How to do competitor analysis for SEO?
If rankings on Google feel like a moving target, you’re not alone. Many businesses struggle with knowing what works. That’s why competitor analysis in SEO is crucial. It lets you study how others capture traffic and learn how to do it better yourself.
In 2025, SEO competition continues to intensify as Google evolves and AI impacts content discovery. Leveraging competitor insights backed by real data can transform guesswork into a data-driven plan that grows your organic presence effectively.
Who Are Your Real SEO Competitors?
Your SEO competitors are the websites that rank for the exact keywords and topics you want to dominate in search engines. Interestingly, these may not always be the businesses you face offline.
To find your SEO competitors, start with your primary keywords. For example, typing “best handmade candles” into Google reveals pages ranking for that search. Those are your direct SEO opponents.
On average, businesses perform competitor analyses on about 5 to 10 competitors to get a good flavor of the market, while top SEO agencies might track up to 20 domains at once using tools like Semrush or Ahrefs—which pull from databases with over 25 billion keywords and up to 43 trillion backlinks for analysis.
Keyword Insights: The Data Behind Traffic
Keywords drive organic search. In competitor analysis, identifying which keywords your rivals rank for—and you don’t—is gold.
Using Semrush’s keyword gap tool, companies have discovered competitors ranking for 50+ valuable, high-traffic keywords they were missing. After optimizing on these, some experienced organic traffic growth as high as 30% within six months.
Large databases help here: Semrush tracks over 25 billion keywords, while Ahrefs tracks closer to 28 billion, offering vast opportunities for uncovering gaps.
Prioritize keywords with a good balance of search volume and ranking difficulty. Long-tail keywords, with lower competition but high intent, often offer the best opportunities.
Content Quality and Gaps
Content is still king. Top-ranking competitor pages tend to have:
- Longer, in-depth content averaging 1,200 to 2,000+ words
- Rich media elements like images, videos, and infographics
- Well-structured layouts with headings and FAQs
An analysis found pages in the top 10 results average about 1,447 words, but more importantly, content matches user intent effectively. Content gaps remain a huge opportunity. If competitors skim over certain subtopics or questions, creating detailed content there can boost your rankings substantially.
Frequently updating content also matters: over 60% of sites that regularly update key pages see sustained ranking improvements.
The SWOT method for competitor analysis
A SWOT analysis is a strategic planning tool that identifies the internal strengths and weaknesses of an organization or project, along with the external opportunities and threats in its environment. It facilitates decision-making by providing a framework for developing strategies to exploit strengths, address weaknesses, capitalize on opportunities, and mitigate threats.
The four components of a SWOT analysis are:
Strengths: Internal factors that provide an advantage over the competition. These include unique resources, competitive advantages, and areas where the organization excels.
Weaknesses: Internal factors that put an organization at a disadvantage. These include areas where the organization lacks resources or needs improvement.
Opportunities: External factors that the organization can leverage to its advantage.
Threats: External factors that could cause problems or harm the organization, such as competitor actions or market changes.
How to Conduct a SWOT Analysis:
- Determine the Objective: Clearly define what you are analyzing, such as a business, project, or personal situation.
- Create a Grid: Draw a 2×2 grid and label each category: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.
- Brainstorm Factors: For each category, list the relevant factors.
Strengths and Weaknesses: Focus on internal aspects such as skills, resources, processes, and competitive advantage.
Opportunities and Threats: Focus on external factors such as market trends, competition, and industry changes. - Analyze and Develop Strategy: Review the factors and draw conclusions to develop a strategy. For example, use strengths to capitalize on opportunities and minimize weaknesses to defend against threats.
- Act on the analysis: A SWOT analysis is only valuable if its findings are used to inform strategic decisions and actions.
If you want a ready-made template, check this doc- Competitor Analysis
Backlink Profiles: Authority Metrics
Backlinks remain among the top 3 ranking factors for Google. On average, ranking on the first page involves thousands of backlinks, but quality outweighs quantity. High-authority backlinks (from domains with high domain rating) have more impact.
Competitor analysis tools show that Semrush’s database includes over 43 trillion backlinks, while Ahrefs keeps data on 35 trillion. Such vast datasets reveal linking trends to capitalize on.
Businesses have increased backlink-building efforts by about 20-30% after competitor analysis, focusing on guest posts and resource links. Broken link building is another effective tactic, often yielding a 10-15% success rate in outreach campaigns.
Technical SEO: Performance and Usability
Core Web Vitals and mobile usability carry significant weight in rankings now. Competitor sites ranking in top positions typically score well on:
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) under 2.5 seconds
- Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) below 0.1
- 100% mobile-friendly user tests
Studies show pages with better technical SEO have 25% higher click-through rates and rank higher consistently.
SEO agencies performing competitor audits spend roughly 15-20% of their effort on technical SEO to reap high ROI.
Ongoing Monitoring and Adaptation
The SEO landscape shifts constantly. Brands that monitor competitors regularly with tools like Semrush or Ahrefs can react faster to shifts. So, monitor and analyze your competitors regularly so that you can get recent insights and build up new and working strategy.
For example, tracking changes in keyword rankings or backlink acquisition weekly helps spot trends early. Over 70% of marketers say ongoing competitor analysis is crucial for adjusting strategies in real time.
Tools That Power SEO Competitor Analysis
Some widely trusted tools in 2025 include:
- Semrush: Offers keyword gap analysis, backlink auditing, and rank tracking. Pricing starts at about $140/month.
- Ahrefs: Known for extensive backlink and keyword databases, great for deep competitor research.
- Moz Pro: Useful for authority scores and on-page audits.
- SpyFu: Strong in PPC and SEO competitive insights.
- Screaming Frog: Excellent crawler for technical SEO analysis.
Leveraging these tools’ vast datasets (billions of keywords, trillions of links) and automation features saves countless hours, making competitor analysis scalable and precise.
Conclusion
Competitor analysis in SEO is no longer optional. With online competition intensifying, knowing where your rivals excel—and where they falter—let’s you capitalize on untapped keywords, craft better content, build authoritative backlinks, and polish your site’s technical health.
In 2025, it’s expected that businesses investing in competitor SEO analysis will outperform those who don’t by up to 30% better organic traffic growth within six months.
Whether you’re a small business or digital marketing agency, using data-driven competitor insights combined with current best practices is your roadmap to long-term SEO success.
FAQ: Competitor Analysis for SEO
1. What is competitor analysis in SEO?
Competitor analysis in SEO means identifying and studying the websites that rank for the same keywords or target audience as yours. The goal is to understand what works for them—content, backlinks, keywords, and technical factors—so you can outperform them.
It helps you see what strategies are driving your competitors’ organic traffic, discover content and keyword gaps, and improve your SEO plan. Without it, you’re basically optimizing in the dark.
Search your main keywords on Google and list the top-ranking sites that are similar to yours. You can also use tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, Moz, or Ubersuggest to automatically identify competitors in your niche.
Top tools include:
Ahrefs – for backlinks, content, and keyword gaps
SEMrush – for organic research and traffic insights
Moz – for link metrics and domain authority
Screaming Frog – for technical SEO audits
Google Search Console & Analytics – for verifying your own performance
Focus on:
Top-ranking keywords
Content quality and structure
Backlink sources and anchor text
Site speed and UX
Domain authority and topical relevance
Technical setup (mobile-friendliness, schema, etc.)
At least once every quarter, or whenever major ranking changes happen in your niche. SEO is dynamic, so competitor strategies evolve constantly.
Use Ahrefs’ Content Gap, SEMrush’s Keyword Gap, or similar tools. These features show the keywords your competitors rank for but you don’t—prime opportunities for new content.
Yes. By studying your competitors’ best-performing pages, you can identify what topics attract links and traffic. Then create more detailed, updated, and better-optimized versions.
Tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush let you view your competitors’ backlink profiles. Check where their links come from, what content gets the most links, and which sources you can target too.
Use their data as direction, not duplication. Find patterns and weaknesses—then build something unique, more comprehensive, and more valuable to users.
Focusing only on big brands (ignore smaller, niche rivals at your level)
Blindly copying keywords or content
Ignoring technical SEO or UX factors
Doing analysis once and never updating it
To understand what’s driving organic success in your niche and create a smarter, data-backed SEO strategy that earns better rankings, traffic, and conversions.
