Content Marketing Services Competitor Comparison & SEO Analysis

“The phrase “content marketing” was used as early as 1996, when John F. Oppedahl led a roundtable for journalists…at the American Society for Newspaper Editors.”

– Wikipedia

As content marketers ourselves, we thought it was time to take a deep dive into content marketing services. 

While we offer content marketing as a service. In addition, we also provide marketing consultancy and SEO services. But there are many businesses that specialise mainly in content. 

So, what does the competitive landscape for the keyword, “content marketing” look like?

Altogether, at the time of this report (November 2020), there were 153,000 global searches for “content marketing”.

And just 5% of those searches (8,900) were conducted in the UK.

• • United States – 30K (19%)
  • India – 22K (14%)
  • Vietnam – 16K (10%)
  • United Kingdom – 8.9K (5%)

Yet, if you look at related commercial keyword variations, you can glean more insight. Altogether, we found that there are 600 monthly searches in the UK for the keyword “content marketing services”.

In fact, that’s double the amount in comparison to the US:

• United Kingdom – 600 (17%)
• Vietnam – 600 (17%)
• Australia – 350 (10%)
• Indonesia – 300 (8%)
• India – 300 (8%)
• United States – 300 (8%)

Overall, our initial analysis of search intent behaviour of searchers that use the keyword “content marketing services” uncovers several FAQs:

• What is included in content marketing?
• What do content marketers do?
• Does content marketing really work?
• What are the three P’s of Content Marketing?

Later in this report, we will learn the answers to a couple of these example questions. And we’ll discover which websites best answer them for their potential clients.

But first, let’s get an overview of the competitive landscape and introduce our main organic competitors.

To begin, here are the top 10 pages ranking for the keyword “content marketing services” in the UK. Which we have arranged from weakest to strongest.

WebFX is a:

“full-service digital marketing agency…[that] creates custom strategies for each of [their] clients based on their needs and goals.”

They have 12 locations in the US: Harrisburg, New York, Tampa, Baltimore, Washington, Dallas, Boston, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Detroit, Charlotte and Atlanta.

Edit has:

“offices in Bath, Leeds, and London and clients across the world…[with] multidisciplinary marketing experts… [using] data and creativity to cut through to the insight, inspiration, and innovation that makes a difference.”

Bigfoot Digital say that their clients benefit from:

“20 years of research and experience in strategies that deliver results.”

Overall, Copify claim to:

“…deliver quick, quality content written by qualified, approved copywriters.”

Passion Digital has:

“built a team of digital professionals…committed to remaining at the forefront of the digital space and delivering market-leading results for [their] clients.”

Click Consult explains that they:

“have trusted partners on location around the world…understand local markets, cultures, regulations and customs. [They] can launch, develop or grow your brand successfully in any region or country.”

At first, Fat Media:

“started life in 2005, with just four members of staff in a small attic room office in Lancaster.”

Overall, Screaming Frog describes itself as:

“a digital marketing agency in the UK founded in 2010 to help businesses grow online…drawing on years of experience from within the world of digital marketing.”

SEO Works:

“is a certified Google Partner for Google Adwords (PPC), search, display, shopping, mobile and video. [They] provide comprehensive professional search advertising and SEO services to clients across the UK and abroad.”

Brafton claims to:

“empower companies with content marketing that works.”

Altogether, here are the top 10 pages that rank for the keyword “content marketing services” (as of 24 November 2020):

1. brafton.co.uk/content-marketing-services/
2. seoworks.co.uk/content-marketing-content-strategy/
3. screamingfrog.co.uk/content-marketing/
4. fatmedia.co.uk/services/digital-marketing/content-marketing/
5. click.co.uk/services/content-marketing/
6. passion.digital/services/content-marketing/
7. uk.copify.com/content-marketing
8. bigfootdigital.co.uk/content-marketing
9. edit.co.uk/connected-acquisition/content-marketing/
10.  webfx.com/content-marketing-services.html

However, let’s take a closer look at these pages to see how they perform for:

• Traffic 
• Keywords
• Backlinks 
• Referring Domains

1. First place goes to Screaming Frog (250 website visitors).
2. Second place goes to Passion Digital (118 website visitors).
3. Third place also goes to Click Consult (42 website visitors).

1. First place goes to SEO Works (18 keywords).
2. Second place goes to Passion Digital (12 keywords).
3. However joint third place goes to Screaming Frog and Edit (10 keywords).

1. First place goes to WebFX (6,038 backlinks!)
2. Second place goes to The Spruce (589 backlinks).
3. Third place also goes to 0800 Repair (241 backlinks).

Overall, there is such a huge gap between WebFX’s backlinks and the rest of the pack. Which means that only Screaming Frog can provide a sliver of evidence that there are actually other contenders!

1. First place goes to WebFX (239 referring domains). 
2. Second place goes to Screaming Frog (17 referring domains).
3. And a very close third place goes to Passion Digital (12 referring domains).

Overall, most awards go to WebFX who are actually our 10th place competitor for the keyword!

At the start of this report, we did an analysis of search intent behaviour. Specifically of people that search for “content marketing services”. 

And we looked at some of their frequently asked questions.

In fact, using alsoasked.com, we can get a map of these questions broken into two categories:

• Commercial Intent Searches
• Informational Searches

Put simply, Commercial Intent Searches use words and phrases that link to the purchase process.

For example, someone may search for “How do you do content marketing?”. As a result they are more likely looking for some “do-it-yourself” information.

Whereas, consider someone that searches for “What are the benefits of content marketing?”. It follows that they might be in the market for content marketing. As such, are more likely to invest in content marketing services in the near future.

However, there are very few commercial intent searches for this keyword.

Which may point to a longer sales cycle for content services.

Regardless, it’s important that businesses serious about content marketing services create content that answers commercial intent questions.

So, how well do the top 10 content marketing service competitors do when they answer these questions?

First, let’s pick a couple of examples of commercial intent questions:

• What are the benefits of content marketing?
• How long does it take for content marketing to work?

First, we are going to open an incognito tab. And we’ll conduct a Google search for each question. Then we’ll see who we find in the top 3 search results.

Overall, we will look to see if any of the top 10 competitors show up.

Of course, we’ll make a note of which websites do turn up. Because this means they target the right audience. And as a result, help potential clients who are in the market for content marketing services make their decision.

However, let’s see what our results (based on the following questions) reveal.

Question 1: What are the benefits of content marketing?

Unfortunately, none of our top 10 competitors appear for the search term: “What are the benefits of content marketing?”

In fact, the first search result is a featured snippet from a blog post. Which is entitled: “10 Remarkable Benefits of Content Marketing”. And this post is from the website, terakeet.com.

Overall, this page is a hybrid blog/landing page with several call-to-actions throughout.

For instance, such as this one:

In fact, this one page:

• has around 2250 words.
• receives around 43 monthly visits
• ranks for 3 keywords

And the page’s top keyword is “benefits of content marketing”. Which has a monthly search volume of 100.

Altogether, the search results for “What are the benefits of content marketing?” link to some interesting “People also ask” questions. Which could make for some great inspiration for content to gain more clients.

And the top organic search result is for a blog post. Which is entitled “The 13 Unique Benefits of Content Marketing [2020 Update]” from agency, Junto Digital.

After some quick research, Junto is based in Denver, US. And claims to be “redefining the way digital agencies work”.

However, when you click on their first place search engine result, it takes you to:

Overall, this page:

• has around 2449 words.
• receives around 20 monthly visits
• ranks for 15 keywords

But, this page is not designed like a landing page. Unlike what we saw with the featured snippet entry from terakeet.com.

Nor does it have many standout call-to-actions.

However, they do have a more risk-free call-to-action:

In fact, Terakeet’s call-to-actions are commercial intent opt-ins. And these ask website visitors to fill in a form to arrange a call.

Overall, when you consider the average conversion rate it’s not all good news. Because visitor to direct sale is as low as 2%. As a result, Terakeet is not doing a great job to connect with “future buyers”. That is, those who are currently in the consideration stage of the buyer’s journey.

In comparison, Junto offers a risk-free download of a “Content Marketing Playbook”. As such, they offer something of value.

And this is a great way to demonstrate expertise. While, at the same time, can help you to generate a list of potential clients. Clients that can be followed up with via email marketing. 

Additionally, It is a shame that Juntos CTA is an image of text rather than the text itself.

Because text in an image cannot be read or indexed by Google.

But at least they have given the image a suitable alt tag:

Ok, let’s look at our next question.

Overall, the search results for “How long does it take for content marketing to work?“ provide 4 main entries:

• an ad for LinkedIn advertising services
• a featured snippet for sprk-d.com
• a blog post from growandconvert.com
• “people also asked” questions

And the featured snippet from sprk-d.com is from a blog post. Which is entitled: How long does it really take for content marketing to work?

However, it is a rather broken blog post…

However, broken pages aside, have a look at the first sentence of the blog post:

“By far the most common question we hear from

prospective clients is, “Does content marketing really work?”

Clearly, they wrote this piece to answer the question with prospective clients in mind.

Overall, this page:

• • was first published in 2017
  • does not rank in the UK
  • is not listed in sprk-d.com’s list of ranking pages
  • this page ranks for 3 keywords in the US

Not to mention, the top keyword for the page only ranks in the US. Which is “does content marketing work”.

Evidently, as you can see above, this keyword has a low search volume. Yet advertisers are willing to pay a CPC of $10 for it nonetheless.

In fact, the global volume is 30 with 66% going directly to searches in the US.

Next, let’s take a closer look at the domains of the top 10 competitors.

Note: The data below is from November 2020.

Overall, WebFX is the content marketing service provider with the highest domain (85). Despite being in position 10 for our keyword.

Again, WebFX is the content marketing service provider that receives the most search traffic. Overall this is 33,218 website visits.

And Brafton receives the most amount of traffic from the keyword “content marketing services”. Which is on average, 212 website visits. 

However, it was Bigfoot (our 8th position competitor) with the most keyword specific traffic. In fact, it has the highest amount of website traffic attributed to “content marketing services” at 3.70%.

Evidently, 60% of the 10 competitors get the majority of their traffic from a branded keyword.

Overall, when it comes to non-branded keywords, Screaming Frog has the highest amount of traffic from its top keyword. And this collates to 4,163 website visitors.

Whereas Copify receives the highest percentage of its overall traffic from its top keyword at 59.73%.

In comparison to the rest, WebFX is the content marketing service with the most keywords ranked in the top 3.

Overall, they have 767 keywords that rank in top 3 search positions. Which is 619 keywords more than Brafton in second place.

Altogether, in terms of backlinks, Fat Media is the content marketing service provider with most. And they have a whopping 1,872,197! Clearly, that is a lot of backlinks. As such, they are definitely doing something right!

However, when it comes to dofollow backlinks, Brafton has the highest percentage (98.12%). Arguably, dofollow backlinks are more valuable so this is great!

Lastly, let’s conduct a content gap analysis of the first five top content marketing service providers.

1. brafton.co.uk
2. seoworks.co.uk
3. screamingfrog.co.uk
4. fatmedia.co.uk
5. click.co.uk

First, we will choose a target website e.g. brafton.co.uk. Then, we’ll compare it against the remaining four websites in the list.

This will allow us to see the keywords that more than one of the comparison websites ranks for. But the target website doesn’t.

Altogether, there are 503 keywords that at least one of the competing sites ranks in the top 10 for. But brafton.co.uk doesn’t rank anywhere in the top 100 for.

And 126 (25%) of those keywords have a monthly search volume over 100. As well as a CPC of at least $1.

In addition, the keyword related to “content marketing services” with the highest search volume is “seo agency”. Which has 4,200 monthly searches.

Overall, the website with the highest-ranking position for this keyword is screamingfrog.co.uk (1st).

Overall, there are 450 keywords that at least one of the competing sites ranks for in the top 10. But that seoworks.co.uk doesn’t.

And 168 (37%) of those keywords have a monthly search volume over 100. As well as a CPC of at least $1.

In addition, the keyword related to “content marketing services” with the highest search volume is “affordable seo”. Which has 1,200 monthly searches.

Finally, the website with the highest-ranking position for this keyword is Brafton (1st).

On the whole, there are 677 keywords that at least one of the competing sites ranks for in the top 10. But screamingfrog.co.uk doesn’t. 

And 185 (27%) of those keywords have a monthly search volume over 100. In addition to a CPC of at least $1.

However, the keyword related to “content marketing services” with the highest search volume is “seo company”. Which has 6,900 monthly searches.

And, the website with the highest-ranking position for this keyword is seoworks.co.uk (5th).

All in all, there are 758 keywords that at least one of the competing sites ranks in the top 10. But that fatmedia.co.uk doesn’t rank for.

In addition, 182 (24%) of those keywords have a monthly search volume over 100. As well as a CPC of at least $1.

And the keyword related to “content marketing services” with the highest search volume is “seo company”. Which has 6,900 monthly searches.

Overall, the website with the highest-ranking position for this keyword is seoworks.co.uk (5th).

Overall, there are 836 keywords that at least one of the competitors sites ranks for in the top 10. But that Click Consult doesn’t.

And, 228 (39%) of those keywords have a monthly search volume over 100 and a CPC of at least $1.

In addition, the keyword related to “content marketing services” with the highest search volume is “seo services”. Which has 8,900 monthly searches.

And the website with the highest-ranking position for this keyword is seoworks.co.uk (2nd).

*Only keywords with a search volume of more than 100 and a CPC of at least $1.

In conclusion, the organic competitor with the smallest content gap is SEO Works.

Perhaps you want to understand or break into the content marketing service market. As such, you may find the answers to these questions helpful:

All in all, pretty easy!

In fact, we estimate that a newcomer would need backlinks from 4 high-quality websites to rank in the top 10.

Of course, these backlinks would be in conjunction with good on-page SEO. As well as relevant and optimised content and fast loading times.

In conclusion, based on all the evidence, the player to watch and study is Brafton.

Because Brafton has the most keywords that contain the phrase “content marketing” in the UK. And they take the second highest spot in the US.

Overall, yes! Especially for content marketing service providers.

Initially you might think that it’s too saturated. And that there are far too many publishers of content related to content marketing.

Of course, there are also many SAAS related companies that provide content marketing software. For instance:

• Hubspot
• ScribbleLive
• Percolate
• CoSchedule
• ClearVoice
• Hemingway Editor
• Contently
• Content Studio
• BuzzSumo

However, when it comes to purely content marketing services, it’s all there for the taking. Especially when we consider that the keyword “content marketing services” has a CPC of $17. As well as a keyword difficulty of only 3 out of 100 (Super Easy).

1. Better content marketing. Especially content that focuses on answers to questions about content marketing. Such as those based on questions that have or already being asked.
2. Demonstrate great content marketing. In fact, many of these companies need to do a much better job. Especially when it comes to showcasing great content marketing!
3. Stop ignoring “future buyers”. Overall, a company’s sole focus should never just be on commercial intent CTAs. For example, “call us”, “contact us” etc.

Would you like us to answer another question? Or maybe explore another industry? Then add a comment below and we will get back to you.

Naturally, for many business owners, it can be tough to invest the time, work and resources to beat your competition.

Which is why hiring a marketing consultancy, like us (Hi!), could help. In fact, our amazing team can devise and implement a strategy made specifically for your business. And we’ll help to take your marketing to the next level. 

So why wait to outrank and outperform your competitors? Let us help you to increase your website traffic and sales.

Alternatively, if you’d like a bespoke SEO competitor analysis report just for your business, then get in touch. We’d love to chat with you (obligation-free of course)!

So discover exactly what your competitors are doing well (and not so well) and how to beat them.

Of course, we hope you found our report interesting. Alternatively, that it gave you some food for thought? As such, why not check out some of our previous reports. As a matter of fact, we release them weekly. And they span multiple industries so you’re sure to be inspired: 

•  SEO Competitor Analysis: What’s Cooking for Personal Chefs in the UK?
•  What Accountants in Manchester Need to Do to Beat Their Competition 
•  How Can Removal Firms in London Beat Their Competitors?
•  Legal Services Competition Analysis: Crisp & Co vs Slater and Gordon Lawyers

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