How to Do SEO Competitor Analysis: A Simple Guide [With Free Template]

Have you ever wondered why your competitors keep outranking you in search results? SEO competitor analysis shows how businesses can decode their competitors’ success stories and find gaps they can use to their advantage. This smart move helps companies learn what works in their industry without getting too pricey with trial and error.

Your rankings drop or competitors zoom past you? A full picture of your SEO competition becomes crucial. Looking at how competitors target keywords, build backlinks, and plan content lets businesses copy winning moves while taking advantage of weak spots. On top of that, it reveals powerful keywords where competitors rank well and highlights areas where your site needs work.

Smart businesses stay ahead by spotting keyword opportunities early. They figure out what content their users love and which SEO strategies work best in their market. The whole thing involves collecting organic traffic data, exploring competitor websites, and finding keyword gaps. These steps are a great way to get ahead of the competition.

This piece simplifies the complete SEO competitor analysis into clear, useful steps. We’ll cover everything from finding your real SEO competitors to building a detailed report. You’ll see practical examples and get a free template that makes the whole process easier.

Identify Your Real SEO Competitors

Your first step in any SEO strategy should be finding the right competitors to analyze. Most businesses focus only on their direct business rivals and miss their actual SEO competition.

Use keyword-based search to find competitors

The best way to start SEO competitor analysis is knowing who you’re actually competing against in search results. You can identify these competitors through keyword-based searches. Make a list of keywords your potential customers might use to find your products or services, then Google these terms. The websites that keep showing up in top positions for your target keywords are your likely SEO competitors.

Keyword research shows what terms help your competitors rank and drive traffic to their sites. This knowledge lets you improve your keyword strategy and get more website visits.

Here are some keyword-based methods that work well:

• Google your main products or services and track which websites appear often
• Check both organic and paid results to spot serious players in your space
• Visit social platforms like Reddit and Quora to see what brands your target audience suggests for problems you solve

Differentiate between direct and SEO competitors

You need to know the difference between SEO competitors and business competitors. SEO competitors are websites that rank for the same keywords in organic search as you do. They might not even sell similar products or services.

To cite an instance, HubSpot ranks for “how to make infographics” but doesn’t compete directly with infographic design tools. Industry publications, blogs, and educational resources might target your keywords without selling competing products.

Business partnerships can create unexpected SEO rivalries. Take flooring retailers who sell products from manufacturers like Shaw and Daltile. These companies have good business relationships but compete for the same flooring-related keywords.

Your SEO strategy will miss opportunities if you only watch direct business competitors. The best approach is to monitor all websites ranking for your target terms, not just those selling similar products.

Use tools like Semrush or Ahrefs for discovery

Manual searches give you a starting point, but specialized SEO tools are a great way to get deeper competitor insights. These platforms help you find and analyze SEO competitors using various metrics and features.

Semrush works really well for competitor discovery. Just put your domain into the Organic Research tool and check the “Competitors” tab to find domains sharing the most keyword rankings with yours. You can sort keywords to see first-page rankings and compare them with yours.

Ahrefs also gives you powerful competitor identification features:

1. Put your domain in Site Explorer
2. Check the Organic Competitors report to find websites ranking for the same keywords
3. New sites without rankings can use Keywords Explorer with potential customer search terms, then look at “Traffic share by domain”

Moz Pro’s True Competitor tool helps you find SERP-based competitors using metrics like Overlap and Rivalry to focus your research.

These tools show you competitor keywords, backlink profiles, and content strategies—information you need to shape your SEO approach. They also help you separate high and low-authority competitors, so you can focus on realistic competition instead of established brands with too much domain authority.

Finding your true SEO competitors—beyond just business rivals—builds the foundation for effective competitive analysis that targets the right websites and reveals real opportunities to improve.

Analyze Keyword and Content Gaps

Your next crucial step after identifying competitors is to analyze how your keyword strategy differs from theirs. This analysis will help you find opportunities to grow your SEO presence in areas where competitors currently lead.

Run a keyword gap analysis

A keyword gap analysis looks at how your website’s traffic-driving keywords stack up against your competitors’. You’ll find terms that work well for them but aren’t part of your strategy yet. These gaps show where you can improve your SEO approach.

The right SEO competitor analysis tools will help you get started. Semrush’s Keyword Gap tool lets you compare your domain with up to four competitors’ domains. You can select your target location and click “Compare” to get a complete report that shows where keywords overlap and where opportunities exist.

The analysis breaks down keywords into these segments:

• Missing – Keywords all competitors rank for, but you don’t
• Weak – Keywords where competitors outrank you
• Untapped – Terms at least one competitor ranks for, but you don’t

This comparison method helps you learn about your market better than basic keyword research because it focuses on what your competition is doing rather than just finding relevant industry terms.

Find missing and untapped keywords

The next step is to look at your analysis results and spot high-potential missing and untapped keywords. Check the “Missing” tab in your keyword gap tool to find terms that all analyzed competitors rank for but you don’t.

You can narrow down these results with strategic filters:

• Set the “Position” filter to focus on keywords where competitors rank in the top 10
• Use the “KD” (Keyword Difficulty) filter to find keywords with scores under 50 for easier ranking opportunities

New domains with limited authority should focus on keywords that are easier to rank for (KD scores between 0-49). The “Weak” tab will show you keywords where you already rank but competitors do better—these often give you quick wins through content optimization.

Untapped keywords might show you whole topic areas your competitors cover that you haven’t touched. Review each keyword based on:

• Search intent (informational, transactional, commercial)
• Monthly search volume
• Keyword difficulty
• Business relevance and conversion potential

Keep lists of promising keywords to review and implement later.

Map keywords to content opportunities

The last step maps your newly found keywords to specific content opportunities. This strategy helps you avoid keyword cannibalization and tap into the full potential of your site’s SEO.

Start by organizing your keywords into topic clusters—groups of related terms that share similar intent. This clustering lets you:

• Create complete pillar pages targeting main topics
• Develop supporting content addressing subtopics
• Build topical authority through related content

Look at your keyword gaps next to your existing content. For each gap you find, decide whether to:

1. Optimize existing content that underperforms for these keywords
2. Create entirely new content to target missing keyword opportunities
3. Expand current content to incorporate additional relevant terms

Your keyword mapping should prioritize business potential, search volume, traffic potential, and ranking difficulty. This approach helps you focus on the most valuable opportunities first.

The final step is to optimize your pages by putting keywords in strategic locations:

• Page URLs
• Meta titles and descriptions
• Headings and subheadings
• Body content

This methodical approach to keyword gap analysis turns competitor insights into applicable content opportunities that can boost your SEO performance by a lot.

Evaluate Competitor Content Strategy

Your competitors’ content strategies can teach you vital lessons to shape your SEO approach. Looking at keyword gaps should lead you to learn how they build, show, and fine-tune their content for both search engines and users.

Check content types and formats

The content your competitors create shows their overall game plan. Look at how often they publish—regular posting patterns tell you when their readers are most active. To cite an instance, weekend posts suggest their audience likes to read during those times.

Group their content into different types:

• Blog posts and articles
• Videos and tutorials
• Infographics and visual content
• Case studies and whitepapers
• Product guides and comparison pages

Watch if they focus on fresh content or update old pages. This pattern shows whether they get traffic from new ideas or by improving evergreen content. Their site’s main menu shows their key topic clusters and tells you how they group related content.

Assess content quality and depth

The quality of competitor content reveals ways to beat them with better material. Look at their content from different angles:

Their writing style and tone can tell you a lot—do they sound formal or casual? Do they inform or entertain? This helps you shape your content to strike a chord with the same target audience.

Content depth and coverage come next. Shallow or outdated competitor content gives you a chance to create richer, current resources. Tools like Surfer can help you check content scores, topic coverage, and keyword use.

Good formatting makes content easy to read and keeps users engaged. Your competitors’ use of headings, subheadings, bullet points, and visuals matters. Poor formatting drives readers away quickly, giving you another edge.

Google’s quality rater guidelines stress content that shows expertise, experience, authority, and trust (E-E-A-T). Good content should cover topics fully and offer smart insights beyond basic facts.

Look for featured snippets and SERP features

SERP features can boost your visibility without needing the top organic spot. Check which SERP features your competitors have won, especially featured snippets that show up in “position zero” above regular search results.

Featured snippets come in different styles for various searches:

1. Definition boxes: Short explanations (usually 40-60 words) for “what is” questions
2. Table snippets: Data shown in tables
3. Ordered lists: Step-by-step guides or ranked items
4. Unordered lists: Bullet points of related info

Tools like Ahrefs or Semrush help find your competitors’ featured snippets. Ahrefs’ Site Explorer lets you see “Organic keywords → SERP Features → Featured snippets” to find keywords where they’ve grabbed this prime spot.

Other SERP features to watch include People Also Ask boxes, knowledge panels, and image packs. The SERP features your competitors own show how Google values their content and where you might find new chances.

A deep look at your competitors’ content strategies will help you create better, well-structured content that works for both search engines and users.

Compare Backlink Profiles

Backlinks are the life-blood of search engine rankings, yet many SEO professionals don’t take time to review their competitors’ backlink profiles. A full picture of competitor backlink profiles reveals great linking chances and helps identify gaps in your own link-building strategy.

Use backlink gap tools to find linking domains

Backlink gap analysis shows which websites link to competitors but not to your site. These sites present prime chances to expand your own backlink profile. Several specialized tools make this process quick and straightforward.

Semrush’s Backlink Gap tool stands out with side-by-side comparisons. You can compare your domain with up to four competitors at once. The tool groups backlinks into “Best” (high-authority domains linking to multiple competitors but not you), “Weak and Strong” (that indicates link quality), and “Shared and Unique” (domains linking to all competitors or just one competitor). This grouping helps you focus outreach efforts based on potential effects.

Here’s how to run a backlink gap analysis in Semrush:

1. Go to the Backlink Gap tool
2. Enter your domain and up to four competing domains
3. Click “Find prospects”
4. Look at the visual charts showing Authority Scores and referring domains
5. Review the table showing your best backlink prospects

Ahrefs provides similar features through its Link Intersect tool. This report displays domains and URLs linking to competitors but not to you. You can sort and filter results to spot the most valuable chances after entering your domain and competitors (two works best).

Moz Link Explorer gives similar insights through its Link Intersect tool. You’ll learn about domains linking to multiple competitors. These websites already link within your industry, which makes them more likely to respond to outreach requests.

Identify high-authority referring domains

Quality beats quantity in backlink analysis. High-authority referring domains bring better SEO benefits than many low-quality links.

These quality indicators matter when you review potential link sources:

• Domain authority or trust scores
• Relevance to your industry
• Traffic potential
• Link type (follow vs. nofollow)
• Content quality and topical relevance

Ahrefs’ Domain Rating (DR) and Semrush’s Authority Score help measure domain strength. Google doesn’t use these proprietary metrics directly. They serve as helpful guides to assess potential link value.

Research shows a clear connection between referring domains and organic traffic. Ahrefs found that the number of referring domains to a page affects rankings more than any other backlink factor. Your site needs links from reputable industry sites to pages you want to rank.

Spot lost and broken backlinks for outreach

Broken link building gives you another chance found through competitor analysis. This approach lets you find broken links pointing to competitor pages and suggest your content instead.

Here’s how to find broken backlinks:

1. Check Semrush’s “Broken Pages” report in Backlink Analytics for 404 pages with backlinks
2. Export this data for outreach planning
3. Create better content to replace the missing resource
4. Reach out to webmasters with your content as a solution

You should also look for lost backlinks in competitors’ profiles. These sites previously linked to competitors but removed those links. Since they showed they were willing to link to similar content before, they might welcome your outreach.

A systematic review of competitor backlink profiles uncovers valuable chances to boost your own link-building strategy. This knowledge helps you target quality domains already linking in your industry. Your outreach efforts become more successful and your search rankings improve.

Audit Technical SEO and Site Performance

Technical SEO sets successful websites apart from their competitors. A deep technical audit that compares your site’s performance with competitors gives you a clear picture of what needs improvement and where you might have an edge.

Compare Core Web Vitals and page speed

Core Web Vitals directly affect user experience and search rankings. These metrics show how real users experience your site in three ways:

• Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): Measures loading performance—should be under 2.5 seconds for good user experience
• Interaction to Next Paint (INP): Shows responsiveness—should stay under 200 milliseconds
• Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): Shows visual stability—should be less than 0.1

Google includes Core Web Vitals in its ranking algorithm, making them crucial for SEO competitor analysis. Real user data (field data) affects rankings, while lab test scores don’t influence search positions.

Google PageSpeed Insights helps you analyze your site and competitors. This tool shows field data that reveals how real users experience different sites, which helps spot performance gaps in your SEO strategy.

Check mobile responsiveness and schema markup

Modern SEO demands mobile optimization. Google rewards fast-loading mobile sites, and mobile-responsive design naturally puts performance first. WebPageTest lets you check mobile-friendliness by entering different domains and comparing results.

Schema markup (structured data) helps search engines understand page content better. Rich snippets can make your site stand out in search results. Rotten Tomatoes saw a 25% higher click-through rate on pages with structured data. Look for competitors’ schema-enhanced listings like FAQs, reviews, or business hours.

Review URL structure and crawlability

Clean URL structures help search engines crawl and understand your site better. Your competitor analysis should look at:

• Keywords in URLs
• Clean, easy-to-read URLs
• URLs that match page content

Check crawlability through competitors’ robots.txt files and XML sitemaps. You’ll find these at competitor-website.com/robots.txt to see crawler restrictions. Their XML sitemaps (usually at /sitemap.xml) show how they structure their sites.

Add these technical findings to your SEO competitor analysis template along with content and backlink data. This creates a full picture of where technical improvements could give you an advantage.

Use the SEO Competitor Analysis Template

A well-laid-out SEO competitor analysis template makes the whole process smoother and will give you consistent reviews across competitors. Your template helps turn raw data into applicable information that shapes strategic decisions.

Fill in keyword, backlink, and content data

Start by adding competitor data from previous analyzes to your template. Export your findings from Semrush’s Keyword Gap tool or Ahrefs directly into your template. Semrush’s export function needs specific adjustments:

• Replace zeros with 100 in the ranking data (E3:I columns) so algorithms interpret unranked keywords correctly
• Add filters that exclude branded terms from analysis where needed

Your earlier research provides essential backlink data. These metrics matter most:

• Total referring domains
• Authority scores (Domain Rating/Authority Score)
• Distribution of backlinks across authority tiers (0-10, 11-30, 31-60, 61+)
• Traffic estimates for referring domains

Score competitors using a checklist

Data import leads to competitor evaluation against a standardized checklist. Strong scoring systems look at:

• Keyword coverage and ranking positions
• Content quality metrics (word count, readability)
• Backlink profile strength (quantity and quality)
• Technical SEO performance (Core Web Vitals scores)
• Social media presence and engagement metrics

This scoring method reveals where competitors shine or struggle, which guides your SEO strategy. Screaming Frog helps enhance this review by calculating metrics like the ratio of indexed pages with backlinks to total pages.

Generate a simple SEO competitor analysis report

Your findings come together in a cohesive report. Effective SEO competitor analysis reports showcase:

• Competitor strengths you should copy
• Weaknesses that create immediate opportunities
• Untapped keywords with major traffic potential
• Content gaps needing new resources
• Backlink opportunities from domains linking to multiple competitors

Modern tools provide automated reporting features. Semrush’s My Reports tool comes with customizable competitor analysis report templates that gather key information about rival websites automatically. Monthly scheduled reports create a consistent way to measure progress.

Recording these findings helps transform competitor data into strategic direction for your SEO work.

Turn Insights into SEO Wins

Getting competitor data is just the first step in SEO competitor analysis. The real value comes from turning this information into strategic actions that deliver measurable results.

Your findings need proper prioritization based on patterns in keywords, content quality, technical SEO, backlinks, and user experience. Successful competitor tactics, sudden changes in rankings, and performance gaps deserve special attention. These patterns show which improvements will best boost your visibility and traffic.

The next step involves turning these insights into SMART goals that line up with business objectives:

• Specific: Define clear actions (e.g., “Publish three new pages targeting specific keyword clusters”)
• Measurable: Link goals to concrete metrics like rankings or traffic
• Achievable: Set challenging yet realistic targets
• Relevant: Focus on actions directly affecting conversions
• Time-bound: Add deadlines for accountability

Content improvements should focus on creating better resources instead of matching competitors. Your superior content could replace competitor links on third-party sites through strategic outreach. Competitor technical SEO weaknesses present opportunities to gain advantages through better site health.

A well-laid-out dashboard organizing findings by competitor, keyword, and SEO element helps maintain momentum. Teams can track progress while staying focused on high-impact actions.

Note that SEO competitor analysis requires ongoing attention. Success depends on setting up alerts for new competitor content, backlinks, and ranking changes. Quarterly competitive analysis helps adapt to algorithm changes and evolving competitor strategies. This consistent process helps you keep up with trends in the ever-changing search landscape.

FAQs

Q1. What is SEO competitor analysis and why is it important?
SEO competitor analysis involves examining the online strategies of other businesses in your industry to improve your own search engine rankings. It’s crucial because it helps you understand successful tactics, identify opportunities, and avoid costly mistakes in your SEO efforts.

Q2. How do I identify my true SEO competitors?
To identify your real SEO competitors, use keyword-based searches for terms relevant to your business, check both organic and paid results, and utilize tools like Semrush or Ahrefs. Remember, SEO competitors may differ from your direct business rivals.

Q3. What should I focus on when analyzing competitor content?
When evaluating competitor content, examine the types and formats they use, assess content quality and depth, and look for featured snippets and SERP features. Pay attention to writing style, comprehensiveness, and how they structure information.

Q4. How can I use backlink analysis to improve my SEO?
Backlink analysis helps you find high-quality linking opportunities. Use backlink gap tools to identify domains linking to competitors but not to you, focus on high-authority referring domains, and look for broken or lost backlinks that you can potentially acquire.

Q5. What technical aspects should I consider in SEO competitor analysis?
When conducting technical SEO analysis, compare Core Web Vitals and page speed, check mobile responsiveness and schema markup, and review URL structure and crawlability. These factors significantly impact search rankings and user experience.