Does Strength of Competition (soc) Matter?

Wed, Mar 17, 2010

How-To & Tips

Does Strength of Competition (SOC) Matter?

Hello there! If you are new here, you might want to subscribe to the RSS feed for updates on this topic.

I Have a question for you? Does strength of competition (soc) matter?

strength of competition soc

Right now you may be thinking: What the hell is Wayne going on about?! Well, let me break this down a little bit further. This is in relation to SEO and your choice of keywords. A While back I talked about Instant Keyword Research to help you get some great keywords, and yesterday I talked about link baiting techniques. Strength of Competition (soc) is a big part of your potential success story with your blog or content online.

What is Strength of Competition (soc)?

Basically it is an analysis of your first page competition in the search engine results page (SERPS). You see many people get a keyword that they feel is a real winner and then put all their efforts to making their content rank for it, but there is no chance that they will ever rank for it!

You see, your success with that keyword largely depends on who you are battling with!

How To Pick Your Fights Wisely

The best way to tackle this is to have a quick look on the first page of the SERPS and look at the sites that are competing for that keyword. I am not talking about putting the keywords in quotes or number of results, that is not the goal here. Simply put the keyword into the search engine as it is - broad search!

You are simply looking for the URLs of your competing results. Ideally you want to see article directories or Web 2.0 properties such as Hubpages and Blogger. These are good indications that you can win your place on the first page. If you see authority sites such as wikipedia, MSN, CNN, forget it! You will not stand a chance against these big boys unless you have a very old and high PR site.

I will be honest there are many more factors to consider, but I do not want to drown you with every last detail, and there is probably more than I know still to learn.

You can cheat and use software such as Micro Niche Finder or Market Samurai. These tools do significantly speed up the analysis and save you from wasting time with losing keywords. However you can still get a good indication from glancing the first page.

Have you got any more Strength of Competition (soc) or Keyword Research Tips?

P.s. If you like this post - Hit The Reweet Above, and hit the cheeky Bookmark button!

Want To Take Your Home Business To the Next level and Generate 20+ FREE Leads a Day for approx 30 minutes work? then enter your first name and email below now!

*IMPORTANT: Your free training will be sent to the email address you provide, so please double-check it for accuracy.

SECURE & CONFIDENTIAL: We respect your email privacy. We Hate Spam Too! Any email you receive comes with an ‘unsubscribe’ link.

Share and Enjoy:

Keyword Research and Analysis - Stop Banging Your Head Against The Wall! Learn A Secret Keyword Research and Analysis Technique - Stop...
Beat Your SEO Competition To A Pulp! Learn How To Sneak up on your competition with clever...
Instant Keyword Research - Long Tail Keyword Research Techniques To Dominate Your Niche! Learn how you can use a research method that I...
Backlinks - Search Engine Optimization Guide To Whip Your Competition Like A Bad Mule! Do you know the true value of backlinks? In this...
What The Hell Is LSI and What Has That Got To Do With Putting Your Article Marketing Strategy On Steroids? Article Marketing Strategy: What The Hell Is LSI and What...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Tommy DiPietro

Hey Wayne,

I feel like I am back at school with the education I have been
receiving from checking out everyones blog. Great content!
I have been a busy person and getting great results, now I just
have to publish about 10 articles I have sitting in my draft box.

Have a great weekend!

From the Comfort of Home Sweet Home,
Tommy D.
"The Prospecting Hero" :)

Wayne Vassell

Hey Tommy,

Thanks for passing by.

10 articles! Well, you have been busy :)

Chris Owen

Hey Wayne,

Something tells me that pic was doctored.

Keyword research is the first major step in SEO. You can't do anything without knowing your keywords first. From linking techniques to silo, you have to have the keywords.

So getting this wrong, can set you back more than most realize.

Mike Paul

Wayne,

This is just awesome info. If people can grasp keyword research and do it right, they'll save a ton of time and money. Target the right keywords and you can't help but get noticed.

I LOVE Market Samurai. Been using it since the day it was released and it's quite possibly the most powerful keyword research tool there is. I'd recommend it to anyone.

By the way, is that dude for real? There's no way! His muscles are frickin' HUGE! AMAZING!

Talk soon,

Mike Paul

Wayne Vassell

Lol!! Hey Mike, yeah that dude has to have been "modified" somehow - I think a bit of photoshop artistry has gone on there!

Yeah, I agree Market Samurai is definitely a good investment, I use it daily!

Thanks for passing by my friend.

Derek Alvarez

Hey Wayne,

First off, that's just GOT to be a fake pic!

But you're right, I know it seemed like I was fighting guys like that when I started using PPC (LOL)

Wayne Vassell

No way - surely he is that big! (ha)

Oh boy, PPC hurts even more when you fight these guys, but we live and learn.

Thanks for passing by my friend.

Jerome Ratliff

Whoa... are those muscles on top of muscles???

Having the strength of your competition is really important to understand what your up against.

If you want to succeed, then it's almost a MUST.

Take care Wayne.

Standing Out,

Jerome Ratliff

Wayne Vassell

It looks that way! The guy is a muscle monster! (ha).

Yeah SOC is really important.

Thanks for passing by my friend.

Josh Garcia

Hey Wayne,

When I first saw this post. I looked at that picture and wonder how does this guy get in/out of a car. He must have a chauffeur driving him in an ambulance. Wow! that guy is a monster.

Ok...back to the topic! Knowing how to use keywords is essential. Sometimes new marketers go after keywords that have very high search volume and high competition. Not knowing that it is going to take a very long time to rank high.

For sure using the proper tools makes the job a lot easier.

Chat with you later...
Josh

Wayne Vassell

Hey Josh,

I know, that guy is massive!! Hence, we do not want to compete with him (ha).

The "metaphorical" big keyword that we should avoid.

Thanks for passing by my friend.

Eric McMillan

Wow,
Were we stealing each others thoughts last night? You are right on with this article man. Too many people are going after all the wrong keywords and as a result they think SEO is to blame.

Good stuff,
Eric

P.S. Is that Chris Owen on your pic in his body building day????????

Wayne Vassell

Hey Eric,

As they say, great minds think a like! Yeah, I agree in many cases it is just bad keyword choices.

Thanks for passing by my friend.

Dwayne Huggins

The Keyword King.

There is not point entering a fight you can't win.

Keyword research with all its extended bits and bobs is a massive topic, thank you for providing this value in bit size manageable pieces

Dwayne

Wayne Vassell

Hey Thanks Dwayne,

Yeah, it is a mind fields - every little bit helps.

Thanks for passing by.

First Name:
E-Mail:
Phone:	(optional)

First Name:
E-Mail:
Phone:	(optional)

Home Based Business Leads Generation Blog by Wayne Vassell