Competitive research is one of my favorite SEO factors. It’s insightful and generates strategic content themes. Clients always enjoy knowing how they compare against competitors.
SEOs use a few basic, check-box approaches for competitor research, as well as some less-orthodox methods that have worked for myself and my clients. This includes:
- Product/business reviews
- SparkToro
- Analysis of your competitors’ owned media
Standard SEO tools for researching competitors
First, let’s review what SEOs should be using (with a couple of bonus use cases).
You likely know this list: Ahrefs, BuzzSumo, and Semrush.
Ahrefs
Ahrefs is a great source of info for:
- Search traffic.
- Paid traffic.
- Trends over time.
- Search engine ranking for keywords.
- Topics and categories your competitors are writing content for.
- Top pages.
- And more.
I also like to use Ahrefs for a couple of more advanced initiatives:
High-level batch analysis
This gives a quick backlink analysis for any URL list.
Use this to generate ideas for outreach or articles targeting these outlets for your backlink strategy.
Reverse-engineering a competitor’s FAQs
This helps you identify key subjects to discuss with your brand’s differentiators.
Navigate to Ahrefs’ Site Explorer, enter a competition domain, and access the Organic Keywords report.
From here, remove non-question keywords. The outcome is a good list of industry user questions.
BuzzSumo
BuzzSumo notifies you of competitors’ PR and outreach links.
This is similar to batch analysis, but it’s real-time and reveals your competitors’ priorities.
Semrush
Semrush is great for competitive research.
The domain vs. domain tool shows competitors’ keywords and stats. Learn about competition keywords, ad copy, organic and paid listings, etc.
After conducting research, I recommend creating “{client} vs. {competitor}” content pieces, especially when differentiators are identified.
You may not outrank your competition by leveraging their brand. Still, it’s a good method to borrow brand equity from bigger brands if you’re a challenger.
This strategy has helped me get first-page rankings and reach buyers.
Advanced SEO tools for researching competitors
Product and business reviews
Product/service or brand reviews for your competitors can help you identify content and metadata issues, especially if those flaws are your client’s strengths.
Customer service issues? Consider a blog about the importance of {client} customer service for growth.
Lacking a popular feature?
Even if your company doesn’t provide it yet, the product team will appreciate your competition analysis and roadmap proposals for top-of-funnel content.
Yelp, along with Google reviews, is a valuable resource for local companies. B2B and SaaS enterprises benefit from Capterra and G2.
Challenger brands may have their own subreddit, like NerdWallet, to compete with larger brands for market share.
Try looking for your rival in broader subreddits, such as “nerd wallet” in a credit card subreddit, to gain competitive information.
Reddit is excellent for brand insights and SEO questions, perhaps as much as product reviews.
It can be tricky, but high-engagement pieces are terrific starting points for content ideas that will resonate with your audience.
Owned media competitor analysis
This is where you can really roll up your sleeves and find growth opportunities. Start with a SERP analysis to do basic “query to landing page” mapping, but don’t stop there.
- Evaluate the site’s information architecture and structure.
- Analyze blogs, case studies, and other ungated content to find themes.
- Sign up for newsletters and analyze them as you get them.
- Watch social media profiles to see real-time trends and topics under discussion.
Use the user journey and/or sign-up process to evaluate strengths, flaws, and competitive positioning.
All of this research should inform content gap analyses.
This list includes blue-sky prospects you may address first, not merely terms your competitors are ranking for and you need to write about.
When competitors score well for competing keywords, a differentiated approach aligned with your brand might help you gain ground.
Gather competitive insights, then take action
Presenting competitive findings in a consumable format to clients and management teams is a solid start (and may reach the executive team for strategic planning).
You can effectively use your observations by providing compelling recommendations for their application.
Aim for takeaways like:
- “{Competitor} is great at x, so I suggest we target y.”
- “{Competitor} is less popular with {audience}, which would likely engage with content on {topic}.”
Finally, your client/teammates should be able to use your market data to understand and prioritize expansion projects alongside you.
If done properly, such activities will position you and your team for performance evaluations and contract renewals.
