Competitor Analysis: Key Steps to Evaluate Your Market Ri...

Introduction

Competitor analysis in SEO is the disciplined process of studying your rivals’ websites to reveal what they’re doing well, where they’re weak, and where opportunities exist for you to outperform them. It’s not about copying what others do; it’s about understanding the landscape so you can tailor your strategy to win higher visibility, more relevant traffic, and better conversions. By systematically evaluating competitors’ content, keywords, backlinks, and technical setup, you gain a clear map for your own growth.

In this article, we’ll walk through what competitor analysis is, why it matters for SEO, and how to execute it end-to-end. You’ll find practical, step-by-step instructions you can start using today, plus concrete examples and a roadmap to integrate findings into your pillar content strategy. The focus is on core SEO pillars—keyword strategy, content, technical health, and links—and on turning insights into measurable actions.

What is Competitor Analysis?

Competitor analysis is the process of identifying who your rivals are and systematically examining their online presence to uncover patterns, gaps, and opportunities relevant to search engine optimization. It isn’t limited to “who ranks where” but extends to understanding their content strategy, keyword coverage, user intent, site architecture, backlink profile, and technical health. The goal is to benchmark against peers, learn from what works, and find angles you can optimize for in your own site.

Key concepts you’ll encounter include:

• Direct vs. indirect competitors: Direct competitors target the same audience with similar products or services; indirect competitors might capture the same search intent with different offerings or content formats.

• Keyword overlap and gaps: Which terms competitors rank for that you don’t, and why those terms matter.

• Content quality and topics: How competitors structure content, address user intent, and cover related topics.

• Backlink authority: The quality and diversity of links pointing to competitors, and what it would take to earn similar links.

• Technical and structural health: Site speed, mobile-friendliness, crawlability, internal linking, and schema use.

Why this matters for SEO is simple: search engines reward pages that best match user intent with higher visibility. By analyzing competitors, you reveal opportunities to optimize around keywords you can realistically win, produce superior content where gaps exist, and build stronger signals (links, technical health) that improve your own rankings. This approach aligns closely with core SEO practices like keyword research, content strategy, and technical optimization. Moz: Competitive Analysis Semrush: Competitor Analysis Search Engine Journal: Competitive Analysis for SEO

Why Competitor Analysis Matters for SEO

It informs keyword strategy and topic selection

Competitor analysis reveals which keywords and topics are already delivering traffic and conversions for others in your space. By mapping this landscape, you can prioritize keyword targets with meaningful search volume and realistic ranking potential, while avoiding terms that are out of reach. This helps you build a roadmap of content topics that align with user intent and business goals. When you identify topics competitors rank for but you don’t, you gain clear gaps to fill with optimized content,FAQ sections, or different formats (e.g., video, guides, or comparisons). This approach is foundational to a strong SEO pillar strategy. HubSpot: How to Do Competitive Analysis Moz: Competitive Analysis

It surfaces content gaps and optimization opportunities

Competitor analysis consistently highlights opportunities to improve content quality, depth, and coverage. If rivals have long-form guides that comprehensively answer user questions, you should evaluate whether your own content should be more thorough, updated, or structured differently (e.g., topic clusters, FAQs, or interlinked pillar content). This continuous gap-filling is a core tactic for growing topical authority and improving dwell time and engagement signals that search engines consider. Semrush: Competitor Analysis Moz: Competitive Analysis

It strengthens your technical and authority signals

Beyond content, competitor analysis includes technical SEO and link-building signals. If rivals outrank you due to faster pages, better mobile experience, or stronger backlink profiles, you’ll learn where to invest. Improving site speed, crawlability, and internal linking alongside earning high-quality links creates a stronger overall SEO foundation. This is consistent with best practices recommended by search engines and industry thought leaders. Google: SEO Starter Guide Semrush: Competitor Analysis

Main Content Sections

Below are five deep-dive sections that form a practical, repeatable workflow. Each section includes actionable steps you can implement today and concrete examples to ground the concepts.

1) Map the landscape: identify and categorize your competitors

Understanding who to analyze is the first crucial step. You’ll categorize competitors into tiers based on relevance and impact on your target keywords and audience.

How to do it:

1. Define your market and keywords: List core products/services, primary customer problems, and the top 20–50 keyword targets you want to win.

2. Identify direct competitors: Companies that target the same keywords and audience and appear in top results for your core terms.

3. Identify indirect competitors: Sites that win on related terms or serve complementary needs, which can still influence your ranking dynamics.

4. Build a competitor matrix: For each competitor, capture:

• Domain, brand authority, and target keywords

• Top landing pages and content formats (guides, product pages, comparison posts, videos)

• Notable backlink sources (types of sites and anchor text)

• Technical health signals (site speed, mobile score, crawlability)

• Content quality signals (depth, freshness, internal linking)

Step-by-step approach:

• Start with your own keyword list and plug in the top 5–10 rivals for each term.

• Use a combination of search results, industry lists, and competitive intelligence tools (see Tools section) to populate your matrix.

• Prioritize competitors that appear consistently across multiple core terms; they’ll likely have the strongest influence on your rankings.

• Review each competitor’s top pages and map them to relevant topics or user intents you should cover.

Why this matters: a clear landscape helps you avoid chasing low-impact terms, focus on high-potential opportunities, and design content and link-building programs that move the needle. Moz: Competitive Analysis Semrush: Competitor Analysis

2) Analyze on-page content and keywords: inventory, intent, and gaps

This section centers on what your competitors are publishing and how well it aligns with search intent. The goal is to reproduce successful elements ethically and improve on what they’ve done poorly or missed entirely.

How to do it:

1. Create a content inventory for each competitor: capture page titles, meta descriptions, H1s, word count, content type, and publication date.

2. Map pages to intent: classify pages by informational, navigational, or transactional intent, and note whether content matches user questions tied to those intents.

3. Identify keyword coverage: for each top page, list the target keywords and their ranking positions if available. Look for keyword gaps—terms they rank for that you don’t.

4. Evaluate content quality and depth: assess organization (sections, bullets, tables), use of visuals (images, diagrams, videos), and accuracy/recency of information.

5. Assess internal linking and topic clustering: determine how the content connects to pillar pages and related topics. See if rivals leverage strong internal link structures that boost topical authority.

Step-by-step approach:

• Build a 10–15 page sample from each major competitor (their top ranking pages for core terms).

• For each page, annotate the primary topic, user intent, content length, format (guide, list, comparison), and any unique value (tools, calculators, templates).

• Compare your findings against your own content to identify coverage gaps, outdated information, or weak formats you can improve.

• Create a prioritized list of target pages to develop or update, with suggested titles, subtopics, and formats.

Concrete example:

• Competitor A’s top guide covers “best kitchen knives” with 2,500 words, 12 subtopics, and a downloadable knife-care checklist. You notice a missing section on “knife maintenance for beginners” and a related FAQ block. You can create a comprehensive comparison guide that includes beginner tips, maintenance, and a printable checklist, while also integrating structured data to improve visibility for FAQs.

Why this matters: matching user intent precisely and filling gaps with well-structured content is a proven way to improve rankings and engagement. HubSpot: Competitive Analysis Moz: Competitive Analysis

3) Backlink and authority analysis: assess links and trust signals

Backlinks remain a major ranking factor, and analyzing rivals’ backlink profiles helps you plan acquisition strategies that build authority and resilience. Look beyond volume to assess relevance, anchor text, and link quality.

How to do it:

1. Gather backlink data for each competitor: number of referring domains, total links, domain authority, and anchor text distribution.

2. Identify top linking domains and types: look for industry sites, blogs, news outlets, universities, or government domains that contribute strong signals.

3. Analyze anchor text patterns: note if anchors are branded, partial match, exact keywords, or generic; identify opportunities to diversify anchor text in your own outreach.

4. Detect link opportunities: pages earning links for specific topics, resource pages, or tools you could replicate or collaborate on.

5. Assess link quality and risk: differentiate between high-quality editorial links and potential risky links (spammy directories, link schemes). Plan disavow or outreach adjustments where needed.

Step-by-step approach:

• Use a backlink tool to export a competitor’s link profile (e.g., referring domains, anchors).

• Map top referring domains to content on the competitor’s site to identify content that earns links.

• Create a list of target sites for your own outreach based on relevance, authority, and likelihood of earning links.

• Develop a 3–6 month outreach plan with tailored angles, value propositions, and content formats (e.g., resources, expert roundups, data studies).

Concrete example:

• Competitor B earns several editorial links from industry blogs by publishing a quarterly data study. You can plan a similar data-driven piece targeting a broader or more niche audience, then reach out to those same outlets with a compelling summary and data visuals.

Why this matters: high-quality backlinks contribute to domain authority and rankings, and studying competitors’ link profiles helps you prioritize outreach channels and content formats that attract links. Moz: Link Building Semrush: Backlink Analytics

4) Technical SEO and site structure: crawling, speed, and usability

Technical health is the backbone of a performant site. If your competitors outrank you due to faster pages, superior mobile experiences, or clearer site architecture, you’ll want to pinpoint and close those gaps.

How to do it:

1. Crawl both sites to compare architecture: map URL structures, folder depth, and the distribution of top pages (category pages, product pages, blog posts).

2. Evaluate page speed and core web vitals: measure LCP, CLS, and FID; examine if rivals deliver faster experiences on desktop and mobile.

3. Review crawlability and indexability: check robots.txt, sitemap status, and potential crawl issues on key pages.

4. Inspect structured data usage: identify schema types used (articles, FAQ, product, breadcrumbs) and how they might improve rich results.

5. Assess mobile experience and UX: compare responsive behavior, tappable element sizes, and essential content visibility on mobile.

Step-by-step approach:

• Use a site-crawl or auditing tool to generate a technical health report for you and a competitor.

• List high-priority issues (e.g., large render-blocking resources, image optimization gaps, missing structured data) and assign owners.

• Prioritize fixes that impact speed, crawl efficiency, and user experience on core pages.

Concrete example:

• If your competitor’s product pages load faster and show rich snippets, you should add product structured data (schema.org), optimize images, and improve server response times. Google’s guidelines emphasize speed and structured data as signals in the ranking ecosystem. Google: SEO Starter Guide Google PageSpeed Insights

Why this matters: technical health and a clean site structure help search engines crawl, understand, and rank your content more effectively. It also improves user experience, which indirectly influences rankings and conversions. Google: SEO Starter Guide

5) From analysis to action: turning findings into a pillar-focused plan

The real value of competitor analysis comes from turning insights into a structured plan that supports your SEO pillar content strategy. This means aligning content, keyword targets, internal linking, and site improvements with measurable goals and a clear execution calendar.

How to do it:

1. Define your pillar content strategy: identify core topics that cover your business and user intent, and determine the supporting cluster content that will interlink to those pillars.

2. Create an optimization roadmap: for each high-priority gap, specify the content approach (update existing pages, create new long-form guides, add FAQs), target keywords, required media (images, charts, videos), and internal linking changes.

3. Prioritize actions by impact and effort: use a simple scoring system (Impact x Effort) to rank tasks. Start with high-impact, low-effort items.

4. Establish measurement dashboards: track rankings, organic traffic, engagement metrics, and conversion impact for each pillar.

5. Schedule review cadences: set quarterly refresh cycles to revisit competitor activity, update content, and adjust the plan based on performance.

Step-by-step approach:

• Build a one-page plan per pillar that lists target keywords, required content formats, update dates, and link-building targets.

• Align your internal team around responsibilities (content, developers, designers, outreach) and set concrete deadlines.

• Implement a quarterly review to refresh data and adjust the plan based on performance and new competitor moves.

Concrete example:

• Pillar: “Smart Home Security Systems” with cluster pages for “wireless security cameras,” “smart door locks,” and “alarm systems.”

• Gap: competitor ranks well for “best home security camera with AI” but you lack hardware-focused comparison content.

• Plan: create a comprehensive “Best Smart Home Security Cameras with AI” guide, add a comparison matrix, publish a buyer’s guide, and pursue editorial links from tech outlets.

Why this matters: a pillar-driven approach helps you establish topical authority, improves internal linking for SEO, and creates scalable content that compounds over time. It also provides a repeatable process to respond to competitors and keep your strategy fresh. Moz: Competitive Analysis Semrush: Competitor Analysis

6) Implementation and measurement: building a repeatable workflow

A robust competitor analysis program isn’t a one-off exercise; it’s an ongoing workflow that powers your SEO pillar content and growth.

How to do it:

1. Set a cadence: quarterly or semi-annual competitor analyses to stay current with market shifts.

2. Maintain living documents: store your competitor matrices, content inventories, and roadmap in a shared, version-controlled workspace (e.g., a collaborative spreadsheet or a wiki).

3. Track KPIs: monitor keyword rankings, organic traffic to pillar pages, number and quality of earned links, and page experience metrics (speed, CLS, LCP).

4. Align with product/content teams: ensure findings translate into concrete content briefs, product pages, or feature announcements when relevant.

5. Iterate based on results: if a tactic works (e.g., data-driven content piece earns strong backlinks), scale similar initiatives; if something underperforms, adjust or retire.

Step-by-step approach:

• Create a standardized template for every competitor you track (categories: keywords, top pages, backlink profile, technical health, content gaps).

• Schedule a quarterly sprint where teams review, decide, and execute on top 3–5 actions.

• Build a simple dashboard that shows progress toward pillar goals and competitor movements.

Concrete example:

• Dashboard metrics: organic traffic to pillar pages, ranking changes for target keywords, number of new referring domains from high-authority sites, page speed improvements. Regularly review with the content and engineering teams to keep the plan aligned with SEO pillar objectives. Google: SEO Starter Guide

Why this matters: a disciplined, repeatable process ensures you continuously close gaps, adapt to competitive moves, and connect analysis outcomes to measurable SEO goals. HubSpot: Competitive Analysis Semrush: Competitor Analysis

Practical Tools and How to Use Them

To make this work, you’ll rely on a mix of free and paid tools. Here’s a practical starter kit with concrete uses and how to apply them in your workflow.

• Keyword and topic discovery: use keyword research tools to map keyword coverage for competitors and to identify gaps.

• Tools: SEMrush, Ahrefs, Moz, Google Keyword Planner

• Content analysis: evaluate top pages, formats, and depth.

• Tools: same as above, plus content gap analysis features.

• Backlink analysis: explore competitor link profiles and identify link-building opportunities.

• Tools: Ahrefs Backlink Checker, Semrush Backlink Analytics, Majestic

• Technical and site health: audit crawlability, speed, and schema usage.

• Tools: Google PageSpeed Insights, Screaming Frog SEO Spider, Google Search Console

Practical tip: document your data sources and update cadence in your competitor analysis workbook so your team can reproduce findings and verify decisions.

Case Study: How a Mid-Sized E-commerce Brand Used Competitor Analysis to Grow

• Situation: An online retailer selling home goods faced stagnant organic growth and wanted to improve rankings for “kitchen organization” related terms.

• Approach: The team performed a quarterly competitor analysis, focusing on content gaps, keyword opportunities, and backlink prospects. They mapped competitors into three tiers, created a pillar page around “Kitchen Organization Master Guide,” and built 5 supporting pages with actionable checklists, templates, and printable PDFs.

• Results: Within six months, the pillar page rankings improved to top 3 for several targeted keywords, organic traffic to the pillar page grew by 40%, and they earned 15 high-quality editorial links from home and lifestyle publications.

• Why it worked: they combined a data-driven content strategy with a targeted outreach plan focused on credible sources, and they aligned technical improvements (schema for FAQs and product cards) to support the content. This demonstrates how competitive insight translates to a tangible pillar-driven SEO lift. HubSpot: Competitive Analysis Moz: Competitive Analysis

Conclusion

Competitor analysis is a powerful, repeatable discipline that informs every major SEO pillar: keyword strategy, content creation, technical health, and link development. By mapping the competitive landscape, analyzing on-page content and intent, evaluating backlinks, assessing technical health, and turning findings into a structured action plan, you create a clear path to higher rankings and more valuable traffic. The end goal isn’t to copy competitors but to identify opportunities where you can outperform them and build a stronger, more authoritative site.

Key next steps to implement today:

• Build a competitor landscape and content inventory for your top 5–8 rivals.

• Identify 3–5 high-impact gaps to fill in your pillar content within the next 4–6 weeks.

• Audit at least two competitor backlink sources to identify link-building opportunities you can pursue.

• Run a quick technical health check on your site and your main competitors; prioritize fixes that affect speed and crawlability.

• Create a simple pillar-and-cluster content plan with clear owners, deadlines, and success metrics.

If you want a ready-to-use starter template, begin with a simple competitor analysis workbook that includes sections for: competitors, top pages, target keywords, content gaps, backlink opportunities, and technical findings. Regularly update this workbook and tie findings to your pillar content roadmap so your SEO efforts compound over time.

References and Further Reading

• Moz: Competitive Analysis — how to perform and why it matters Moz: Competitive Analysis

• Semrush: Competitor Analysis — frameworks and practical steps Semrush: Competitor Analysis

• HubSpot: How to Do Competitive Analysis — practical, actionable guidance HubSpot: Competitive Analysis

• Search Engine Journal: Competitive Analysis for SEO — tactics and tools SEJ: Competitive Analysis for SEO

• Google: SEO Starter Guide — foundational guidelines for technical and content quality Google: SEO Starter Guide

• Google PageSpeed Insights — performance metrics and optimization ideas Google PageSpeed Insights

• Screaming Frog SEO Spider — in-depth technical site audit tool Screaming Frog

Code block: a simple example to fetch a competitor’s top pages (for illustration)

Note: This is a starting point for internal exploration. Always respect robots.txt, terms of service, and legal considerations when gathering data from competitors.