Ever wonder why your competitor ranks higher than you on Google? What are they doing that you're not?
The good news is you don't have to guess. With the right tools and strategies, you can analyze exactly what your competitors are doing for SEO—and use that information to outrank them.
Why Competitor Analysis Matters
Your competitors have already done the hard work of figuring out what keywords work, what content ranks, and what backlinks matter. By analyzing their strategy, you can skip the trial and error and go straight to what works.
What to Analyze
1. Their Keywords
Which keywords are they ranking for? Are there high-value keywords you're missing?
2. Their Content
What blog posts and service pages are bringing them the most traffic? What topics are they covering that you're not?
3. Their Backlinks
Who's linking to them? Can you get links from the same sources?
4. Their Technical SEO
How fast is their site? Is it mobile-friendly? What technical advantages do they have?
5. Their Local SEO
How many Google reviews do they have? Are they listed in directories you're not?
How to Analyze Your Competitors
Step 1: Identify Your Top Competitors
Search for your main keywords (e.g., "plumber in Austin") and see who ranks in the top 5. These are your SEO competitors.
Step 2: Use SEO Tools
Tools like SEMrush, Ahrefs, or Moz let you enter a competitor's URL and see:
- Which keywords they rank for
- How much traffic they get
- Where their backlinks come from
- What content performs best
Step 3: Analyze Their Content
Read their blog posts and service pages. What keywords are they targeting? How long is their content? What makes it better than yours?
Step 4: Check Their Backlinks
See who's linking to them. Are there local directories, industry sites, or blogs you could also get links from?
Step 5: Review Their Google Business Profile
How many reviews do they have? How often do they post updates? What photos are they using?
Step 6: Test Their Site Speed
Run their site through Google PageSpeed Insights. If they're faster than you, that's a ranking factor you need to fix.
What to Do With This Information
Target Their Keywords
If they're ranking for a keyword you're not, create content targeting that keyword.
Create Better Content
If they have a blog post on "How to Choose an HVAC System," write a more comprehensive, better-optimized version.
Get Their Backlinks
Reach out to sites linking to them and ask for a link to your site too.
Improve Your Technical SEO
If their site is faster or more mobile-friendly, invest in improvements.
Boost Your Local SEO
If they have more reviews, start asking your customers for reviews.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Copying their content word-for-word (that's plagiarism and will hurt your SEO)
- Focusing only on one competitor (analyze multiple)
- Ignoring your own strengths (you might be doing things better than them)
- Not taking action (analysis without execution is useless)
Get a Professional Competitor Analysis
Analyzing your competitors takes time and expertise. If you want a detailed report showing exactly what your competitors are doing and how to beat them, we can help.
Our Competitor SEO Analysis Report gives you a complete breakdown of your top competitors' SEO strategies, including keywords, backlinks, content gaps, and actionable recommendations to outrank them.
Want to see where you stand first? Get our Site and SEO Audit to understand your current SEO performance before diving into competitor analysis.