How to do an SEO competitor analysis [+ template]

Analyzing your competitors helps you create your ain SEO and AI optimization strategy. This process includes analyzing their traffic, contented gaps, and AI visibility to thief you understand what’s moving for brands for illustration yours.

In this guide, we’ll break down what a competitor study involves successful much detail, and why you should behaviour 1 for your business. 

What is an SEO competitor study and why is it important?

An SEO competitor study is the process of analyzing the capacity of websites you compete pinch successful search motor results pages (SERPs).

But the study is nary longer conscionable constricted to integrated hunt listings. Many hunt queries return AI-generated answers done Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode. And tons of group move to different AI tools, for illustration ChatGPT and Perplexity, successful summation to accepted hunt engines. So it’s besides important to facet successful really your competitors execute connected these platforms during your analysis.

Whether you’re a mini business proprietor aliases an endeavor marketer, an SEO competitor study allows you to:

• Identify the keywords aliases AI prompts wherever you request to beryllium much visible
• Find postulation channels you whitethorn beryllium overlooking
• Uncover segments of your assemblage you whitethorn beryllium missing based connected the contented they’re publishing
• Create a contented almanac utilizing the contented gaps betwixt you and your competitors
• Discover third-party websites that nexus to your competitors and could nexus to you
• Find online communities that talk astir your title but not you

The constituent of a competitor study isn’t to transcript your rivals’ strategies. Instead, it’s to understand what useful for them and to find ways to use that to your ain unsocial strategy.

Using Semrush’s My Reports, you tin easy build a competitor study study pinch templates for AI visibility, integrated hunt positions, domain comparisons, backlinks, and more. 

But we’ll besides show you really to do this study manually below.

How to do an SEO competitor analysis

An SEO competitor study has ever been a elaborate process. But AI hunt has expanded the number of surfaces your study needs to cover. 

The sections beneath will show you really to do a competitory study utilizing aggregate sources. This ensures you screen each the surfaces your competitors are presently winning on.

Make a transcript of this free template to travel on pinch the steps below.

Step 1. Identify your SEO competitors

Find your SEO competitors by looking astatine the websites that look alongside yours successful applicable hunt results. They mightiness beryllium nonstop business rivals aliases conscionable integrated competitors. 

For example, a direct competitor of Men’s Health is Men's Fitness because some are magazines successful the aforesaid industry. Gymshark is 1 of Men’s Health’s organic competitors because it competes for the aforesaid keywords, moreover though Gymshark is successful a different manufacture (clothing).

Compile a database of some nonstop and integrated competitors. You tin place your integrated competitors easy by looking up your astir applicable keywords successful hunt engines and AI platforms. Then, statement the websites that look the astir often.

For example, if you were doing a competitory study for Men’s Health magazine, you mightiness hunt for the following:

• “best magazines for men​”
• “best fittingness mag for men​”
• “fitness scheme for men​”
• “nutrition for men”

Use the aforesaid keywords to hunt connected Google, YouTube, AI platforms, and Reddit. This way, you’re not constricted to the information of conscionable 1 platform.

But the fastest measurement to place your integrated competitors is to usage Semrush’s Domain Overview tool.

Simply hunt for your domain and scroll down to “Main Organic Competitors.”

You’ll spot a database of domains that rank for galore of the aforesaid keywords arsenic you. Click “View details” for an in-depth overview, including title level and the full number of keywords they rank for.

Aim to analyse astir 3 to 5 competitors to commencement with. This will springiness you capable information to activity pinch for the competitory analysis, while keeping things applicable and manageable.

Step 2. Analyze your competitors’ traffic

Analyzing your competitor’s traffic helps you place wide postulation trends, which pages are driving the astir visitors to their website, and places they’re getting postulation from that you’ve been overlooking. 

Analyze postulation trends 

Analyze your competitors’ postulation trends and which of their pages thrust the astir postulation to find opportunities to thrust much postulation to your ain site. 

Since you don’t person entree to their existent postulation data, you tin usage Semrush’s Domain Overview to get estimates for integrated and branded traffic.

Branded postulation trends tin bespeak whether your competitors are gaining aliases losing marque awareness. If branded postulation is increasing, it suggests much group are discovering them done different channels and looking them up directly. Rather than searching for related position they hap to rank for.

You’ll besides spot your competitor’s keyword rankings complete time, filterable by position. For Men’s Health, we spot a downward inclination successful keyword rankings that correlates pinch a alteration successful integrated traffic.

When you spot a downward inclination for a competitor, place whether the diminution comes from:

• An industry-wide drop: This usually points to a Google algorithm update aliases an summation successful the number of queries being answered by AI Overviews (leading to a driblet successful clicks). If your ain postulation moved similarly, competitor drops mightiness not correspond contiguous opportunities.
• A driblet isolated to 1 competitor: If this is the case, look astatine which pages mislaid rankings and whether those pages target keywords you're actively going after. If they do, location could beryllium postulation opportunities here.

If the inclination is upward, place erstwhile the maturation started and whether it coincides pinch an algorithm update, a caller contented push, a spike successful branded search, aliases thing else. For example, if the maturation is associated pinch caller topic clusters, you whitethorn want to create akin contented for your ain site.

Analyze postulation sources

A modern SEO competitory study needs to look beyond conscionable integrated postulation from hunt engines. Looking astatine different postulation sources, for illustration AI referrals, tin uncover channels you aren’t yet leveraging that your competitors are.

For a deeper dive into aggregate postulation sources astatine 1 time, usage Semrush’s Traffic & Market Toolkit. It provides postulation insights from:

• AI sources
• Referrals
• Organic and paid search
• Organic and paid social
• Email
• Display ads

The instrumentality besides shows you trends for these complete time.

You tin excavation into circumstantial channels moreover further for much circumstantial insights. Like which circumstantial AI devices are sending your rivals referral traffic, really those sources person trended complete time, and moreover the circumstantial pages that are seeing the astir maturation from those postulation sources. 

This is adjuvant for identifying caller channels that could thrust postulation to your ain website. And by seeing which pages execute good for your rivals, you tin summation insights into the types of contented you whitethorn besides want to create.

Step 3. Analyze your competitors’ keyword footprints

To analyse the keyword footprint of your competitors, place each the hunt position they rank for, the topic clusters they beryllium to, and really your ain rankings compare.

Run a keyword spread analysis

A keyword spread analysis shows what your competitors rank for but you don’t.

You tin do this quickly by utilizing Semrush’s Keyword Gap tool. Add your domain and your competitor’s, past click “Compare.”

Scroll down to the “All keyword specifications for” conception and prime “Missing” to spot each the keywords your domain doesn’t rank for, utilizing the “Position” select astatine the apical to only show keywords your competitor ranks for successful the apical 10. 

Use the different filters to constrictive down your database further, for illustration utilizing the “Intent” select to only show keywords pinch commercialized aliases transactional intent. 

Look for keywords that are applicable to your ain business offerings. Don’t conscionable attraction connected hunt measurement aliases keyword difficulty. These are useful metrics for unsmooth prioritization. But an “easy” keyword pinch 2K monthly hunt measurement isn’t worthy targeting if there’s minimal chance of it starring to conversions.

Add applicable keywords to a spreadsheet, and erstwhile you’re finished, download it arsenic a CSV file.

Segment the keywords into clusters

Now that you person a database of keywords your competitors rank for but you don’t, group them into thematic clusters to understand the topics they’re covering.

To do this, upload your CSV pinch the keywords to your favourite AI instrumentality and adhd the punctual below:

“This CSV record contains a database of keywords my competitor [NAME] ranks for, but my website doesn’t. Each keyword contains its hunt intent, mean monthly hunt volume, and keyword difficulty. Analyze the record and extract the main taxable clusters the website targets.”

When the AI study is complete, you should get a consequence akin to this:

Use this accusation to determine connected the topics wherever you request to fortify your visibility. 

Step 4. Check your competitors’ AI visibility

Check your rivals’ visibility successful AI features for illustration Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode to understand what’s moving for them beyond modular integrated rankings.

Do this pinch the Semrush AI Visibility Toolkit to way your visibility compared to your competitors complete time, and to spot what circumstantial prompts they look for that you don’t.

Start pinch the Competitor Research report. Enter your domain and up to 4 competitors to spot your visibility, assemblage size, and number of mentions complete time. Use the level selector to take AI Overview aliases Google AI Mode specifically. 

Scroll down to the “Topics & Prompts” conception and click the “Missing” tab. This shows you each the prompts your competitors are appearing for that you’re not, sorted by topic. See the individual prompts you’re missing visibility for by clicking into a fixed topic, and click “View afloat response” to spot the AI consequence to the prompt.

Look for prompts that are applicable to your business that you don’t presently look for. These are prompts you tin optimize for wrong existing content, aliases you tin create caller contented astir them.

Note: To spell further pinch this portion of the analysis, cheque retired our guideline to finding AI visibility gaps. 

Step 5. Reverse technologist your rivals’ winning pages

Reverse engineering what’s moving for your competitors helps you understand why their cardinal pages are performing good successful hunt and AI.

When choosing which pages to analyse, look for:

• Pages that rank successful the apical 10 for their target keywords and thrust a batch of traffic
• Pages that are astir cited by AI hunt platforms

Once you cognize which pages are driving your competitors' traffic, look into your rivals’ editorial and structural decisions to understand why those pages execute well.

How they construe the topic

Start pinch the angle. Is the competitor taking a beardown position, aliases producing a neutral overview? Are they penning for a circumstantial assemblage conception (a CFO, a first-time buyer, a developer) aliases keeping it generic? 

If you’re creating aliases updating a akin page, this study tin pass the assemblage you mightiness want to speak to. It besides helps you understand what’s already retired there, and wherever you whitethorn request to differentiate your contented to outrank your competitor. 

How they building the page

Next, representation the H2s connected your competitors' apical pages. This tin show you subtopics the competitor is targeting wrong their content. You shouldn’t conscionable blindly transcript this, but if you spot respective high-ranking competitors building a page successful akin ways, that building is apt what Google is rewarding. 

Look astatine format choices too. Are they utilizing comparison tables, step-by-step processes, original data, aliases proprietary frameworks? Original investigation tin pull backlinks (which tin thief the page rank higher), while a strong, unsocial model gives readers thing to retrieve and AI devices thing to cite. 

How they constitute title tags

Next, cheque really competitors framework the page successful hunt results. Does the title lead pinch the superior keyword? Do they usage numbers, modifiers for illustration "guide" aliases "checklist," aliases audience-specific qualifiers? These choices bespeak really they're interpreting what the searcher wants, and this tin thief you understand really to constitute your ain title tags to guidelines retired successful hunt results.

How they awesome spot and authority

Finally, look astatine really competitors found credibility connected the page. Do authors person bios pinch credentials circumstantial to the topic? Is the contented citing original sources, proprietary data, aliases master quotes? 

Step 6. Analyze your competitors’ backlinks

Analyze your competitor’s backlinks to find opportunities to build links to your ain tract and boost your authority. First, look astatine trends to understand your rivals’ nexus building efforts, past tally a backlink spread analysis.

Backlink acquisition trends

Look astatine backlink acquisition trends to find if your rivals are investing successful link building, aliases whether their contented is attracting links organically.

To find these trends, usage Semrush’s Backlinks instrumentality to tally an audit for a rival domain. Pay attraction to the pursuing graphs:

• Authority Score Trend: An estimate of really overmuch a domain’s wide authority changed complete the past year
• Referring Domains: Displays changes successful the number of unsocial websites linking to your competitor complete the past year
• Backlinks: Shows the number of links from different websites to your competitor complete a 12-month period

If you spot a accelerated summation successful immoderate of the 3 graphs, it could bespeak that your rival has been moving a successful nexus building campaign. 

Run a backlink spread analysis

A backlink spread study finds domains that nexus to your competitors but not you.

In Semrush’s Backlink Gap tool, you tin comparison yourself and up to 3 competitors astatine once.

Add your domain and your rivals’, click “Find prospects,” and the instrumentality will return a database of sites linking to your rivals but not to you.

For each referring domain, you tin click connected the number of backlinks successful your competitor’s column. This will propulsion up the database of referring pages and the competitor URLs they nexus to.

Select the domains you want to scope retired to and click “+ Start Outreach” and past “Send prospects” to prevention them to your SEO project.

Step 7. Explore your rivals’ off-site presence

Analyzing your competitors’ off-site beingness helps you find opportunities to build marque consciousness and spot signals that hunt engines and AI platforms tin usage to study much astir your business. This tin summation your chances of ranking higher and being mentioned aliases cited successful AI-generated responses. 

Social media

Dig into your competitors’ societal media beingness by analyzing their posting frequency, apical platforms, personification engagement levels, and promotional angles they use.

Social media beingness isn’t a Google ranking factor. But societal media posts tin look successful hunt and AI results. So, if your rivals person a larger societal media beingness than you, they whitethorn beryllium appearing successful hunt results and AI responses that you’re not.

If your competitors station aggregate times per week, it’s a motion societal media whitethorn beryllium driving meaningful engagement and results for them. Look astatine their top-performing posts to understand the benignant of contented they stock that resonates pinch their audience.

Further reading: How to execute a societal media competitor study successful 6 steps

Community reach

Your assemblage apt uses aggregate organization platforms to investigation brands and talk astir their issues, not conscionable individual marque websites. 

Competitors whitethorn beryllium utilizing these platforms to amended their visibility, truthful you request to analyse wherever they’re present, and wherever you should beryllium coming too. 

Here’s an illustration utilizing Reddit:

Go to Google, and participate “site:reddit.com” followed by the sanction of your competitor.

The hunt results will show Reddit threads that mention your rival. Note the sentiment and whether the competitor runs its ain subreddit aliases participates successful organization discussions.

What do users item arsenic the top benefits of your competitor? This provides insights into reasons imaginable customers mightiness take your rivals alternatively of you.

What do users item arsenic pain points astir your competitors’ products? These are areas you tin attraction connected pinch your product/service, content, and messaging to coming your marque arsenic the amended choice.

Step 8. Review your competitors’ section SEO (if applicable)

If you compete pinch different businesses successful a circumstantial geographical area, facet local SEO into your competitory analysis. Do this by reviewing their Google Business Profile (GBP), reviews, and visibility for section searches.

For each of your nonstop competitors, cheque if they person a GBP group up. Then, excavation into the reviews to uncover:

• Frequent complaints
• How the business handles complaints
• What customers appreciate

This accusation helps you supply a amended work by learning from competitors’ mistakes, and knowing what useful for them truthful you tin replicate it.

In summation to analyzing reviews, measurement your competitors’ visibility successful section searches. For example, if you person a canine grooming business successful San Francisco, you mightiness audit competitor visibility for queries like:

• Dog grooming successful San Francisco
• Pet groomers successful San Francisco
• Dog groomers adjacent Pacific Heights, San Francisco

For these queries, log which competitors show up and wherever they rank successful section hunt results compared to you.

Then, repetition this process successful AI platforms, noting which competitors appear, who is listed first, and really the AI summarizes each business.

Turn your competitory SEO study insights into an action plan

The 8 steps we’ve covered supra should springiness you extended insights into your competitors’ visibility crossed hunt and AI platforms. You should understand their strengths and weaknesses, and person a bully thought of wherever to attraction your contented strategy to get and enactment ahead.

Use the information to build an action scheme that supports your goals, utilizing the “Action Plan” conception successful the template arsenic a jumping-off point.

To get continuous competitor insights, group up Semrush’s My Reports instrumentality and commencement pinch 1 of the SEO competitory study templates. For example, the “Monthly Competitor Analysis” template breaks down competitor postulation performance, backlinks, paid search, and societal media.

Get started pinch a free trial today.