rank on the first page of Google.
5. Analyze metrics
What do the metrics mean for me? In this example, the Volume is 1.7k - 2.9k, which is substantial, making it an appealing goal. But can I rank? The Difficulty score is a 42, which is medium difficulty and may be more of a long term goal. I may want to consider targeting a lower Difficulty keyword in the short term.
Having a firm understanding of the landscape you’re diving into is imperative before you start diving into content. This way, you’re not wasting your time and money jumping into an area in which you’re not (yet!) equipped to rank.
Next up: How To Analyze Your Competitors’ Content