Build a matrix of your competitors and their search phrases

You can create an at-a-glance comparison of your competitors and their search phrases by building a matrix. The following information is important to include in the matrix and will provide the data you need to effectively strategize for your business and see who has copied your messages.

Natural Listings: Who dominates the natural listings for your preferred search phrases?

Paid Advertising (PPC): Who is purchasing your preferred search phrases in Google, Yahoo and MSN? Determine how aggressive they are by determining what positions they are buying.

Find websites that the search engines consider to be similar to your website and your competitors' sites. There are several ways to do this:

• Go to the Google Directory.Type in your company name and review the "Similar pages" link.
  
  
• Go to the Google Directory. Select a business category that fits your business. The listings of websites within a category are organized by Page Rank.
  

  

  
  
• Go to Alexa.com and type in the competitors website URL, then review the listing of " People who visit this page also visit".

Identify competitor link popularity across multiple search engines at www.marketleap.com

• Monitor references to not only your company name, product name, CEO and other key staff members but also to your competitors. With it, you can:
  
  
• Monitor references to your company name, product name, CEO, and other key staff members and also your competitors' information.
  
  
• Find out when there are new links to your site from other web sites.
  
  
• If you are testing positioning statements, monitor the use of possible statements in online news and websites.
  
  
• Sign up at www.google.com