Search results show that your competition is ranking higher than you.
You have done all of the basic competitor research such as:
- Find competitors
- Analyse their product offerings
- Learn more about their prices
Problem is? The problem is that you aren't finding the information that you need.
What's the solution? Google Advanced Image Search.
It is one of the most under-utilized tools for competitor research.
This tool is used by most people to locate images of specific places or image sizes. However, digital marketers who are skilled take this tool one step further.
The filters can be used to analyze the marketing strategies of your competitors and, over time, you will improve yours while ranking higher on Google.
Before we get to the tips and strategies, let us first go over what Google Advanced Image Search actually is. Also, how do the filters work.
What is Google Advanced Image Search?
Google Advanced Image Search allows you to have complete control over Google Images.
You can stop scrolling through thousands upon thousands of images to find the right image. Advanced image search allows you to focus on specific details, returning more precise search results.
The feature is used by most people to save time, find images with a certain size or images published in a specific area. However, digital marketers who are skilled use it to spy on their competitors.
Are you curious?
Let's look at how to use Google Advanced Image Search for your advantage.
How to use Google Advanced Image Search
Google Advanced Image Search is simple to use. I will show you where to find the dashboard, and how each advanced filter can help refine your search results.
Here are the steps to access the advanced image search dashboard
Step 1You can go to images.google.com, or click the “Images tab” from a regular search.
Step 2Click the gear icon at the top right-hand corner.
Step 3Choose advanced search from the drop down menu.
Advanced image search dashboards will load with additional filter options to help narrow down your search.
These are the ways you can filter your image results:
This is the exact word or phrase you are looking for:It is similar to searching for “[keyword]” using a text-based query. It can be used to search for images that contain a complete phrase such as “black cats” in the file name or alt text.
Any one of these words could be:You can search for more words. You can use “OR” between the words that you wish to include. For example, black OR cats OR dogs.
None of these words are correct:Use the minus sign to filter out certain words or phrases from your search. For example, -Eiffel Tower.
Image size:This indicates the size of an image in pixels. You can choose Large, Medium, Small or Icon. Or, you can specify images larger than a certain size. The larger the number, both in size and quality, the better the image.
Aspect ratioYou can refine your search using an image's aspect ratio. This refers to the ratio of an image’s width to its highest point. Filter by widening your search results.
Image color:Are you looking for an image in a specific color? This feature allows you to narrow your search by determining whether the image is full color, black-and white, transparent, or in a particular color such as yellow, pink, green, and so forth.
Type of file:Sometimes, you need a logo with transparent backgrounds and in PNG format. This filter will limit the results to what you prefer. You can choose from GIF, JPEG or BMP as well as RAW.
RegionSelect a country to view published photos from that part of the globe.
Site or domainLimit your search results to images from one website only
Image usage rights:This filter allows you to identify images that the public can use for free and images that are not. Filter by Creative Commons licenses or Commercial licenses.
Tips for using Google Advanced Image Search to Conduct Competitive Research
We now know the various filters available on Google Advanced Image Search. Let's see how this tool can help you win over your competition.
Search for Competitors using a Specific Word/ Phrase to Find Images
It doesn't matter if you're just starting out or have been in the business for a while, knowing who your competitors is important.
Why?
You can adjust your digital marketing strategy to beat, outwit and outlast your direct competitors if you are familiar with them.
Let's suppose you are selling bamboo laptop stands on an e-commerce website. To find sites that sell “buy bamboo laptop stand”, you could use the filters “this exact word” and “region”.
Advanced image search allows you to take this one step further. You can not only see your direct competitors, but also analyze their marketing materials.
Are they creating an infographic? Do they use lifestyle product photography? What are their methods of naming images?
All this information can be used to visually sell your products or services, and even generate ideas for future blog posts.
To find guest blogging opportunities, use the Reverse Image Search
Is guest blogging part your link-building strategy
You're missing out on the many backlink opportunities available to you.
- Your brand should be a thought leader.
- Get qualified traffic to your site.
It can be time-consuming to search the internet for the best guest posting opportunities.
Except if you are using reverse image searches.
This feature will help you locate guest-posting opportunities for competitors that have contributed to growing their authority.
How do you explain?
You can simply reverse image search the headshot for the author of your article.
This will give you a list of your competitors who are guest blogging, and their posts. It will also show you all the information you need to outdo them.
Next, find the right sites for you. Focus on websites that offer high ROI (website traffic, engagement rates), and appeal to your target market.
After you have a list of potential guests, it's time to start working on your pitch. Guest bloggers make their own articles, which is why 87 percent want to share new ideas with editors.
Do your research and suggest article topics that demonstrate your expertise and teach the audience something. Also, consider a topic that the site hasn’t covered before.
Keep in mind that there is a lot of competition for guest posts on sites with high authority. Moz accepts only one pitch per ten pitches.
Check out the Time Feature to Find Out What's Hot
The “time” feature in Google Advanced Image Search is a goldmine for fashion brands.
After you have set your parameters, you can filter the timelines by:
- Anytime
- The past 24 hours
- Past week
- Past month
- Past year
This is a great tool to find out what's hot in your industry.
Let's take, for example, the retro floral print dresses that are making a comeback. This filter will allow you to see the response of your competitors to this trend. It also allows you to answer questions such as:
- Which colors are they using
- What is the most popular style of dress? Maxi? Maxi?
- This is what's currently in stock
- What are the brands that have adopted this trend?
To see only images from one country, you can use the “Region filter” to drill down.
Create better product descriptions
What impact do product descriptions have on sales?
There are many things to do in the digital world.
Search engines use product descriptions to rank products in text results, shopping tabs, and image searches.
You might as well not be at the top if you don't appear there.
iHeartRaves shares a Shopify case study that shows how optimizing product page titles, meta description, and URLs increased their organic traffic by 130% and their conversion rates by 22.59%.
Would you like to find out what keywords and copy are generating these results if you were a competitor to iHeartRaves?
You do, of course!
Google Advanced Image Search allows you to do this.
You can use the domain filter to enter a keyword that is related to the product or service you are selling.
You can hover over the results to see the keywords that your competitor used for the product name.
This is particularly useful if your products are sold on Amazon.
Google Advanced Image Search Frequently Asked Question
How can I perform an advanced image search in Google?
Go to images.google.com and click the gear icon to open its settings menu. Click on advanced search to continue. You will see a new dashboard where you can refine your search by using the filters.
How can you do a reverse image search on your phone?
Open the Google app on your phone and type in the URL google.com/advanced_image_search. You can then enter your search parameters into the dashboard.
How do I refine Google Image Search?
Advanced functionality allows you to refine your Google Image Search. You can use the filters in the advanced image search dashboard to modify the results. You can refine your search using size, color and usage rights.
Which reverse image search is best?
Google Images is the best reverse image search tool. Bing is a top contender for the number 1 spot. One of the best features of Bing's search engine is its image search.
Google Advanced Image Search: Conclusion
Use the advanced filters next time you do competitor research.
Google is a search engine that performs 5.6 billion searches per day. Knowing all the capabilities and functionality of Google will help you rank higher in search results and outperform your competitors.
Google Advanced Image Search is a great way to save time and find guest posting opportunities. It also helps you identify the most relevant keywords for product descriptions. You can also analyze what visual content your competitors are ranking.
How can you use Google advanced images search in your business?
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By: Neil Patel
Title: How to Use Google Advanced Image Search for Competitive Research
Sourced From: neilpatel.com/blog/google-advanced-image-search/
Published Date: Mon, 02 Aug 2021 18:00:00 +0000