Category Curves aggregate and analyze the performance of all domains within specific categories across a landscape in SiteCurve.
They provide a centralized view of how entire categories and their constituent niches, business models, and website types are performing. By tracking traffic, rankings, share of voice, and keyword trends, Category Curves allow users to understand market dynamics and identify opportunities within a category over time.
The "curves" in Category Curves refer to the time-based trends we track for each category, such as estimated traffic, share of voice, and widget-specific metrics (e.g., AI Overviews, Featured Snippets). These trends help you visualize how categories evolve and shift in competitive landscapes.
How Category Curves Work
Category Aggregation
All domains ranking for keywords within a category are aggregated into a single view.
Users can further segment categories by niches, business models, or website types.
Category Curve Features
Each Category Curve provides:
Traffic Trends: Aggregated estimated traffic and share of voice % for all domains in the category.
Keyword Insights: Total keywords ranking within the category, along with keyword performance trends.
Domain Rankings: Lists of domains and their traffic, rankings, and performance metrics within the category.
Widget-Specific Data: Visibility and ownership of SERP widgets such as Featured Snippets, AI Overviews, or People Also Ask.
Discussions & Alerts: Centralized discussions and alerts tied to the category or its domains for additional context.
Dynamic Views
Winners and Losers: Identifies domains that are gaining or losing traffic, rankings, or traffic within the category.
Keyword and Domain Insights: Drill down to analyze specific keywords or domains driving the category's performance.
Filter by Widgets: Focus on specific SERP widgets to track visibility and ownership for categories and their domains.
Why Use Category Curves?
Market Intelligence: Gain a broader understanding of the competitive dynamics within a category.
Comprehensive Insights: Analyze all domains, keywords, and widgets tied to a category in one place.
Custom Segmentation: Focus on specific niches, business models, or website types to align with your objectives.
Real-Time Alerts: Stay informed about performance shifts within a category.
Widget-Specific Opportunities: Tailor strategies by tracking visibility and ownership of SERP widgets like AI Overviews.
Best Practices for Using Category Curves
Follow Categories: Add important categories to your portfolio for quick access and updates.
Monitor Winners and Losers: Regularly track changes to identify new opportunities or emerging competitors.
Segment Data: Use filters to analyze categories by niches, business models, or website types for granular insights.
Widget-Specific Focus: Pay attention to widget metrics to uncover trends in Featured Snippets, AI Overviews, or other SERP features.
Set Alerts: Enable custom alerts for performance changes in key categories.
FAQs About Category Curves
What are Category Curves, and how are they different from SiteCurves?
Category Curves aggregate data for all domains in a specific category, providing a market-wide view. SiteCurves focus on individual domain performance.
Can I drill down further within a category?
Yes, you can explore niches, business models, or website types within a category for deeper insights.
How are winners and losers determined in Category Curves?
Winners and losers are based on performance metrics such as traffic, share of voice, or widget visibility changes over time.
How are discussions and alerts integrated?
Discussions and alerts tied to domains or keywords in a category are aggregated here for additional context and collaboration. If a user comments on a domain and that domain exists within a category you’re looking at in the Category Curve module, you will see that comment.
Where do the categories come from?
When a landscape is created, SiteCurve uses an AI model to label each keyword with an associated category and niche. Each keyword you add to SiteCurve will get assigned a category and niche which translates into the categories you see in Category Curves.