How to Perform a Competitor SEO Analysis

Identifying Your True SEO Competitors

Before analyzing competitors, you need to know who they are. Your SEO competitors are not always the same as your business competitors. If you run a small accounting firm in Chicago, your SEO competitors include every website that ranks on page one for queries like "Chicago accountant," "tax preparation Chicago," and "small business CPA Chicago" — which may include national directories, review sites, and content publishers that are not accounting firms at all.

The easiest way to identify your SEO competitors is to search for your target keywords and note which domains appear consistently in the top 10 results. Alternatively, use SEMrush's "Organic Research" tool — enter your domain and click the "Competitors" tab to see a list of domains that compete with you for the same keywords, ranked by the number of shared keywords. Focus on competitors that overlap with you on 30% or more of your keyword portfolio, as these are the sites most directly affecting your rankings.

Analyzing Competitor Keywords

Once you have identified your competitors, the next step is to understand which keywords drive their organic traffic. In Ahrefs, enter a competitor's domain into Site Explorer and navigate to the "Organic Keywords" report. This shows every keyword the domain ranks for, along with estimated monthly search volume, keyword difficulty, and the ranking URL. Sort by estimated traffic descending to see which keywords generate the most visits.

Pay special attention to keywords where your competitor ranks in positions 1-10 and you do not rank at all. These represent your most significant content gaps. Group these keywords by topic — if your competitor ranks for 15 different keywords related to "project management software," they have built strong topical authority in that area, and you need to create competing content to capture that traffic.

In SEMrush, use the "Keyword Gap" tool for a more direct comparison. Enter your domain and up to four competitors, and the tool shows keywords that your competitors rank for but you do not. Filter by search volume to prioritize high-traffic opportunities, and filter by keyword difficulty to find terms where competition is manageable. Export the results and use them as the foundation for your content calendar.

Reverse Engineering Competitor Backlinks

Backlinks are often the hardest part of SEO to replicate, but understanding where your competitors get their links can reveal actionable opportunities. In Ahrefs, enter a competitor's domain and go to the "Referring Domains" report. Sort by Domain Rating to see the highest-authority sites linking to them. Look for patterns — are they getting links from guest posts, resource pages, news coverage, or directory listings?

Focus on links that you could realistically replicate. If a competitor earned a link from a roundup post ("10 Best Marketing Tools"), reach out to the author with your own tool or resource. If they got listed on a resource page ("Recommended SEO Agencies"), submit your agency for inclusion. If they earned links through guest posting on industry blogs, pitch similar guest post ideas to those same blogs.

SEMrush's "Backlink Gap" tool automates this comparison. Enter your domain and your competitors, and it shows domains that link to your competitors but not to you. Filter by domain authority to prioritize high-value prospects, then visit each domain to understand the context of the link and determine the best outreach approach.

Evaluating Competitor Content Strategy

Content analysis reveals how your competitors structure their topical coverage. Use Ahrefs' "Top Pages" report to see which pages on a competitor's site generate the most organic traffic and backlinks. This tells you what content formats and topics resonate most with their audience and attract the most links.

Look for content patterns: Do your competitors publish long-form guides (3,000+ words) or shorter articles? Do they use comparison tables, case studies, or data visualizations? Do they update their content regularly or publish and forget? Understanding these patterns helps you create content that competes effectively — not by copying, but by identifying what works and creating something better.

Also examine the pages where your competitors rank but have low content scores or thin content. If a competitor ranks on page one with a 500-word article, you can likely outrank them by publishing a comprehensive 2,000-word guide on the same topic. Tools like Surfer SEO can help you compare your content against the competition and identify specific improvements.

Tracking Competitor Changes Over Time

A single snapshot of a competitor's SEO strategy is useful, but tracking changes over time is far more valuable. Set up monitoring in Ahrefs or SEMrush to receive alerts when competitors gain significant backlinks, publish new content, or experience ranking changes. Ahrefs' "Alerts" feature notifies you when a tracked domain gains or loses backlinks, while SEMrush's "Position Tracking" can monitor your competitors' keyword positions alongside your own.

Create a quarterly competitor analysis schedule. Every three months, re-run the keyword gap analysis, backlink analysis, and content review for your top 3-5 competitors. Compare the results with your previous analysis to identify trends — is a competitor aggressively building links in a specific niche? Have they started targeting keywords they previously ignored? Are they publishing more content or improving existing pages? These trends help you anticipate competitive threats and adjust your strategy proactively rather than reactively.

Building Your Action Plan

After completing your analysis, compile your findings into a prioritized action plan. Create three lists: (1) keywords to target immediately — high-volume, low-difficulty terms where competitors rank but you do not, (2) link opportunities to pursue — domains that link to competitors and could realistically link to you, and (3) content gaps to fill — topics where competitors have comprehensive coverage and you have none. Assign each item a priority score based on estimated impact and effort required, then work through the list systematically. Re-run your competitor analysis quarterly to track progress and identify new opportunities as the competitive landscape evolves.