Who are my competitors

[BobGW]

Hello,

Quick question.

for the term

"NLP" and the site nlpca.com

I'm analyzing backlinks of competitors. Is wikipedia a competitor, or are competitors only sites like mine. I'm thinking that if someone links to wikipedia they wouldn't necessarily want to link to nlpca.com

Thus, should I still analyze wikipedia?

Thank you.

[BobGW]

Yes, Brad I would like to know too.

[johnshearer]

Great articulate reply Brad..what tools do you use for longtail research? Wordtracker/SEO Samurai?

[BobGW]

Wow, I will keep that in mind EGOL

[BobGW]

What a nice thorough answer, thank you.

[BobGW]

John, I don't think your images got posted right. I'm curious what they are.

[ShaMenz]

Hi Link

All of the comments above are on the money, but the qualification here is that there are two types of competitor.

1. Competitors for Search (includes Wikipedia and other authority sites, but has no effect on your business unless the information there either endorses or disendorses the type of services you offer)

2. Competitors for Business as addressed by Brad.

As to whether you should analyze Wikipedia back links, the answer is absolutely yes. One thing to keep in mind is that we now have evidence that linking out to authoritative sites is correlated with improved search engine rankings. This is discussed in the Free Webinar Video Ranking Factors 2011 and Blog post Search Engine Ranking Factors 2011. Before watching the video you might find it helpful to read Rand's Blog post New Edition of Ranking Factors for 2011 is Now Live! and watch his explanatory video in that post.

Since Wikipedia is an authoritative site, but not seen as a business competitor, it is highly likely there may be business competitors who link to Wikipedia as a benign information source. Therefore, analyzing Wikipedia backlinks can identify other competitors in your market.

[HeadWebChef]

My feeling is that back links are important but much more important is your long tail key word.  Who is your competition based on sites that provide training and services like you do?  What is your long tail term vs theirs.  If they are a match then ding they are your competition.  Are you local or national,  look for local competitors with qualifiers in your area.  I do not know much about your subject but this site appears to be your main competitor on a national basis. http://www.nlpcoaching.com  Wikipedia is a resource search engine but not a tool for goods and services.  Ask these questions first. 1. what are my main long tail terms 2.  Does my offer or site  have a local, national or global appeal?  3. Have I added qualifyers to my search if it is local or national, such as San Diego or United States?  Build your search based on that.  NLP Traning vs. NLP Traning California.  Type that in and the top 3 who actually do what you do, are your competitors.  I hope that helps.  Use that to analyze your linkage vs. theirs.

[EGOL]

Your competitors are anyone who has a website in the same SERPs as your important keywords.  So, yes, Wikipedia is your competitor and they can really damage your traffic.

Also... keep in mind that your traffic is just one new page away from many other websites.  For example... if you start making a lot of money selling widget cases and widgets.com hears you are making big money.   They could place a new page about widget cases on their website and be at the top of your SERPs tomorrow.

The most dangerous competitor is usually the one who has not yet arrived.

[johnshearer]

If your goal is to rank #1...then yes wikipedia is a competitor..however wikipedia does not offer training and people will would naturally go to your site at #2. I would analyze the wiki page for links.

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