A Step-by-Step Guide to SEO Competitor Analysis

Search engine optimisation is constantly evolving, which means staying ahead of the competition is about more than just keywords and backlinks. It’s about understanding what your competitors are doing, then proceed to do it better than them. That’s where SEO competitor analysis comes in.

We’ll walk you through everything you need to know about SEO competitor analysis, from identifying who your competitors really are, to uncovering the keywords, content, and backlinks that are driving their success.

What Is SEO Competitor Analysis?

SEO competitor analysis is the process of evaluating the search engine optimisation strategies of your online rivals to understand what’s working for them, and how you can improve your own rankings by learning from their tactics.

In simpler terms, it’s about looking under the bonnet of your competitors’ websites to figure out:

• Which keywords they’re targeting
• What kind of content performs well for them
• Where their backlinks come from
• How well they’re doing in terms of technical SEO
• What SEO tools and tactics they’re using

By performing a thorough competitor SEO analysis, you’ll gain valuable insights that can inform your own strategy, fill in content gaps, and find new opportunities to outperform your rivals.

Why Is Competitor Analysis Important for SEO?

Search engine rankings are essentially a race, only one site can be number one for a given keyword. If your competitors are ranking higher, they’re getting featured more prominently on search engine results page (SERP), meaning more traffic, leads, and conversions.

Here’s why competitor analysis in SEO is crucial:

• Benchmarking: Understand where you stand in comparison to your rivals.
• Opportunity discovery: Find keywords or content topics they’re ranking for that you’ve missed.
• Content inspiration: See what types of posts or pages get the most traction in your niche.
• Link building: Identify backlink opportunities by studying their link profile.
• Avoiding mistakes: Learn from their weaknesses so you don’t repeat them.

Step-by-Step Guide to SEO Competitor Analysis

Now that you’ve understood the importance of conducting a SEO competitor analysis, let us now break it down into a practical, step-by-step process you can follow.

Step 1: Identify Your True SEO Competitors

Your business competitors and your SEO competitors might not be the same. For example, a local bakery may see other bakeries as rivals in the physical world. But online, they could be competing with food bloggers, recipe sites, or national chains.

To identify your true competitor SEO analysis targets, start by Googling your top keywords. Who shows up on page one? Which sites consistently rank for terms relevant to your business?

You can also use tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, or SE Ranking to generate a list of competitors based on shared keywords.

How to identify competitors:

• Search your target keywords on Google and see which websites consistently rank.
• Use tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Ubersuggest to find “top competing domains”.
• Focus on websites with similar content, audience, and goals as well as domains that consistently rank above you.
• Make a list of 5–10 top competitors to analyse in more depth.

Example: If you run a travel blog about Vietnam, a competitor isn’t necessarily a large travel agency like Expedia. It might be other niche travel blogs targeting the same keywords like “things to do in Saigon” or “Vietnam itinerary”.

Step 2: Analyse Competitor Keywords

Once you know who your SEO competitors are, the next step is discovering what keywords they’re ranking for. This is key to uncovering competitor analysis keywords that you should consider targeting too.

This is where you start uncovering the core of your competitors’ SEO strategies. With tools like SEMrush, Ahrefs, or Ubersuggest, you can plug in a competitor’s URL and see the different keywords your competitors are targeting.

What to look for:

• Top performing keywords: Especially those bringing them the most traffic
• Keyword gaps: Terms they rank for but you don’t
• Keyword intent: What’s the user goal behind the query (informational, commercial, navigational?)

Tools to Use:

• Ahrefs: “Organic Keywords” report
• SEMrush: “Keyword Gap” tool
• Ubersuggest: “Top SEO Pages” and “SEO Keywords”

Tip: Export their top 100 ranking keywords and look for patterns, are they targeting long-tail queries, how competitive are the keywords, and are there any quick wins?

This data can help you discover competitor analysis keywords you haven’t targeted yet, or refine your existing keyword strategy.

For instance, if a rival ranks for “best vegan lunch recipes” and you only target “vegan lunch ideas,” you might expand your content to include “best,” “easy,” or “quick” variations.

Also, look at keyword intent. Are your competitors ranking for informational, transactional, or navigational queries? This tells you what kind of content (blogs, product pages, guides) is resonating with users.

Step 3: Evaluate Competitor Content

Content is the backbone of SEO. A deep dive into your rivals’ top-performing content helps you understand what resonates with your shared audience. On-page SEO plays a critical role in helping content rank. Once you’ve identified the top-performing content of your competitors, analyse what they’re doing right.

Look at the following elements:

• Page titles and meta descriptions: Are they compelling? Keyword-rich?
• Headings (H1, H2, etc.): Do they use clear keyword hierarchies?
• Content length and structure: Are the articles detailed? Easy to read?
• Internal linking: How are they linking to other relevant content?
• Use of multimedia: Do they include images, videos, infographics?
• Popular blog posts or pages with high traffic
• Content formats: guides, listicles, how-tos, videos, etc.
• Content length and quality
• Internal linking structure
• Engagement signals (comments, shares, etc.)

Example: If a competitor ranks well with a guide like “SEO in Europe”, you might consider creating a more detailed, updated version with added value, like techniques, tips, or best practices.

Step 4: Analyse Backlinks and Authority

Backlinks remain one of the strongest ranking signals in SEO. Analysing your competitors’ backlink profiles shows you who’s linking to them, why, and how you can earn similar links.

Tools like Ahrefs, Majestic, and Moz are excellent for this. Enter your competitor’s domain and assess.

Key Metrics:

• Total backlinks and referring domains
• Authority of linking domains
• Anchor text distribution
• DoFollow vs NoFollow links

Let’s say you discover a competitor’s guide on “Email Marketing for Startups” has 50 backlinks from reputable marketing blogs. That’s a clear sign this topic is valuable and shareable.

You could create a more comprehensive or updated version of the guide, then reach out to those same sites and offer your resource.

Tip: Sort their backlinks by domain rating (DR) or domain authority (DA) to prioritise the most valuable ones for outreach.

Step 5: Check Technical SEO and On-Page Optimisation

Even the best content can underperform if a site’s technical SEO is lacking. Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights, Screaming Frog, or Sitebulb to audit your competitors’ websites.

Focus on:

• Page speed and mobile responsiveness.

• Core Web Vitals performance.

• Crawlability and indexability.

• Site structure and URL hierarchy.

• Schema markup implementation.

If your competitor’s site loads significantly faster or is better optimised for mobile, that could be a key reason they outrank you, even with similar content.

Tools to Try:

• Screaming Frog: for full site crawls
• Google PageSpeed Insights: to compare speed
• SEO Meta in 1 Click (a Chrome extension): quick overview of on-page elements

Step 6: Track Competitor Rankings Over Time

Tracking your competitor rankings helps you see which rivals are rising or falling, and why. It can reveal trends, algorithm hits, or content updates that affect performance.

How to monitor:

• Use SEMrush, Ahrefs, or SERPWatcher to track position changes
• Set alerts for new keyword entries or drops
• Watch for sudden jumps, this could signal new content or backlinks

Look at your competitors’ publishing habits. Do they:

• Post regularly and consistently?
• Create long-form, in-depth guides?
• Use blog categories to structure content?
• Update old content to keep it fresh?
• Promote content through newsletters or social media?

Tip: If a competitor suddenly ranks for “SEO trends 2025”, don’t just copy, look at what makes their page rank, then create your own better version. Or if you find that top-ranking pages include interactive elements like calculators or custom visuals, it may be time to elevate your own content production.

Turning Insights into Action

Once you’ve gathered all this intel, the most important part is what you do with it. Here’s how to turn your analysis into results:

• Fill content gaps: Create quality content for keywords you don’t rank for (yet).
• Improve on top performers: Outdo your competitors’ best articles with more depth and better user experience.
• Build strategic backlinks: Target similar referring domains through outreach or digital PR.
• Fix technical issues: Use what you’ve learned to streamline your own website’s performance.
• Stay consistent: Repeat this process regularly to stay ahead as competitors change tactics.

Make SEO Competitor Analysis a Habit

SEO isn’t a one-time project, it’s an ongoing process. Regular competitor SEO analysis helps you stay sharp, adapt faster, and ultimately outrank your rivals in the search results.

Think of it not as spying, but as studying. The more you know about what works (and what doesn’t) in your niche, the more confidently you can build an SEO strategy that wins.

Want to dominate your niche? Start your SEO competitor analysis today, and let your rivals wonder how you did it. Contact Saigon Digital now!