5 Easy Steps: How to Do SEO Competitor Analysis
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Do you want to know how to beat your competitors in SEO? Do you want to rank higher than them on Google and get more traffic, leads, and customers? If yes, then you need to do SEO competitor analysis. This is a powerful technique that can help you discover the strengths and weaknesses of your rivals, and use them to your advantage.
But how do you do SEO competitor analysis step by step? What tools and methods do you need? What are the best practices and tips to follow? In this blog post, I will show you everything you need to know about SEO competitor analysis. I will share with you my own experience and insights, as well as some examples and case studies. By the end of this post, you will be able to do SEO competitor analysis like a pro, and outrank your competitors in no time.
What is SEO Competitor Analysis?
SEO competitor analysis is the process of researching and analyzing your competitors’ websites, keywords, content, backlinks, and other SEO factors. The goal of SEO competitor analysis is to find out what your competitors are doing well, what they are doing poorly, and what opportunities you can exploit to improve your own SEO performance.
Why is SEO competitor analysis important?
Because you are not operating in a vacuum. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of other websites that are competing for the same keywords and customers as you. If you want to outrank them and get more traffic, you need to know what they are doing and how you can do better.
SEO competitor analysis can help you:
- Identify your main SEO competitors and their strengths and weaknesses
- Discover new keywords and content ideas that your competitors are ranking for
- Uncover their backlink sources and strategies and find ways to get similar or better links
- Benchmark your current SEO performance against your competitors and set realistic goals
Adjust your SEO strategy and tactics based on the data and insights you gather
How to Do SEO Competitor Analysis Step by Step?
Now that you know what SEO competitor analysis is and why it is important, let me show you how to do it step by step. I will use some of the tools that I have used and found useful for my own SEO competitor analysis. You can sign up for free trials or use the paid versions of these tools to follow along.
Step 1: Identify Your SEO Competitors
The first step is to identify who your SEO competitors are. These are the websites that are ranking in the top 10 or 20 results on Google for the same keywords that you are targeting. You can find them by searching for your target keywords on Google and seeing who shows up. Or you can use a tool like Semrush’s Organic Research tool to find them faster and easier.
To use Semrush’s Organic Research tool, enter your domain, select your country, and click “Search”. Then scroll down to the widget labeled “Main Organic Competitors”. These are the top five websites that you are competing with in Google’s top 20 results. To see the full list of your SEO competitors, click “View all # competitors”.
You will see a table with all of your competitors, along with some metrics such as:
- Common Keywords: The number of keywords that both you and your competitor rank for in the top 100 results
- SE Keywords: The number of keywords that your competitor ranks for in the top 100 results
- SE Traffic: The estimated monthly organic traffic that your competitor gets from those keywords
- SE Traffic Price: The estimated cost of buying the same amount of traffic from Google Ads
- Competition Level: A score from 0 to 1 that indicates how competitive your niche is, based on the number and quality of your competitors
You can sort the table by any of these metrics to find the most relevant and strongest competitors for your website. You can also export the table to a CSV file for further analysis.
Step 2: Find and Close Keyword Gaps
The next step is to find and close keyword gaps. These are the keywords that your competitors are ranking for, but you are not. Each one of these keywords represents an opportunity for you to get more traffic and customers.
To find keyword gaps, you can use Semrush’s Keyword Gap tool. Enter your domain and up to four competitors’ domains. Then click “Compare”. You will see a dashboard with a Venn diagram that shows the overlap and difference between your and your competitors’ keywords. You can also see a table with tons of keywords and their metrics such as:
- Volume: The average monthly number of searches for the keyword on Google
- KD: The keyword difficulty score from 0 to 100 that indicates how hard it is to rank for the keyword
- CPC: The average cost per clicks for the keyword on Google Ads
- SERP Features: The special features that appear on the search results page for the keyword, such as featured snippets, images, videos, etc.
- URL: The URL of the page that ranks for the keyword on each domain
To see the keywords that all of your competitors rank for, but you don’t, click the “Missing” filter. You can sort the table by any of the metrics to find the most valuable and relevant keywords for your website. You can also export the table to a CSV file for further analysis.
To close the keyword gaps, you need to create content that targets these keywords and optimize it for SEO. You can use Semrush’s SEO Content Template tool to get recommendations on how to create SEO-friendly content for any keyword. Enter the keyword and click “Create SEO Template”. You will see a report that shows you:
- The average readability score, text length, and number of backlinks of the top 10 ranking pages for the keyword
- The semantically related keywords that you should include in your content
- The title and meta description suggestions for your content
- The websites that you can reach out to for backlinks
You can use these suggestions to create content that matches or exceeds the quality and relevance of your competitors’ content. You can also use Semrush’s SEO Writing Assistant tool to check and improve your content’s SEO score, readability, tone of voice, and originality.
Step 3: Analyze Their Backlink Profile
The third step is to analyze your competitors’ backlink profile. Backlinks are links from other websites that point to your website. They are one of the most important ranking factors for SEO, as they indicate the popularity and authority of your website. The more and better backlinks you have, the higher you can rank on Google.
To analyze your competitors’ backlink profile, you can use Semrush’s Backlink Analytics tool. Enter your competitor’s domain and click “Search”. You will see a dashboard that shows you:
- The number and trend of backlinks, referring domains, and referring IPs that your competitor has
- The authority score of your competitor’s domain and backlinks, based on the quality and quantity of the links
- The types and attributes of the backlinks, such as follow vs nofollow, text vs image, etc.
- The top anchors and target pages of the backlinks
- The top countries and industries of the referring domains
You can also see a table with all of the backlinks and their metrics such as:
- Source URL: The URL of the page that links to your competitor
- Source Title: The title of the page that links to your competitor
- Target URL: The URL of the page on your competitor’s domain that receives the link
- Anchor: The clickable text of the link
- First Seen: The date when the link was first detected by Semrush
- Last Seen: The date when the link was last detected by Semrush
- Type: The type of the link, such as text, image, form, etc.
- Attribute: The attribute of the link, such as follow, nofollow, sponsored, etc.
- Authority Score: The authority score of the source domain and page, based on the quality and quantity of the links
You can sort the table by any of these metrics to find the most valuable and relevant backlinks for your competitor. You can also export the table to a CSV file for further analysis.
To analyze your own backlink profile, you can use the same tool and enter your own domain. You can compare your backlink profile with your competitors’ and see where you stand and what you need to improve.
To get more backlinks for your website, you can use Semrush’s Link Building tool. Enter your domain and target keywords and click “Start Link Building”. The tool will find and suggest potential link prospects for your website, based on your competitors’ backlinks, your niche, and your preferences. You can also import your own list of prospects or use the Backlink Analytics tool to find more. You can then:
- Evaluate the prospects based on their authority score, relevance, and difficulty
- Add the prospects to your outreach list and assign them to different campaigns
- Connect your email account and send personalized outreach emails to the prospects
- Track the status and results of your outreach campaigns and follow up with the prospects
Monitor the new backlinks that you acquire and their impact on your SEO performance
Step 4: Assess Content Quality and Strategy
The fourth step is to assess your competitors’ content quality and strategy. Content is the core of SEO, as it provides value and information to your audience and helps you rank for your target keywords. The better your content is, the more traffic and conversions you can get.
To assess your competitors’ content quality and strategy, you can use Semrush’s Content Analysis tool. Enter your competitor’s domain and click “Search”. You will see a dashboard that shows you:
- The number and trend of pages, keywords, and traffic that your competitor’s content generates
- The top content pieces of your competitor based on traffic, keywords, and social shares
- The content performance of your competitor based on readability, word count, and SERP features
- The content gap of your competitor based on the keywords that they rank for but don’t have content for
You can also see a table with all of the content pieces and their metrics such as:
- URL: The URL of the content piece
- Title: The title of the content piece
- Traffic: The estimated monthly organic traffic that the content piece gets
- Keywords: The number of keywords that the content piece ranks for in the top 100 results
- Social Shares: The number of times that the content piece has been shared on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest
- Readability: The readability score of the content piece based on the Flesch Reading Ease formula
- Word Count: The number of words in the content piece
- SERP Features: The special features that appear on the search results page for the content piece, such as featured snippets, images, videos, etc.
You can sort the table by any of these metrics to find the most valuable and relevant content pieces for your competitor. You can also export the table to a CSV file for further analysis.
To assess your own content quality and strategy, you can use the same tool and enter your own domain. You can compare your content performance with your competitors’ and see where you stand and what you need to improve.
To improve your content quality and strategy, you can use Semrush’s Content Marketing Platform. This is a suite of tools that helps you plan, create, optimize, and distribute your content. You can use it to:
- Find content ideas and topics based on your audience’s needs and interests
- Create content briefs and outlines based on the best practices of your competitors and industry
- Write and edit content with the help of SEO and readability suggestions, tone of voice analysis, and plagiarism detection
- Optimize your content for your target keywords and SERP features
- Publish your content to your website or CMS with one click
- Promote your content on social media and email with pre-made templates and schedules
Measure your content performance and ROI with analytics and reports
Step 5: Review Their Technical SEO
The fifth and final step is to review your competitors’ technical SEO. Technical SEO refers to the aspects of your website that affect its crawlability, indexability, speed, security, and usability. These factors are essential for ensuring that your website is accessible, functional, and user-friendly for both search engines and human visitors.
To review your competitors’ technical SEO, you can use Semrush’s Site Audit tool. Enter your competitor’s domain and click “Start Audit”. The tool will crawl your competitor’s website and check it for over 130 technical and SEO issues. You will see a dashboard that shows you:
- The health score of your competitor’s website, based on the number and severity of the issues found
- The number and trend of issues, warnings, and notices that your competitor’s website has
- The distribution of issues by category, such as crawlability, performance, HTTPS, internal linking, etc.
- The top issues and recommendations on how to fix them
You can also see a table with all of the pages and their metrics such as:
- URL: The URL of the page
- Status Code: The HTTP status code of the page, such as 200, 301, 404, etc.
- Title: The title of the page
- Meta Description: The meta description of the page
- H1: The main heading of the page
- Issues: The number and type of issues that the page has
- Page Score: The page score based on the number and severity of the issues
You can sort the table by any of these metrics to find the most problematic and important pages for your competitor. You can also export the table to a CSV file for further analysis.
To review your own technical SEO, you can use the same tool and enter your own domain. You can compare your technical SEO performance with your competitors’ and see where you stand and what you need to improve.
To improve your technical SEO, you can use Semrush’s On Page SEO Checker tool. This tool analyzes your website and gives you personalized and prioritized suggestions on how to improve your technical SEO, as well as your content, user experience, and backlinks. You can use it to:
- Find and fix technical issues that affect your website’s crawlability, indexability, speed, security, and usability
- Optimize your title tags, meta descriptions, headings, and content for your target keywords and SERP features
- Improve your internal and external linking structure and strategy
- Enhance your website’s user experience and engagement with tips on design, layout, navigation, and mobile-friendliness
Boost your website’s authority and trustworthiness with advice on how to get more and better backlinks
Conclusion
SEO competitor analysis is a powerful and effective way to improve your own SEO performance and outrank your competitors on Google. By following these five steps, you can:
- Identify your main SEO competitors and their strengths and weaknesses
- Find and close keyword gaps and create content that targets them
- Analyze their backlink profile and get similar or better links
- Assess their content quality and strategy and optimize your own
- Review their technical SEO and fix any issues on your website
You can use Semrush’s tools to help you with each step of the SEO competitor analysis process. Semrush is an all-in-one SEO platform that offers everything you need to grow your online visibility and traffic. You can sign up for a free trial or a paid plan and start using Semrush today.
Or you can hire our experts for your competitor analysis or complete SEO services. You can check our SEO service page here.
And if you want to avoid other SEO mistakes and learn to fix them, you can check our comprehensive guide on 23 Common SEO Mistakes. This will help you learn from the best practices and optimize your website.
I hope you enjoyed this blog post and learned something new. If you have any questions or feedback, please leave a comment below. I would love to hear from you. Thank you for reading and happy SEO competitor analysis!