With more websites on the internet than ever before (and many more to come!) it’s more important than ever to get to grips with your long-term SEO strategy. Luckily, there are plenty of tools and resources now that will help you understand what your competitors are doing to be successful, and you can adopt these in your own business. Here, we discuss why competitor analysis is so important when forming your SEO strategy.
Competitor analysis in SEO is the process of identifying which websites are competing with you in search results and analysing how they are achieving their visibility. It goes beyond simply knowing who your business rivals are. In search, your competitors are the domains ranking above you for the keywords that matter to your commercial goals.
Competitor analysis for SEO looks at measurable factors such as:
In practical terms, it answers a simple but critical question: why are they ranking and you are not?
Unlike traditional market analysis, competitor analysis in SEO is data-led. It focuses on search visibility, keyword overlap and authority metrics rather than brand perception alone. A business may not be your biggest offline competitor, but if they consistently outrank you for high-intent terms, they are winning market share in search.
For marketing managers and in-house teams, this process provides clarity. It highlights where your strategy is strong, where you are underperforming and where untapped opportunities exist. Instead of guessing which keywords to target or which content to create next, competitor analysis gives you a benchmark to work from.
You might have a list as long as your arm for your competitors and industry giants, but those businesses aren’t necessarily your search competitors. While you may have similar products, audiences or client bases, it’s important to identify who your SEO competitors actually are. Remember, this is not just in terms of your core niche, product or offering, people will also be outperforming your content and blogs. These people are all your competitors.
The easiest way to find your online competition is to Google them. Type in some of the main keywords that either you know you want to rank for, or that you currently rank for, find yourself, and then look at everyone who is appearing above you. Whether you find two websites or 40, these are your search competitors.
Understanding what your competitors are doing is not about copying them. It is about identifying where opportunities exist and where performance gaps are costing you visibility. The benefits of competitor analysis in SEO go far beyond simple keyword research. Done properly, it becomes a strategic growth tool.
One of the great things about competitor analysis is that it is very easy to review the terms that your competitor websites are optimised for, and to gather insights from competitor activity. There are tons of tools out there to help you, such as SEMrush, SEOquake, and even specific competitor insight tools such as iSpionage and SpyFu which can show you which terms your competitor’s websites are optimised for.
If you’re up against an industry giant, or even a business larger/with more resources than yours, the chances are they’ve done their A/B testing, audience targeting and user research. You can benefit from this knowledge (and their expense) by using what they’re doing, and applying this to your own strategy.
For example, if one of your online competitors uses video content a lot to rank organically (as well as generating shares and backlinks on social media), then you can look at creating video content too. If they lean on a certain set of keywords or key phrases then you can adopt these as well.
One of the most immediate competitor analysis benefits is uncovering keyword gaps. These are terms your competitors rank for that you either do not target or are underperforming on.
This can highlight:
For business owners and marketing teams, this translates into clear action. Instead of creating content based on assumption, you prioritise keywords that are already proven to generate traffic in your market.
Backlinks remain a strong signal of authority. Through competitor analysis for SEO, you can identify:
This helps you build a smarter outreach strategy. Rather than starting from scratch, you reverse-engineer the authority signals that are already working in your sector.
Competitor analysis also allows you to discover ideas and find missed opportunities. By looking at competitor websites, you may be able to identify an ‘industry standard’ and what really works for them. Quite often, this hinges on content. Think video, infographics, blogs, instructions etc. If their customer base is similar to yours and their customers are utilising, viewing and sharing their content forms, make sure you’re doing this too.
As well as looking at what your competitors are doing well, competitor analysis can show you any gaps to exploit. Maybe all the other companies are missing a crucial USP, aren’t creating engaging content or are missing out on topical blog creation. Once you’ve identified these gaps, you can put a plan in place to be the first.
Without competitor insight, SEO can become reactive. Teams may invest in keywords that are too competitive, produce content that lacks depth, or overlook stronger opportunities elsewhere.
By understanding your competitive landscape, you can:
In short, you can enhance and improve your own strategy by looking at the websites, marketing channels, content, and SEO activity of your competitors. This will undoubtedly improve your SEO.
Whether you’re identifying gaps in the market, niches that aren’t filled, keywords that are under-utilised, or places where you could improve your own online presence, your competitor data can help inform your marketing and SEO strategy for months to come.
Here at Verkeer, we like to think we know a thing or two about SEO. We can help you gather insights from your competitor analysis, and create a long-term SEO strategy that really works, and outshines your competitors. Give us a call today to get started.
Competitor analysis should be an ongoing process rather than a one-off exercise. At a minimum, it should be reviewed quarterly and after significant algorithm updates. For highly competitive industries or fast-moving markets, monthly tracking of visibility, keyword movement and backlink growth can provide a strategic advantage.
Business competitors are companies offering similar products or services. SEO competitors are domains competing for the same keywords in search results. These are not always the same. For example, publishers, marketplaces or comparison sites may compete for your keywords even if they do not directly sell the same service.
Yes. Analysing competitor landing pages can reveal how they structure calls to action, position trust signals, use social proof and frame value propositions. While SEO competitor analysis primarily focuses on visibility, it can also provide insight into how competitors convert traffic once they attract it.
Established brands benefit significantly from competitor analysis. Even with strong authority, competitors may target emerging keyword trends, new content formats or evolving search features. Continuous benchmarking helps established businesses maintain market share and adapt to changes in search behaviour.
The main risk is imitation without strategy. Copying competitor content structure or keyword targeting without understanding intent, differentiation or brand positioning can dilute your value proposition. Effective competitor analysis should inform strategy, not replace it.