Complete Guide to SEO Competitor Analysis
Discover how to analyze your competitors' SEO strategies and use those insights to improve your own search rankings.
Understanding what your competitors are doing in search is one of the most valuable activities in SEO. Competitor analysis reveals opportunities you might be missing, strategies that are working in your industry, and gaps you can exploit to gain market share.
Whether you're a startup trying to break into a competitive market or an established business looking to maintain your edge, systematic competitor analysis should be a core part of your SEO workflow. This guide will walk you through the complete process.
What is SEO Competitor Analysis?
SEO competitor analysis is the process of researching and evaluating the search optimization strategies of websites that compete with yours for rankings, traffic, and customers. It involves examining:
- Keywords they rank for — What search terms drive their organic traffic
- Content strategies — Types of content that perform well in your niche
- Backlink profiles — Who links to them and why
- Technical SEO — Site structure, speed, and optimization techniques
Step 1: Identify Your SEO Competitors
Your SEO competitors aren't always the same as your business competitors. A company that doesn't directly compete with your products might still compete for the same search traffic. Here's how to identify them:
Direct Competitors
Businesses offering similar products or services to the same target audience.
Example: Other SEO tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, Moz
Indirect Competitors
Sites that rank for your target keywords but serve a different purpose.
Example: SEO blogs, comparison sites, review platforms
Pro Tip: Finding SEO Competitors
Search for your top 10 target keywords and note which domains appear most frequently in the top 10 results. These are your true SEO competitors, regardless of whether they're business competitors.
Step 2: Conduct Keyword Gap Analysis
Keyword gap analysis reveals the keywords your competitors rank for that you don't. This is one of the fastest ways to find new content opportunities and quick wins.
Types of Keyword Gaps
Missing Keywords
Keywords all your competitors rank for, but you don't. High priority targets.
Weak Keywords
Keywords where competitors significantly outrank you. Optimization opportunities.
Untapped Keywords
Keywords only one competitor ranks for. Potential blue ocean opportunities.
Step 3: Analyze Competitor Content
Understanding what content performs well for competitors helps you create better content strategies. Look at:
Content Format
Are they using long-form guides, listicles, how-tos, videos, or tools?
Content Depth
How comprehensive is their coverage? Word count, topics covered, examples used.
Update Frequency
How often do they publish new content or update existing pages?
Internal Linking
How do they structure internal links and content clusters?
Step 4: Backlink Profile Analysis
Backlinks remain a crucial ranking factor. Analyzing competitor backlink profiles reveals link building opportunities and helps you understand what content earns links in your industry.
Key Backlink Metrics to Compare
| Metric | What It Tells You |
|---|---|
| Total Backlinks | Overall link building effort and authority |
| Referring Domains | Diversity of link sources (more important than total links) |
| Domain Authority | Quality and trustworthiness of linking sites |
| Anchor Text Distribution | How natural their link profile appears |
| Link Velocity | Rate of new links acquired over time |
Link Intersection Analysis
Find sites that link to multiple competitors but not to you. These are high-probability link targets since they've already shown willingness to link to sites in your space.
Step 5: Technical SEO Comparison
Technical SEO factors can give competitors an edge even with similar content. Compare these elements:
Page Speed
- • Core Web Vitals scores
- • Mobile vs desktop performance
- • Time to first byte (TTFB)
Mobile Experience
- • Mobile-first design
- • Touch target sizes
- • Viewport configuration
Site Structure
- • URL structure and hierarchy
- • Breadcrumb implementation
- • Sitemap organization
Schema Markup
- • Types of schema used
- • Rich snippet eligibility
- • Structured data coverage
Turning Analysis into Strategy
Competitor analysis is only valuable if you act on it. Here's how to create an actionable strategy from your findings:
Prioritize Opportunities
Rank opportunities by potential impact and effort required. Quick wins (low effort, high impact) should come first.
Set Benchmarks
Use competitor metrics as benchmarks. If top competitors average 50 referring domains per page, that's your target.
Create Better Content
Don't just match competitor content—exceed it. Add more depth, better visuals, fresher data, or unique angles.
Monitor Progress
Track your rankings against competitors over time. Use an SEO tool to automate this monitoring.
Tools for Competitor Analysis
While manual analysis is possible, the right tools make competitor research significantly faster and more comprehensive. RankMetrics provides all the features you need for effective competitor analysis:
Start Analyzing Your Competitors Today
Understanding your competitive landscape is essential for SEO success. With the right tools and methodology, you can uncover opportunities that drive real results.
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