How to Do Competitor Analysis
Competitor analysis in SEO means studying what your competitors are doing online, what keywords they rank for, what content performs well, how they get backlinks, and how their site is structured.
The goal is simple: learn what works for them and do it better for your own website. When done correctly, competitor analysis helps you understand opportunities, content gaps, and strategies to outrank them.
1. Identify Your Real Competitors
Your real competitors are the websites ranking on the first page for your target keywords, not just businesses selling the same service.
How it works:
Search your main keyword on Google.
Example: “logo design services”
The websites ranking on page 1 are your SEO competitors.
Why this matters:
You need to analyse what Google already rewards.
2. Analyse Their Keywords
Find the keywords your competitors rank for that you don’t.
How it works:
Use tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Ubersuggest.
Example:
You discover your competitor ranks for:
- professional logo design
- business logo packages
- creative logo concepts
These become keywords YOU should also target.
3. Study Their Top Pages
Every competitor has 5–10 pages that bring most of their traffic.
How it works:
Tools show their top-performing pages by traffic.
Example:
A competitor’s blog titled “Top 50 Logo Designs for Businesses” gets 40% of their traffic.
This tells you that list-based and inspirational content works in that niche.
4. Evaluate Their Content Quality
Look at how they structure their content and what makes it rank.
Check for:
- Word count
- Use of images or videos
- How clearly they explain topics
- Content depth (examples, FAQs, steps)
Example:
Your competitor includes before/after logo designs—this gives readers value.
You can improve by adding case studies, pricing insights, or step-by-step guides.
5. Analyse Their On-Page SEO
Look for elements that help them rank higher.
Check:
- Title tags
- Meta descriptions
- Header structure
- Internal links
- Keyword placement
Example:
Competitor uses keywords at the start of titles:
“Logo Design Services – Affordable Business Logos”
This is a strong on-page SEO practice you can adopt.
6. Study Their Backlinks
Backlinks show how trustworthy a website is.
How it works:
Tools reveal where your competitor gets links from.
Example:
They may have backlinks from:
- design blogs
- startup directories
- digital marketing guides
These become target places for your link-building plan.
7. Analyse Their Technical SEO
Look at the health and speed of their website.
Check:
- Mobile friendliness
- Page speed
- Core Web Vitals
- Broken links
- Sitemap
Example:
If your competitor loads in 1.5 seconds and yours loads in 4 seconds, Google will prefer their page.
Improving your speed will help you compete.
8. Identify Content Gaps
Find topics competitors haven’t covered yet.
Example:
Competitors wrote about “Logo Design Tips”
But none wrote “Logo Design Trends for Small Businesses”
This becomes your opportunity.
9. Create a Plan to Beat Your Competitors
Once you know their strengths and weaknesses, create a better plan.
Steps:
- Write deeper and more engaging content
- Target the keywords they missed
- Improve your page design and UX
- Build higher-quality backlinks
- Optimize for speed and mobile
Example:
The competitor publishes basic guides.
You publish step-by-step tutorials + examples + templates, making your content more valuable.