SEO Competition Report: Essential Checklist

There are mainly two questions your clients would want the competitor research to answer:

• What are my competitors doing to be (more) successful (than me)?
• Which (new) tactics used by my competitors can I consider for my link building?

Keeping that in mind you might want your report to also conform to the following criteria:

• It should be well-organized and easy to understand;
• It should contain only important information.

Here are essential steps to take when compiling the report on competitors’ link building tactics:

1. Use your favorite backlink checking tools to compile the list of backlinks;
2. Sort the links into two large groups:
   • Links to home page;
   • Deep links.
3. Single out some notable tactics and create sub-groups, for example:
   • Directory links;
   • Sponsored ads;
   • Blog reviews;
   • Article distribution;
   • Press release, etc.

   (add a few example to each group).

4. Calculate deep link ratio;
5. Include your conclusions:
   • How the above link building tactics can be characterized (in a couple of words)?
   • What should be taken note of (Which tactics should be avoided? Which tactics might be considered and why)?
   • What tactics prevail?
   • What are the most frequent anchor texts used?

Anything to add? Please share your tips on competitors’ link building report.