How to Rank Your Competitors From Best to Worst (and See How You Compare)

How are your competitors doing? And more importantly, are they doing better than you?

If you don’t know the answer to the questions above, you’ll benefit from some competitor analysis. 

Without competitor analysis, you’ll be left scratching your head while your competitors attract more customers and rake in revenue. Don’t you want those things for yourself as well? 

Are you frustrated with all the resources you’ve invested that gave you lackluster results? 

Well, today you can change that.

You can have a crystal clear understanding of your position in the market. You can see how you compare to your competition and what opportunities you have available. You can even beat the competition just by tracking and benchmarking them!

This is possible using a systematic method of analyzing your competitors and ranking them accurately. This article will take you through the process from identifying key competitors, using metrics to measure their performance, and how to compare your performance against theirs. 

By the end of this article, you will be ready to upgrade your market position and be a brand your competitors have their eyes on!

Let’s get started.

How to Analyze and Rank Your Competitors

• Understanding Competitor Analysis
• Identifying Your Competitors
• Key Metrics for Ranking Competitors
  • Traffic and Engagement Metrics
  • SEO Performance
  • Social Media Presence
  • Customer Feedback and Reviews
  • Sales Performance
  • Revenue Estimates
  • Market Share
• Tools for Competitor Analysis
• Ranking Your Competitors
  • Step 1: Collect and Organize Data
  • Step 2: Create a Competitive Matrix
  • Step 3: Weight Metrics
  • Step 4: Assign Scores and Calculate Totals
  • Step 5: Rank Competitors
  • Step 6: Visualize Your Rankings
  • Step 7: Analyze the Results or Conduct A SWOT Analysis
  • Step 8 Take Action
• Ranking Your Competitors Through Panoramata
  • Panoramata Benchmarks
  • Panoramata Trends
• Grow Your Business Through Competitive Analysis
• Frequently Asked Questions
  • How can you analyze your competitors?
  • How do you differentiate your company from competitors?

Understanding Competitor Analysis

Competitor analysis is the process of evaluating your competitors to understand their strengths, weaknesses, and market position. 

For e-commerce brands, this analysis can provide invaluable insights into market trends, customer preferences, and effective strategies. By benchmarking against your competitors, you can identify areas for improvement and gain a competitive edge.

Your Competitors

To start, identify your competitors. There are three types:

1. Direct competitors: These are the businesses offering similar products or services to the same target market.

2. Indirect competitors: These are businesses offering alternative solutions to the same problem.

3. Replacement competitors: These are businesses offering different products that could replace your offering.

Find your competitors through online research, customer feedback, and industry reports. Tools like Google Search, social media, and industry publications can help you identify who your competitors are.

Key Metrics for Ranking Competitors

Once you've identified your competitors, it's time to rank them using key metrics:

Traffic and Engagement Metrics

Here are valuable metrics when you want to track Identifying website performance. 

Website traffic

Use tools like Google Analytics and Panoramata to estimate competitor traffic.

Bounce rate

This refers to the percentage of visitors who leave after viewing one page.

Average session duration

This refers to the time visitors spend on the site.

SEO Performance

To measure SEO performance, try using these metrics.

Domain authority

This score predicts how well a site will rank on search engines.

Backlink profile

This means the quality and quantity of websites linking to your competitor's site.

Keyword rankings

This is how well your competitors rank for relevant keywords.

Social Media Presence

You can also quantify your competitor’s success on social media by using the following metrics.

Followers and engagement rates

The number of followers and interaction levels on social media platforms.

Content quality and frequency

How often they post and the quality of their content.

Customer Feedback and Reviews

Don’t forget to gather data on what your customers are saying about your competitors.

Review ratings

Average ratings on platforms like Trustpilot and g2.

Customer satisfaction scores

Overall customer satisfaction metrics.

Sales Performance

If you can access this data, include these metrics in your competitive analysis. 

Revenue estimates

Use tools like SimilarWeb or industry reports to estimate competitor revenue.

Market share

The portion of the market your competitor controls.

Tools for Competitor Analysis

Several tools can help you gather and analyze data on your competitors:

• SEMrush/Ahrefs - For SEO analysis.
• Google Analytics - For traffic insights.
• Hootsuite/Sprout Social - For social media analytics.
• Trustpilot/g2 - For reviews and feedback.
• Panoramata - for competitor tracking and benchmarking

Use these tools to collect data efficiently and gain a comprehensive view of your competitors' performance.

Ranking Your Competitors

Ranking your competitors involves a structured approach to evaluating and comparing their performance across various metrics. 

This process helps you gain a clear understanding of where each competitor stands and how they stack up against one another and your own business. 

Find your competitors through online research, customer feedback, and industry reports. Tools like Google Search, social media, and industry publications can help you identify who your competitors are.

Here’s a detailed, step-by-step guide to effectively rank your competitors:

Step 1: Collect and Organize Data

Gathering accurate and comprehensive data is the foundation of effective competitor ranking. 

Use the tools mentioned earlier (SEMrush, Ahrefs, Google Analytics, Hootsuite, Panoramata, etc.) to collect relevant data on each competitor. 

This includes traffic statistics, SEO performance, social media metrics, customer feedback, and sales figures.

Organize this data systematically in a spreadsheet. Create columns for each metric and rows for each competitor. This organization will help you easily compare and analyze the information.

Step 2: Create a Competitive Matrix

A competitive matrix is a visual tool that helps you compare competitors across different metrics. 

In your spreadsheet, list your competitors down the left side and your chosen metrics across the top. Fill in the data for each competitor in the corresponding cells.

For example, your matrix might look like this:

Step 3: Weight Metrics

Not all metrics are equally important to every business. Determine which metrics are most relevant to your business goals and assign weights accordingly. 

For example, if SEO performance is crucial to your strategy, you might assign a higher weight to domain authority and keyword rankings.

Create a separate column for weights in your matrix and apply these weights to each metric. This will ensure that the most important metrics have a greater impact on the final ranking.

Step 4: Assign Scores and Calculate Totals

Next, assign scores to each metric for every competitor. 

Standardize the scores to ensure consistency (e.g., on a scale from 1 to 10). Multiply each score by its respective weight to get the weighted score.

For example, if domain authority is weighted at 0.3 and a competitor has a score of 8, the weighted score would be 2.4 (8 x 0.3).

Sum the weighted scores for each competitor to get a total score. This total score will help you rank your competitors objectively.

Step 5: Rank Competitors

Sort the competitors based on their total scores from highest to lowest. 

The competitor with the highest total score is considered the strongest, while the one with the lowest score is the weakest.

Your final ranked list might look like this:

Step 6: Visualize Your Rankings

To make the data easier to interpret, consider visualizing the rankings using charts or graphs. 

Bar charts, line graphs, or radar charts can effectively illustrate how each competitor performs across different metrics. Visualization helps in quickly identifying leaders and laggards in the market.

Step 7: Analyze the Results or Conduct A SWOT Analysis

Interpreting the rankings is as important as creating them. Analyze the results to identify key insights. 

As an example, you can ask yourself these questions if you want to conduct a SWOT analysis:

• Strengths: What do you do better than your competitors?
• Weaknesses: Where do you fall short?
• Opportunities: What market trends can you take advantage of?
• Threats: What external factors could harm your business?

Benchmarking your performance against top competitors also entails identifying areas for improvement and developing a plan to address them.

Step 8: Take Action

Use the insights gained from your analysis to inform your business strategy. Examples of further steps to take are:

• Enhance Your Strengths: Double down on what you do well.
• Address Weaknesses: Develop plans to improve areas where you lag behind.
• Explore Opportunities: Innovate and expand into areas where your competitors are weak.
• Mitigate Threats: Stay alert to competitive threats and develop strategies to counter them.

By following these steps, you can systematically rank your competitors and gain valuable insights into your market position. 

This process enables you to make data-driven decisions, optimize your strategies, and enhance your competitive edge in the e-commerce landscape.

Monitoring and Updating Your Analysis

Competitor analysis is not a one-time task. Continuous monitoring and regular updates are essential.

For ongoing analysis, set review intervals and review your competitors quarterly or bi-annually. When needed, you can adapt your strategies if you have new information or if the market changes.

Ranking Your Competitors Through Panoramata

It’s even easier to rank your competitors when you use Panoramata. 

Here are the components of a Panoramata benchmark for your guidance.

• Email Marketing
  • Email Performance
  • Email Deliverability
• Advertising Benchmarks
  • Ad Volume and Performance
  • Social Ads Diversity
• Traffic Benchmarks
• Growth Benchmarks

Panoramata Benchmarks

Follow these steps to create a competitor ranking on Panoramata through benchmarks.

Step 1: Go to Panoramata.co.

Step 2: On the lefthand panel, click Benchmarks.

Step 3: Pick an industry benchmark or create a benchmark composed of your chosen competitors.

Step 4: Select a date range.

Step 5: View your benchmark.

Tip: You can use the second or fourth columns to sort the brands from either descending or ascending order based on their performance metrics. 

Panoramata Trends

Alternatively, you can go to Trends to see the rankings of your competitors or brands in your industry. The rankings are composed of brands that are growing fast and have good digital marketing strategies.

Step 1: Click Trends on the leftmost panel.

Step 2: Select an industry from the box.

Step 3: View your newly generated ranking. 

The rankings are updated every Monday so you can be assured they’re up-to-date.

Grow Your Business Through Competitive Analysis

Competitor analysis is a powerful tool for e-commerce brands. By ranking your competitors and comparing your performance, you can identify strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities. 

Implement the steps outlined in this article to gain a competitive edge and achieve your business goals. 

Stay proactive, monitor regularly, and adapt your strategies to maintain your market position.

Frequently Asked Questions 

How can you analyze your competitors?

To analyze your competitors, start by identifying them through online research, customer feedback, and industry reports. 

Use tools like Panoramata, SEMrush, Ahrefs, and Google Analytics to gather data on their website traffic, SEO performance, and social media presence. 

Evaluate their strengths, weaknesses, and market position by comparing key metrics such as domain authority, engagement rates, and customer reviews.

How do you differentiate your company from competitors?

Differentiate your company by identifying and emphasizing your unique selling proposition (USP), which sets you apart from competitors. 

Focus on what you do best, whether it's superior product quality, exceptional customer service, or innovative features. Communicate your unique strengths clearly through your marketing efforts to attract and retain customers who value these qualities.