Ever wonder why some websites keep outranking the rest? It’s rarely luck. SEO competitive analysis is the practice of studying your top rivals, learning how they drive traffic, and using those insights to sharpen your own game. By breaking down what’s working for others, you see opportunities you might have missed and spot gaps in your current approach. Let’s look at the detailed steps to perform a SEO competitive analysis.
It’s not just about copying what works for someone else. It’s about understanding the bigger picture—keywords, backlinks, on-page tactics, and content strategy. Getting a real look at the competition helps you stay a step ahead, make smarter choices, and avoid blindly guessing what will help you grow. This approach lays the groundwork for a strong, adaptable SEO strategy (and a little peace of mind when Google rolls out another update).
In this guide, you’ll learn a proven process to analyze your SEO competitors and extract insights to boost your rankings. Two of my favorite sites are backlinko.com and semrush.com.
- Understanding Why an SEO Competitive Analysis is Essential
- Identifying Your True SEO Competitors
- Understand Your Niche Better
- Beat the Competition
- How to Perform an SEO Competitor Analysis
- How to Find Your Competitors
- Step 3: Check the Authority Score of Your Competitors
- Keyword Gap Analysis
- Find Keywords Your Competitors Have Lost
- New Keywords
- Content Analysis
- Content Type
- Content Quality
- Meta Titles and Descriptions
- Featured Snippets
- Readability
- Backlink Analysis
- Technical SEO Analysis
- Technical SEO Analysis: Website Performance and User Experience (UX)
- Technical SEO Analysis: URL Structure
- Technical SEO Analysis: Mobile Responsiveness
- Technical SEO Analysis: Schema Markup
- How Often Should You Perform An SEO Competitor Analysis?
- Conducting Competitive Analysis After Major Algorithm Updates
- Your Final Step in SEO Competitive Mastery
- Studying your competitors shines a light on where your SEO stands
- Blogs you may be interested in:
Understanding Why an SEO Competitive Analysis is Essential
The internet runs on competition, especially when it comes to search. Your website’s spot on the results page depends not only on your own effort, but on how strong your competitors are. That’s why regular, honest SEO competitive analysis is non-negotiable. It’s about taking off the blindfold—seeing exactly who’s doing well, where they’re falling short, and what doors are open for you. By looking under the hood of your rivals’ SEO, you get more than just a snapshot; you get a routine roadmap to smarter strategy and real growth. Whether you’re running a niche blog or a growing e-commerce brand, knowing why and how to analyze competitors lets you work smarter—not just harder.
Identifying Your True SEO Competitors
Not every business down the street is your digital competitor. In search, your real opponents are the websites that rank highest for the keywords that matter to you. Sometimes, these aren’t brands you’ve ever even heard of offline.
A few things to keep in mind:
- SEO competitors may differ from real-world competitors. The local bakery may not post recipes, but a big food blog competing for “best sourdough recipe” will go head-to-head with yours online.
- Online rivals can change by keyword or topic. A site that outranks you for “vegan protein bars” might not compete for “snack recipes for kids.”
- You need to know who you’re fighting for search traffic. Just like in sports, studying your rivals’ moves gives you an edge.
When you’re new to competitive analysis, spend time searching your most important keywords. The top results are your starting lineup of rivals.
Understand Your Niche Better
Starting in a new niche without knowing who you’re up against is a bit like playing a board game without reading the rules first. Before you dive in, use competitor research to get a lay of the land.
Here’s what to look for:
- What products or services are competitors offering? Does their catalog line up with customer demand, or is there something missing?
- How strong are their backlinks, keywords, and content? Make note of who dominates the conversation, and where there are weaknesses.
- Which competitors show obvious gaps? Sometimes, you spot markets they’re not serving, content they’re not writing, or services they’re missing.
Competitor analysis will open your eyes to:
- Untapped opportunities for content or products.
- Weaknesses in business models you can improve upon.
- Fresh inspiration for both what to aim for and what to avoid.
Shaping your strategy this way helps you compete directly and discover hidden potential that bigger brands might miss.
Beat the Competition
The real goal: win more share. SEO competitive analysis isn’t an academic exercise; it’s a practical routine to help you overtake the competition.
A few direct benefits:
- Find keywords they’ve ignored or lost ground on.
- Create better, stronger content where they’re weak.
- Spot backlink partners they don’t have.
- Fix your own weak spots before they do.
Getting this right means you set your site up not just to compete, but to consistently outrank.
How to Perform an SEO Competitor Analysis
Making sense of your competitors’ SEO starts with the right approach. Here’s the process I follow:
- Find Your Rivals
- Analyze Their Strengths and Weaknesses
- Measure How You Stack Up
You’ll cover four main areas:
- Keyword analysis
- Content analysis
- Backlink analysis
- Technical SEO analysis
This method will highlight why some sites get more clicks and show you exactly what to change on your own.
How to Find Your Competitors
You can’t analyze rivals until you know who they are. There are two straightforward ways to do it:
Step 1: Manual Search
- Look up your main keywords on Google.
- Write down the top-ranking sites you see over and over.
- Log the top domains for each target keyword.
Step 2: Use Semrush to Find Organic Competitors Quickly
- In Semrush, go to “Domain Overview” and enter your domain.
- Scroll to the “Main Organic Competitors” section.
- Click “View details” to see more data: traffic, common keywords, shared audience.
Finding your organic competitors on Semrush is super easy and can save you a lot of time.
First, click on “Domain Overview” and type in your URL:
Then scroll down to the bottom, and you’ll find a section called “Main Organic Competitors”
These competitors are websites that are ranking for similar keywords and targeting similar audiences as you are.
If you click on the “View details” button, you’ll be able to review all your competitors as well as more insightful info.
You can look at how many common keywords you share with these domains, and the amount of traffic these sites are pulling in:
The “Common Keywords” section is useful as it shows you the total number of keywords you share with each site.
If you see sites with a high number of common keywords, then you can consider them your competitors.
At the end of this step, you should have identified at least 4-5 main organic competitors.
Step 3: Check the Authority Score of Your Competitors
Consider authority like a website’s reputation score with Google and other engines. High authority usually means tougher competition.
Key factors in site authority:
- High-quality, expert content
- Solid backlink profiles
- Strong E-E-A-T (expertise, experience, authority, trust)
- Established reputation and brand signals
To check your own and your competitors’ authority scores, use:
- Semrush’s “Domain Overview” for your site
- “Bulk Backlink Analysis” to compare many competitors at once
Add every competitor’s authority score to your spreadsheet. If you’re up against highly trusted institutions, you’ll need a clear plan to build your own authority over time.
So, the first thing you’d need to do is take note of your authority score to see where you stand.
Head back over to “Domain Overview” and type your domain name in, hit “Search” and you’ll see your Authority Score:
Now, you need to check the authority score of each of the competitors you’ve listed in your spreadsheet.
Given that you need to analyze the authority score of several websites at once, I’d recommend using Semrush’s Bulk Backlink Analysis tool. This allows you to check the authority of several domains at once.
To use this tool, paste in the URLs of the competitors you have identified.
Here’s how it should look:
After you hit “Compare“, you’ll be able to see the authority score of each of your competitors:
In your spreadsheet, add the AS for each of your competitors.
Keyword Gap Analysis
Now that you know your key competitors, put yourself in the running for traffic they’re getting (that you’re not). Keyword gap analysis finds all the relevant search terms your competition is outranking you for.
To do this with Semrush:
- Paste your domain and those of your top competitors into their “Keyword Gap” tool.
- Use the “Missing” tab to view keywords your site doesn’t rank for but competitors do.
- Flag only the relevant ones—don’t try to chase every single term.
You can:
- Optimize existing pages for these keywords.
- Create entirely new content to fill these gaps.
Identifying these keyword gaps also ensures you stay competitive.
With the help of Semrush’s Keyword Gap tool, performing a keyword gap analysis is incredibly easy to carry out.
To use this tool, all you’ve got to do is paste in your URL, alongside the URLs of your 4 main competitors, like so:
After you hit the “Compare” button, scroll down to the “All keyword details for” section…
…and click on the “Missing” tab.
Here, you’ll see all the keywords that your competitors rank for, but you don’t.
In the image above, you can see 1.2K missing keywords.
Does this mean you have to grab them all?
Not at all.
Not all keywords will be relevant, so you’ll need to go through the list to find the keywords more pertinent to your site.
This can take a while but luckily you don’t have to copy and paste each keyword you want into a spreadsheet.
Semrush has a feature called Keyword Strategy Builder that allows you to create keyword lists that you can add keywords.
So, while you scroll through your list, you can simply tick the box next to the relevant keywords you find, then click the “+ Add to keyword list” button:
When you click on “+ Add to keyword list”, you’ll be given the option to “Create a new empty list.”
Name your list and export your chosen keywords as an Excel file when you are happy with your selection.
Hit the “Export” button on the far right, and select the “Excel” option:
…and then import the file into Excel for further analysis.
Alternatively, you can choose to export all the keywords.
To do this, hit the “All” option.
Open up Excel, import the file, and start analyzing the search terms. Keep the ones you need and delete the ones you don’t.
Moving on, another useful tab in the Keyword Gap tool is the “Untapped” tab:
Here, you’ll be able to see keywords that at least one of your competitors rank for, but others don’t.
You will find some hidden gems here and there, but the “Missing” tab should be your main port of call.
By performing a keyword gap analysis, you also perform a content gap analysis to some extent. Uncovering these keywords can lead to new content ideas.
Find Keywords Your Competitors Have Lost
Every SEO slip is a chance for someone else to win. When a competitor loses ranking for a keyword, you can swoop in and capture it.
How to do this:
- Go to Semrush’s “Organic Research” and enter a competitor’s URL.
- Go to the “Position Changes” tab.
- Filter by “Lost” keywords in the Top 20.
Identify lost keywords that match your site’s focus. Update your existing pages or create new ones to claim newly vacated ground in the rankings.
Semrush makes it easy for you to find and analyze any lost keyword opportunities through its Organic Research tool.
Click on “Organic Research”, and add the URL of one of your top competitors in the tool and select “Search:”
Here, you’ll see all the keywords your competitor has lost, as well as other key pieces of information, including search volume, keyword difficulty scores, and page URLs:
With your findings, you can create new pages to target the keywords recently lost by your competitors. Or, you can make improvements to your existing pages that already feature these keywords and try to overtake your competitor.
New Keywords
Staying aware of your competitors’ progress isn’t just about where they’re falling behind—it’s also about what’s working for them right now.
- In Semrush’s “Organic Research” tool, visit the “Position Changes” tab once more.
- This time, filter for “New” keywords your competitors are now ranking for.
You’ll spot trending topics or rising products/services in your market, and you can choose to ride the same wave or spot holes in your own coverage.
Analyzing the new keywords your competitors are ranking for can also be done via Semrush’s Organic Research tool.
As before, type in the URL of one of your main competitors:
Hit “Search” and go to the “Position Changes” tab. Once here, select “Pos: Top 20” and select “New” from the “Position Changes” drop-down menu, as shown here:
Hit “Apply”, scroll down, and check out all the new keywords your competitor has recently gained:
Content Analysis
Beyond keywords, the quality (and style) of your competitors’ content can shape your next moves.
Examining their content, look for:
- What topics matter most to their readers?
- How deep do they go in explaining or demonstrating?
- Which types get the most engagement?
You’ll see where they shine and where their writing falls flat. Each piece of intel helps form a plan for your own blog or service pages.
Content Type
The format and type of content plays a huge role in who ranks. Take notes:
- Are they using tips, reviews, “best of” lists, or step-by-step tutorials?
- Which pages attract the most search traffic?
- Do they use visual assets like infographics or videos to keep people hooked?
If a particular format earns steady traffic, use that knowledge to build similar—but better—resources.
Watch out for pitfalls, though. Heavy images or poorly optimized media can cause slow load times, pushing visitors away. Aim for rich visuals but keep site speed a priority.
You can use Semrush’s “Pages” report to get insights into how well your competitors’ pages are performing.
In the Organic Research tool, paste in the URL of your competitor and click on “Pages.”
You will then see your competitor’s pages and various metrics including traffic and keywords.
Pay attention to the traffic metric because this tells you how much traffic the specific page gets.
I can see that the Ahrefs page about “affiliate marketing” gets 11.2K worth of traffic.
Clearly, this format is quite successful and is something readers obviously like.
Nice!
On top of that, you’d also want to check if your competitors incorporate images, videos, and infographics to enhance the user experience on their pages. If so, then you should consider incorporating these into your own content too.
While including images and videos is a good way to enrich your content and enhance your user experience, it could also have a negative impact on a site’s performance in some instances.
Especially if the images are huge in file size and the videos aren’t optimized. This will end up affecting the time it takes for your page to load, and we all know how annoying slow-loading pages are.
Users would rather bounce off a page than hang around waiting for it to load.
Considering that Google assesses web pages based on various user experience signals including bounce rate, a site with a high bounce rate is definitely bad news. This makes getting your pages to rank incredibly difficult.
So, you will need to make sure your images and videos are optimized so your page loads faster. This can give you a competitive edge especially if your competitor’s pages take an eternity to load.
You can use the likes of Google PageSpeed Insights to check how fast your pages load on both mobile and desktop devices.
Content Quality
Quality beats quantity every time.
Ask yourself:
- Does the content answer real questions?
- Is it easy to read and error-free?
- Are facts cited and sources trusted?
Where you see weak content—outdated posts, keyword stuffing, thin articles—this is your cue to swoop in and deliver better writing, more depth, and real value for readers. Use tools like Semrush’s SERP Gap Analyzer to flag the biggest weak points.
On the other hand, if the content is sloppily put together, poorly researched, and badly written, this is a major weak point.
Other signs of poor content quality that you should look out for include:
- Out-of-date content—Content that features out-of-date or irrelevant information is obviously bad for web users. You can easily better this by publishing more up-to-date content.
- Keyword stuffed—If the main keyword is overused in the copy and headings, this can seriously put off your readers. It just comes across as spammy and can result in a poor user experience.
- Thin content—Web pages that contain thin content provide no real value to users. They lack depth, detail, and thoroughness and fail to help the user or answer their search query effectively.
- Bad image-to-text ratio— Adding an excessive amount of images can impede the user’s ability to read the content. On top of that, these pages provide insufficient textual content which results in a bad user experience.
If your competitors’ content could be described as any of the above, you could easily capitalize on this by creating better, more helpful content that will be more valuable to the readers and provide a better user experience.
To aid in this process, consider using Semrush’s SERP Gap Analyzer. This tool makes it easy to identify weaknesses in your competition’s content, giving you clear insights into exactly what you need to do to increase your chances of outranking them.
Meta Titles and Descriptions
Meta titles and descriptions might not directly boost your ranking, but they can swing the click-through battle in your favor.
The meta title is the name of the article as it appears on the SERPs, as shown here:
Things to check:
- Are their titles and descriptions attention-grabbing?
- Do they use keywords naturally at the start?
- Are they unique or do some pages repeat phrases?
If your competitors miss out on optimizing these bits, claim clicks with snappier, more relevant copy. Tools like Screaming Frog can speed up the process for you.
Featured Snippets
Securing the top organic spot is great, but nabbing a featured snippet (“position zero”) is even better.
- Featured snippets give quick answers—tables, lists, or short paragraphs—right above the regular results.
- They drive traffic and position your site as an authority.
Find out which snippets your competitors hold by using Semrush’s Organic Research tools. Then, work to steal them by answering questions clearly and directly in your content—preferably with simple text or lists.
Simply type in the name of one of your competitors and hit “Search”
Scroll down the page until you reach the section titled “SERP Features” and select “Featured snippet”
Here, you can view all the featured snippets your selected competitor currently has, as well as the keyword and page URL:
Based on this, you could then optimize your content to try and “steal” this featured snippet from your competitor.
Readability
Online readers skim. If your competitors’ pages are a wall of text with no headings or bulleted lists, you can win readers with simple tweaks.
Key things to check:
- Are their paragraphs short?
- Do they use H2s and bullet points?
- Is it easy to scan and find useful info?
Aim for content that’s easy on the eyes. The more readable, the better your chances of engaging and converting visitors.
Backlink Analysis
A site’s ranking power rides heavily on backlinks. Strong, relevant links from reputable sources boost authority and page ranking.
When breaking down a competitor’s backlink profile, use Semrush’s Backlink Analytics:
- Compare number of referring domains and total backlinks.
- See if they’re getting links from respected sites or just a sea of spam.
- Filter for “Follow” and “Active” links to focus on those giving real value.
A diverse and respected backlink profile is a sign you’ll need to up your own link building game.
You can save plenty of time by using Semrush’s Backlink Analytics tool.
All you have to do is paste your URL into the tool and hit “Analyze.”
Then, on the “Overview” page, you’ll need to add in your competitors’ domains and then hit “Compare”
You’ll then see a table detailing the number of Referring Domains and Total Backlinks for both your domain and your competitors as well as other metrics such as Organic Traffic and Monthly Visits.
Dig a bit deeper:
- Check which pages get the most backlinks.
- See if you already cover those topics. If not, start planning your own upgraded versions.
- If your competition is losing links (broken links, expired sources), you can try to nab those by offering your own content as a replacement. This is called broken link building—and it works.
Semrush’s Backlink Gap tool speeds up finding sites that link to your rivals but not yet to you. Focus outreach on the most trusted opportunities.
You, therefore, need to assess the quality of your competitors’ backlinks.
To do this, click on the blue highlighted number below either the “Referring Domains” or “Backlinks” headings:
Once through to the next page, scroll down to the section titled “Backlinks.”
From here you can use the filters to only provide you with data you want to see, for example:
- Follow or Nofollow links
- Sponsored or UGC links
I’ve set the filter to “Follow” and “Active” as I only want to see live links that are passing on link juice to my competitors’ site.
That’s not to say Nofollow links aren’t good. These signal to search engines that you acquire your links naturally. You’d ideally want a nice mix of Follow and Nofollow links making up your backlink profile.
You’ll need to check which pages on your competitor’s domain are gaining these links.
Then you need to either:
- Check if you have pages that cover those topics. If not, you should create content around those topics, provided they remain relevant to your business and website.
- If you do have pages that cover these topics then you need to compare them against the pages on your competitor’s site. The goal here is to see how you can better them and provide superior content to that of your competitors.
Once you’ve created content for these pages or amped up your existing content, it’s time for outreach.
On the other hand, let’s say your competitor’s backlink profile consists mainly of spammy sites linking to their site, then you’ll know you can easily overtake them by building just a few quality backlinks.
Moving on, if you click on the “Lost” tab, you’ll find backlinks that your competitor has recently lost, most likely due to a broken link:
If the lost links are from credible sources, then it would be well worth taking note of them. Also, take note of the main keyword and topic of the linked page.
If you already have a page that covers the topic, awesome!
Create an effective outreach campaign to try to acquire the backlink.
If you don’t have a page covering the topic, then create a better version of the content that the backlink originally lead to and try to acquire the link.
This is a tactic known as broken link building and using it effectively can result in you successfully “stealing” the backlink from your competitor, which would be great for your SEO.
As you can see, Semrush has awesome features that allow you to analyze your competitors’ backlinks. But, this Backlink Analysis section in this article wouldn’t be complete without mentioning Semrush’s Backlink Gap” tool.
The Backlink Gap tool allows you to compare your site to several competitors at once to find gaps in your link building strategy.
All you got to do is, type your URL in and paste in your competitors’ domains, like so:
When you hit “Find prospects“, you’ll be able to identify the domains that are linking to your competitors but aren’t currently linking to you:
From this information, we can see that yale.edu…
…which has an AS of 76, is currently linking to all of my competitors but not me.
From this, you have an idea of sites you need to include in your link-building outreach campaign.
Focus on the backlinks coming from reputable and authoritative sites with high AS scores.
You then need to look at the articles these backlinks lead to and check to see if you have similar articles on your own site.
If you do, then you will need to compare your content to that of your competitors and look for ways to improve it. If you don’t have similar articles, you should add those topics to your to-do list.
Conducting a competitor backlink analysis not only provides insights into your rivals’ backlink profiles. It can also help you to uncover new content ideas you might not have otherwise.
Technical SEO Analysis
Strong technical SEO makes the whole site run smoother and rank higher. Understanding where you and your competitors stand is key for both search engines and users.
What should you check?
- Website performance and UX
- URL structure
- Mobile responsiveness
- Schema markup
Catch up or pull ahead based on what you learn.
Technical SEO Analysis: Website Performance and User Experience (UX)
Site performance is the online version of a first impression. Slow, clunky, or glitchy sites push visitors away.
Google’s Core Web Vitals measure things like speed and stability. Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to see how your site and your competitors stack up.
If your competitors’ sites lag, seize your chance. Lead with a smooth, fast, friction-free experience on all devices.
Technical SEO Analysis: URL Structure
Good URLs are plain, to the point, and often include the main keyword.
Ask:
- Do their URLs make sense at a glance?
- Are they short and clear?
- Do they offer context about page content?
Model your own URLs using these best practices to help both users and search engines.
Technical SEO Analysis: Mobile Responsiveness
With most searches now happening on mobile, optimizing for smartphones and tablets is essential.
Quick check:
- Use WebPageTest to compare mobile scores between your site and competitors.
- Look for easy navigation, fast loading, and content that fits screens properly.
Miss this step and you risk losing mobile traffic to competitors with more responsive designs.
Technical SEO Analysis: Schema Markup
Schema markup helps search engines make sense of your site by providing structured data. It can result in rich snippets for things like reviews, business hours, or FAQs.
To spot opportunities:
- Look at search results and note if competitors have rich snippets.
- If they do and you don’t, use Schema.org tools to catch up.
Proper schema can make your listing stand out and drive more traffic.
These rich snippets allow domains to stand out from the crowd and could potentially improve click-through rates and attract more site visitors.
When analyzing your competitors, check to see if they have any rich snippets on the SERPs. If they do, and you don’t then you’ll need to implement schema markup to enhance your listing too.
How Often Should You Perform An SEO Competitor Analysis?
SEO isn’t a set-it-and-leave-it kind of deal. Regular analysis keeps your strategy sharp.
Monthly check-ins are ideal, but there’s no one-size-fits-all answer. How often you dive in depends on:
- How many active competitors you have
- The size of your niche
- How often algorithms update
The more often you practice, the easier and quicker your analysis becomes.
Conducting Competitive Analysis After Major Algorithm Updates
Every time Google shakes up its algorithm, rankings shift. This is when you want to get back in and analyze competitive changes.
Check which competitors have fallen or surged, and figure out why. Look closely at which keywords moved—this is your map for what’s newly important or less relevant.
Lost backlinks or featured snippets during updates? Now is your moment to claim them.
Your Final Step in SEO Competitive Mastery
Consistency wins. Use analysis to guide regular improvements in content, keywords, technical fixes, and backlinks.
Stay alert, adapt quickly, and always be on the lookout. SEO is always moving, so keep your eyes on the competition—and let your data lead you to the top.
Studying your competitors shines a light on where your SEO stands
Studying your competitors shines a light on where your SEO stands, what’s getting results for others, and where you have clear chances to get ahead. It’s a process that takes the guesswork out of your next steps and helps you see progress, even when the search rules keep shifting.
Regular competitive analysis isn’t just for getting quick wins. Over time, it sets you up for steady growth and keeps you from falling behind as your market changes. If you want your website to keep climbing, make reviewing your competition a habit.
Thanks for reading—if you’ve got your own tips or a recent win from analyzing competitors, drop a comment or share your story. The more you revisit your SEO competition, the more you’ll sharpen your strategy and see real, lasting gains.
Blogs you may be interested in:
13 Modern SEO Principles: Tips for Clear URLs and Better Content
10 Blog SEO Strategies That Work in 2025
Proven Steps to Blog Posts People Read and Google Ranks
How to Start a Freelance Business while Working Full-time
Launching your Website, Now the Real Work Starts
6 Steps to Start a Blog and Make Money as a Blogger
