Learn SEO from your competition, analyze them! Article reviews

Understanding what your competitors are doing online is a must and absolute priority when launching a new website that is entering a competitive space and also when established websites want to keep an eye on their competition. In this article via searchenginejournal, there are some interesting tips on how to learn even from your competition:

SEO Competitive Intelligence: learn from your SEO rivals

• Identifying the Competition
  - Affiliate sites are your competition
  - Offline competitors
• On-Site Competitive Intelligence
  - Site URL Structure
  - Site Development and Coding Structure
  - Use of Analytics
  - The directory files and URL structures of listings pages
  - Page Title and META Title Review
  - META Tag Review (Description / Keywords)
  - Navigational System Review
  - Broken Links
  - HTML Code Validity
  - Design & SEO Integration
• Offsite Competitive SEO Elements
  - Local Listings
  - Number of Inbound Links
  - Linkbait or Viral Marketing
  - Social Media
  - Blogging
  - Paid Link Research
  - Site visits and Traffic
  - Page Rank and other Metrics
  - Competitive Rankings
  

These bullet points are just the titles/ideas - read more in this thorough article via sej about some SEO Competitive Intelligence: learn from your SEO rivals

why comment on others' blogs AND measuring social media - article reviews

There are many articles online about the pros and cons of commenting on other people's blogs - here are 6 Vital Reasons to Comment on Other Blogs.

1. Comments help build your online presence
2. Develop professional relationships
3. Enhance your site’s brand
4. Grow your credibility
5. Create links to your site
6. Build your page rank
   

Basically: why not treat this, the commenting on other blogs, as a serious matter that can help you toward your goal? Make sure that you take the time to make each comment genuine and credible. Don’t start spamming other bloggers with junk! Continue to read this article online - 6 Vital Reasons to Comment on Other Blogs.

On the other hand, when one gets into the social media realm, he tends to measure the success/events with the wrong measuring stick - The Five Biggest Mistakes in Measuring Social Media.

1. Big Mistake No. 1: Assuming Your Fans/Followers Will See a Post
2. Big Mistake No. 2: Failing to Account for Overlap Across Networks
3. Big Mistake No. 3: Failing to Count Clicks
4. Big Mistake No. 4: Disregarding Search
5. Big Mistake No. 5: Focusing on Followers
   

Author's TIP: Pay very close attention (and make a note of) the people who respond to the things you post up: the people who comment, retweet, or engage in discussions. Those people are the most valuable subset. Read the whole article online here: The Five Biggest Mistakes in Measuring Social Media.