Whenever we start any new website or blog, one of the major things we should keep in mind is our competitors' offerings. What is the point of making a blog if there are millions of blogs offering the same kind of info as you do and it might so be that they are even better. This is why we should always keep an eye out for our competition and try to always be one step ahead of them. The internet houses a number of free tools and services with the help of which we can gain a better understanding and compare the services offered by various other places and thus try to improve our own. Here, we're listing some of the best and of course completely free tools and services.
1. Google PageRank
Anyone in this field must be aware of Google PageRank which is a rank given by Google on a scale of one to ten based on its in the eyes of Google. It is generally calculated by Google' algorithm developed by its founder Larry Page. However, a higher PageRank does not guarantee higher search rank visits. Remember, getting a higher PageRank in an update will not mean that you'll receive higher search engine visits from that time on but actually PageRank is given as a result of your link popularity in the search results. However, nowadays it is gradually losing its importance in the eyes of webmasters as recently there have been seen examples of excellent websites getting a really low PageRank and crappy websites with stupid content getting ridiculously high PageRank. Therefore it is best to follow good content writing practices and eventually every rank will follow.
URL to Check PageRank: http://www.checkpr.org.
Google Chrome Extension: PageRank Display.
2. Alexa Rank
Alexa website gives a measure of the traffic of a website and this is by giving it a unique rank. Alexa and Google PageRank are the two things that most webmasters really measure a website. However, as we've observed, Alexa Rank is not at all correct in many cases and only increases the Alexa rank of a user by counting the impressions by a person using Alexa toolbar. Also, this can very easily be faked and manipulated which is why it does not have a good reputation nowadays. Nevertheless, having a good Alexa Rank is considered to be necessary and an Alexa rank about 70K or less is considered to be nice.
URL to Check Alexa Rank: http://www.alexa.com.
Chrome extension: Alexa Toolbar.
Recommended Reading: What is Alexa Rank, It’s Importance and 5 Ways to Increase Alexa Rank.
3. Compete Rank
Compete Rank shows the exact number of visitors that are accessing your website and there is a helpful option to compare your website with a maximum of three other websites. Some of the more useful options are sadly hidden away in the paid version of the site Compete-PRO which sadly not everyone can afford. Nevertheless, the site is still pretty good. Also, don't expect completely accurate visitor count and most of the new sites are not listed and we personally think that an average of 1000 daily visitors is needed to get your domain listed there.
URL to Check Compete Rank: http://www.compete.com.
4. SEORobotics
SEORobotics is SEO Analysis tool which gives a score out of eighty (as the tool is in beta version) after analyzing each and every aspect of your website including Google PageRank, Alexa Rank, number of backlinks, indexing, social presence reputation and number of other parameters. This SEO Tool will give you an insight as to what you should do to increase your site visibility as well as improving overall. This serves as an All-in-one tool which can help you to fine tune every part in your website.
URL: http://www.seorobotics.org.
5. WhichLoadsFaster
This website compares purely the site loading time between two websites by loading them simultaneously within two frames. This gives the exact measure of the site loading time and is very simple and not at all overwhelming with the various options like in Gtmetrix.
URL: http://www.whichloadsfaster.com.
6. GtMetrix
A very important factor, especially in the initial stages, is the overall performance and swiftness of your webpage. GtMetrix combines the scores from the two most popular website speed testing sites Google PageSpeed and Yahoo YSlow and gives the score from their sites. There are various suggestions listed there as to where the site can improve as in loading time. Just Googling each one of them can guide you as to where you can proceed to implement the suggestions. You can also take the help of WordPress plugins like W3 Total Cache OR WP-Super Cache, also you can use Content Delivery Network (CDN) like MaxCDN though the latter is not really necessary.
URL: http://www.gtmetrix.com.
Apart from these tools there are various other services and websites such as Ahrefs, SEMRush, SEOmoz and many such. Social media interaction is also the big thing nowadays and you can use it extensively to promote your brand. Sites like SimplyMeasured also can show you how much effect social media is having on your website and one more website to really check out is Klout.
Do you know any other useful website to compare and contrast websites effectively, then share with us in the form of comment below.
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