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Conducting A Competitor SEO Analysis

18 January 2025

SEO competitor analysis is not just about tracking what others are doing—it’s about discovering strategic opportunities to surpass them. This article condenses a full-scale competitor analysis process into a powerful, actionable guide for marketers, business owners, and SEO professionals.

What Is SEO Competitor Analysis & Why It Matters

SEO competitor analysis is the process of identifying and evaluating websites that compete with you in search engine rankings—not necessarily in business model or offerings. These are the sites that appear when your potential customers search for keywords you’re targeting (Moz, n.d.).

Unlike traditional market research, SEO competitor analysis offers direct insight into what’s working in your niche. It uncovers:

  • Keyword opportunities you’re missing.
  • Backlinks you could target.
  • Content strategies that perform well.
  • SERP features that could boost your visibility.

By regularly analysing your competitors, you can identify trends, fill gaps in your strategy, and outperform them through informed decision-making (Conductor, 2024).

Step-by-Step Process for SEO Competitor Analysis

Identify the Right SEO Competitors

Your SEO competitors are those who rank for your target keywords—not necessarily businesses offering the same product or service. For instance, a fitness blog may compete in rankings with e-commerce stores selling gym equipment (Ahrefs, 2023).

Use tools like SEMrush, Ahrefs, or manual SERP research to find domains consistently ranking for your key terms. Focus on 3–5 strong competitors for deep analysis.

Define Your Goals

Are you aiming to:

  • Outrank a competitor for specific keywords?
  • Gain more visibility in Google Maps?
  • Increase organic leads from high-converting pages?

Defining objectives helps align your research with business outcomes and keeps your analysis actionable (SEMrush, 2023).

Conduct Keyword Gap Analysis

A keyword gap analysis reveals which keywords your competitors rank for—but you don’t. Tools like Ahrefs’ “Content Gap” or SEMrush’s “Keyword Gap” allow you to compare domains and extract these missed opportunities (Ahrefs, 2023).

Look for:

  • High-volume keywords you’re not targeting.
  • “Almost there” keywords (positions 11–20) you can improve.
  • Long-tail keywords competitors dominate.

Analyse Competitor Backlinks

Backlinks remain a core ranking factor. Use tools like Ahrefs, Majestic, or Moz Link Explorer to:

  • Identify high-authority sites linking to competitors.
  • Find shared backlinks among competitors.
  • Discover unique links that give them an edge.

Prioritise high-quality domains for outreach and emulate competitors’ successful link-earning strategies (Search Engine Journal, 2023).

Evaluate Content Quality & Strategy

Assess the depth, structure, and relevance of competitor content. Pay special attention to:

  • E-E-A-T factors (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness).
  • Topic clusters and content hubs.
  • Engagement (comments, shares, backlinks).

Tools like Surfer SEO and Clearscope can help quantify content relevance and suggest improvements (Surfer SEO, 2024).

Technical SEO Comparison

Audit site performance using tools like Screaming Frog, Sitebulb, and PageSpeed Insights. Compare:

  • Core Web Vitals (LCP, CLS, FID).
  • Structured data/schema usage.
  • Mobile usability and responsiveness.
  • Crawlability and site structure.

Even small performance differences can affect rankings and user experience (SEMrush, 2023).

Domain & Page Authority Benchmarking

Use domain-level metrics like Moz’s Domain Authority (DA) or Ahrefs’ Domain Rating (DR) to benchmark competitors. Page-level authority (PA or URL Rating) for specific content pages helps gauge how competitive a ranking page is (Moz, n.d.).

While these are not Google ranking factors, they correlate strongly with SEO performance.

SERP Feature Analysis

Modern SERPs include features like:

  • Featured snippets.
  • “People Also Ask” boxes.
  • Local Packs.
  • Video carousels.

Manually search or use SEMrush to discover which features your competitors own. Then structure your content to target those features—such as adding FAQ schema or formatting step-by-step answers to capture snippets (Conductor, 2024).

Review Business & Conversion Elements

Beyond SEO mechanics, compare competitor:

  • USPs and conversion hooks (free shipping, guarantees).
  • Pricing strategies and offers.
  • Review ratings and customer feedback.
  • Engagement features (live chat, lead magnets).

While these don’t directly affect rankings, they influence click-through rates and conversions, indirectly boosting SEO (Ahrefs, 2023).

Monitor Over Time

SEO is dynamic. Set up ongoing tracking using:

  • Rank trackers (e.g., AccuRanker, Rank Tracker).
  • Backlink monitoring (e.g., Linkody).
  • Content alerts (e.g., BuzzSumo).

Watch for ranking changes, new content, and backlink growth to stay competitive and adapt quickly (Search Engine Journal, 2023).

What to Look For

Key metrics that separate top performers from the rest include:

  • High domain and topical authority.
  • Fresh, in-depth content with strong internal linking.
  • Diverse, high-quality backlink profiles.
  • Structured data enhancing SERP visibility.
  • High engagement and low bounce rates.

Red flags include thin content, broken links, slow site speed, and lack of mobile optimisation.

Turning Insights into Strategy

Convert your findings into a prioritised action plan:

  1. List top keyword gaps and map them to new content opportunities.
  2. Identify and contact link prospects based on competitor backlinks.
  3. Optimise high-potential pages based on SERP and content comparisons.
  4. Improve technical SEO to match or exceed competitors.

Use reporting templates or dashboards to track KPIs quarterly and share with stakeholders.

Common Pitfalls

Avoid these mistakes:

  • Obsessing over Domain Authority without context.
  • Copying competitors blindly without differentiation.
  • Ignoring technical issues on your own site.
  • Relying on one data source; always cross-reference.

Remember, analysis without action is just information.

Advanced Techniques

Looking to go beyond the basics? Try:

  • Entity-based SEO: Analyse structured entities your competitors use in content.
  • SERP overlap visualisation: Tools like Cluster AI and Keyword Cupid help map keyword clusters and competitive density.
  • AI tools: Platforms like MarketMuse predict content opportunities and competitive gaps using NLP.

Industry Considerations

Local SEO: Pay attention to reviews, Google Business Profile optimisation, and citation consistency.

E-commerce: Analyse product schema, price visibility, and category page SEO.

B2B SaaS: Focus on lead gen content, trust-building (e.g., case studies), and organic demo signups.

Service-based: Emphasise location keywords, testimonials, and booking features.

References

Ahrefs. (2023). How to do SEO competitor analysis (and why it’s important). https://ahrefs.com/blog/seo-competitor-analysis/

Conductor. (2024). SEO competitor analysis: How to conduct one in 2024. https://www.conductor.com/academy/seo-competitor-analysis/

Moz. (n.d.). How to perform an SEO competitive analysis. https://moz.com/blog/seo-competitive-analysis

SEMrush. (2023). SEO competitor analysis: A step-by-step guide. https://www.semrush.com/blog/seo-competitive-analysis/

Search Engine Journal. (2023). The ultimate guide to SEO competitor analysis. https://www.searchenginejournal.com/seo-competitor-analysis-guide/434217/

Surfer SEO. (2024). How to analyze your competitor’s content for SEO. https://surferseo.com/blog/competitor-analysis/

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