Get ahead of your competition with smarter SEO insights
If you’re putting time and effort into improving your website’s search rankings, you’ll want to know what your competitors are doing too. That’s where SEO competitor analysis comes in.
Whether you’re a small business owner or a growing startup, understanding your SEO competition can uncover keyword opportunities, backlink gaps, and content ideas that could push your rankings to the next level.
Let’s walk through how to do competitor analysis in SEO, why it matters, and how to get started (even if you’re not an SEO expert).
What Is Competitor Analysis in Business?
Competitor analysis in business is all about identifying who your real competitors are and understanding their strengths and weaknesses. It’s been around for years in marketing but in SEO, it means digging into what’s helping your competitors perform better on Google.
It answers questions like:
- Why are they ranking higher than me?
- What keywords are they targeting?
- Where are they getting their backlinks from?
- What content performs best for them?
In short, it helps you make smarter decisions and avoid guessing when planning your SEO strategy.
Why You Need SEO Competitor Analysis?
If you want better rankings, more traffic, and more leads, you need to know what you’re up against.
Here’s what a solid SEO competition analysis can reveal:
- Keyword gaps – keywords your competitors rank for that you don’t
- Content ideas – what’s working well for them that you could improve on
- Backlink sources – where their SEO authority is coming from
- Technical insights – how their site is structured or optimised compared to yours
Doing this kind of research saves time and helps you target what actually works, especially when SEO budgets are tight!
How to Compare Competitors: Step-by-Step
Here’s how I typically analyse competitor websites for my clients at Ryan Gibson SEO:
1. Identify Your True SEO Competitors
Your business competitors and SEO competitors aren’t always the same. You might compete with a local shop down the road in real life, but online, you’re up against the websites ranking ahead of you on Google.
Try this:
- Search your top keywords and see who appears on page one.
- Use tools like Ubersuggest or SEMrush to find your closest SEO rivals.
Look for businesses with similar services, audience size, and content strategy.
2. Analyse Their Keywords
Once you know who you’re competing with, look at what keywords they rank for. Especially the ones you don’t.
Ask yourself:
- Are they targeting long-tail keywords you’re missing?
- Are they ranking for local variations?
- Are they writing content around high-volume search terms?
Use tools like Ubersuggest, SEMrush, or Ahrefs.
3. Examine Their Content Strategy
What kind of content are they creating, and how often? Content is a huge part of SEO and your competitors’ blogs, landing pages, and FAQs can give you ideas for your own site.
Look at:
- Blog topics and structure
- Use of internal linking
- Use of multimedia (images, video, infographics)
Find a blog post that performs well for them, then create something even better (longer, more helpful, easier to read etc).
4. Check Their Backlinks
If your competitors are outranking you, it might be because they have stronger links pointing to their site.
Look for:
- Who’s linking to them (news sites, blogs, directories?)
- Which pages get the most links
- Opportunities to earn similar backlinks
5. Audit Their Site Structure and Speed
Technical SEO is often overlooked. If your competitor’s site is lightning fast and mobile-friendly while yours is clunky and slow, that could explain the ranking gap.
Use tools like:
Compare key stats like:
- Page load times
- Core Web Vitals
- Site architecture (clear navigation, internal links, etc.)
What’s in an SEO Competitor Analysis Report?
A proper SEO competitor analysis report brings all of this together in a way that’s easy to understand and act on.
At Ryan Gibson SEO, my reports typically include:
- A list of your top SEO competitors
- Keyword gaps and ranking opportunities
- Backlink comparison and link-building ideas
- Content analysis and improvement areas
- Technical insights to close the performance gap
You don’t need to be technical to use the insights. I keep things jargon-free and focused on results.
Ready to Analyse Competitor Websites?
Doing a competitor analysis for SEO gives you a roadmap of what to aim for and what to improve. It’s not about copying what others are doing, but about learning what works and doing it better.
Need a hand with your SEO competitor research? Request your SEO Competitor Analysis Report.
You’ll get a personalised breakdown of what your top competitors are doing right now and what you can do to outrank them.
[Affiliate link disclaimer: I may receive a commission if you sign up through my link at no extra cost to you.]
