Did you realize that Facebook was originally known as ‘The Facebook,’ that Twitter was written ‘twttr,’ and that YouTube began as a dating service?
Incidentally – on the subject of Twitter, we have an account so go follow us!
Did you know that typing “relentless.com” into your browser would take you to Amazon?
What Am I Getting At?
This hack necessitates the use of archive.org, also known as the “Way Back Machine.”
For those that don’t know, “archive.org,” also known as The Internet Archive, started archiving the Internet in 1995 when it was still a relatively new concept and medium.
The material published on the internet, like that in newspapers, was ephemeral; but, unlike newspapers, no one was saving it.
Simply put, if their bot detects the site, it will take a screenshot of the homepage on a regular basis. They have over 340 billion web pages in their archive!
The SEO Use Of The “Way Back Machine”
From an SEO use-case, you can resurrect an old website, power it up again, and send the traffic to your money site.
If you’re interested in a rival or competitor, find out what worked and what didn’t.
It’s that simple.
Say that you’re a clothes company and you’re thinking of selling kid’s boots – if your competitor was selling them three years ago but stopped then that basically tells you that they struggled.
Also, for example, what programs, for example, did they try to launch?
If they aren’t still providing the service, it obviously didn’t work out for them.
Examine the goods or services that are still prominently displayed on the homepage. If they remain constant, you can assume that that function has always been common.
Split-testing the homepage can be an expensive process that necessitates numerous variations and tweaks to find the right tone and post. You can pull up monthly or quarterly screenshots of your key competitor(s) to see how they progressed over time using a hack like this.
Overall, I’d strongly advise you to use this archive.org method, known as the “Wayback Machine,” while investigating your competitors.