SEO Competitor Analysis in Kenya : A step by step guide

Do you want to stay one step ahead of your competitors? Are you tired of reacting to market or customer demand changes rather than anticipating them? SEO competitor Analysis for your business in Kenya will give you an edge.

You can avoid this by conducting regular competitor research. If you’ve never done a competitor analysis, you’re in for a treat! We’ll walk you through the process, including the questions we ask ourselves, and demonstrate how to apply it with a fictitious business.

Let’s get this party started!

What Exactly Is A Competitor Analysis?

You’re probably not surprised that it’s exactly what it sounds like. You’re watching everything your competitor does (at least what you can see; this isn’t corporate espionage) and taking into account how your company compares.

Why Should You Conduct a Competitor Analysis in Kenya?

There are numerous reasons to conduct a competitor analysis, and it is a common step in starting a new business or developing a marketing strategy. However, we believe there is some misunderstanding about the purpose of a competitor analysis and how to conduct one. You can investigate any aspect of the business that interests you, and a competitor analysis can be used for a variety of planning purposes.

With the new battlefront being online, SEO Competitor analysis for your business in Kenya is the first step to building your Search Engine Optimization Levels.

Read: What is Search Engine Optimization and why your business needs it.

Benefits of Search Engine Optimization Competitor Analysis

You can identify what your competitors are doing well. This will also give you an idea of what you should do.
You can figure out what your competitors are doing wrong. This will give you an idea of market gaps.
You’ll be able to distinguish how your company, product, or service differs from the competition.
Then, develop your value proposition (what you bring to the table). It gives you an idea of what you can expect in terms of growth.
It enables you to see what customers are saying about them (or what questions, problems, or solutions they want).

How Frequently Should You Conduct A Competitor Analysis in Kenya?

We recommend performing an in-depth analysis at least once a year, but we like to schedule it every six months. This is to avoid wasting time doing something that is out of date or falls short of what our client’s competitors are doing.

Let’s look at how to conduct a competitor analysis, as well as what questions we should ask ourselves and what we should look for.

Steps for Conducting a Competitor Analysis in Kenya.

Step 1: Identify your competitors.

You need to know who else is offering something similar to your product or service in your area. These are your direct rivals and should be your primary focus. If you’re stuck for ideas, do what your customers will do… Look it up on the internet. Look for your business type or keywords that you believe your customers would use and see what comes up.

Step 2: Competitor Analysis in terms of their offer

Now that you’ve identified your competitors, spend some time researching them by browsing their website, reading their social media, watching their YouTube videos, and scouring their blog. You’ll want to know the basics, such as what their products or services are, what their shipping policy is, what their return policy is, and so on. This will guide your SEO competitor analysis for your organization in Kenya.

Step 3: Explain how your competitors sell (and how well it works).

It’s time to look at the sales process in this section of your competitor analysis. We recommend that you walk through the steps here as if you were a customer and do the following:

Look through the products.
Examine the product page
Add a product to your shopping cart
Begin the checkout procedure (or buy an item to see the process through from start to finish)
Examine their social media feeds.
Sign up for their newsletter and go through the emails you receive.
Abandon your shopping cart to see if you receive a reminder.
Keyword research is available online.
Examine any advertisements that appear.
Look at reviews and read comments to get feedback from customers.
Are people reacting to the posts? Are customers leaving positive feedback?
Is there a pattern of complaints? Can you guess how many sales they made?

Step 4: Examine your competitors’ pricing and product structure.

You browsed product pages and shopped in the previous step, but now we’re going deeper. Begin with the product page and pay close attention to pricing as you explore.

How many images/videos do they employ?
What is the page’s layout?
How does the copy look? Long? Short? Descriptive? Bullets?
What information about products or services is included?
What else is there on the page?
Are there any recommended products? Reviews?
How do you add something to your cart?
What is the cost? How does it stack up against other products or services?
What is the shipping cost?

Step 5: Investigate your competitors’ digital marketing strategies (from paid to organic)

Please keep in mind that some of the steps in our SEO competitor analysis in Kenya, overlap with others. You’ll be completing several of these steps at the same time, so don’t worry about following them in the exact order we’ve presented them. Spend some time on the social media channels of your competitors. Most businesses list their social profiles on their website, but you can search the most popular platforms manually.

Here’s what to look for:

What platforms does the company employ?
How frequently do they post?
What kind of content do they post (carousels, videos, Instagram Reels, Stories, etc.)?
See what comes up when you search them on search engines (Google, YouTube, Pinterest) (paid and unpaid)
When do they make their posts?
How many comments/likes do you get on average?
Do they respond to feedback?

Read: How to Craft Digital Marketing Strategy for your Small Business in Kenya

Step 6: Go over customer feedback, comments, questions, and complaints.

This is the time to read through reviews and comments to see what customers are saying about your competitors. Not only will you be able to hear about their experiences, but you will also have first-hand knowledge of any customer complaints or questions. This can aid you in the development of your strategy or offerings.

Read: Social Media Marketing Tools for Small Business in Kenya

Step 7: Conduct a SWOT analysis.

The SWOT analysis is what you do at the end of all of this legwork to put all of the information you’ve gathered together. Combine it with specifics about your company and devise a strategy for developing new marketing strategies or new products. SWOT is an acronym that stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.

Conclusion

It’s easy to get caught up in all of the tasks you need to complete for your business, all of the ideas you have, or all of the content you need to create. But you don’t want to become so focused on your own business…that you stop monitoring your competitors and adapting your strategy to stay relevant and top-of-mind.