In the second part of our essential SEO tools guide we are going to look at competitor analysis. Getting a good grip on the competition is essential for SEO and PPC so using these tools will give you an edge in both fields.

Some of the tools mentioned in this guide are plug-ins for FireFox. I strongly recommend you download FireFox if you don’t have it already, it’s vast array of plug-ins make it the most webmaster friendly browser out there.

The first useful tool I recommend you download is SEO for Firefox. Not only is this tool great for gathering data about a competitors site but it also helps you detect nofollow links so you can tell if that reciprocal link partner is cheating on you.

You should go into the tool options and set everything to manual so you can just click for results and also remember to turn the tool off when not using it, it will save your internet and tools server for other people.

The toolbar itself can return a whole host of stats but the most important ones to you should be PageRank, age, Yahoo domain and page links and DMOZ and Yahoo directory listing data. You can also access data from the toolbar while on a site from the “Tools” menu in FireFox.

Another great tool is Quirks “SearchStatus” tool. This tool gives you shortcuts to loads of different reports as well as detecting keywords, meta tags and keyword density. Simply install the tool and right click it’s little “q” icon to get a list of commands.

It can also give you easy to access links to Google, Yahoo and MSN backlinks and keep an ongoing display of PR, Alexa and Compete Rank.

What can you do with all this data? You just need to compare it. Is your site older or younger, does it have more or less links, is the keyword density good or bad and are the title and meta tags complete?

By spotting holes in your competitors strategy you can one up them and hopefully take their place at the top of the SERPs.

Here is a quick check list so you know how well a competitor is doing compared to your own site.

Backlinks: The rule of thumb is the more the better however quality is more important than quantity if you gain links too fast or gain too many spammy links you will go nowhere in the SERPs.

Age: Older the better. Age isn’t a massive factor but it will affect rankings, especially in overly competitive markets because older website have had longer to build links and trust.

PR: Google PR has a small influence in ranking as well as a small influence on some visitors to your site, the higher the better but remember its logarithmic and don’t waste too much time chasing it!

Keyword Density: A qualitative stat but important none the less, I recommend you have a keyword density of between 2-5% for you main keywords and slightly less for your related keywords. Do not alter keyword density and harm usability, remember, write for humans not for robots.

Indexed Pages: An important factor as it tells you have much of the site Google deems as important or containing useful information. Try using Google Webmaster Tools to help with this, the more indexed the better.

DMOZ/Yahoo Listing: You want listings in both these directories.

Other Great Site Analysis Tools:

• Advanced Keyword Analysis: Look at the keyword density of nearly all words on a site/page.
• Search Engine Verification: Find out if you/your competition is ranking well in all search engines.
• Domain Age Tool: Compare domain ages to each other.
• Page Strength Tool: SEOMoz Page Strength Tool to test various website SEO factors.