A successful SEO strategy involves detailed research on SEO competitive analysis tools to know how your competitors’ SEO strategies are performing.

With the expansion in digitalization and companies moving toward online operations, SEO or search engine optimization is simultaneously growing in importance. It is one of the major aspects for companies to be visible on the SERP. A successful SEO strategy involves detailed research on SEO competitive analysis tools to know how your competitors’ SEO strategies are performing.

Everyone wants to be on the first page of Google, but is it practically possible? Of course not! It all depends on the effectiveness and execution of your SEO strategies. According to Backlinko, those that hold a prominent place on Google’s first page get an approximate 27% click-through rate. Whereas, companies mentioned on the second page get only about 0.63% of click-through rate.

Many times, even after developing the required SEO strategy, great content curation, and technical SEO audit performance, companies fail to get the attention they deserve. It is also observed that 90 percent of web pages don’t even get search traffic from Google at all. But, if it isn’t you, then who is getting the traffic? Your SEO competitors are! To get things on point, consider knowing more about SEO competitive analysis. This article will let you dive deep into the same and act as a catalyst to improve your search rankings.

How to do an SEO Competitive Analysis?

An effective SEO competitive analysis strategy involves five key steps that will highlight the strengths and weaknesses of your brand and its operations. If you want to stay ahead of the curve, follow these diligently.

1. Identify your competitors – Whether you’re an emerging startup or a well-established company, it’s crucial to be aware of your competitors. The initial step in recognizing your competitors is to compile a list. Examine the keywords and website searches that you aim to achieve top rankings for and observe which websites or businesses appear. This approach will also uncover websites that might not have been on your radar, providing a valuable means of identifying previously overlooked competitors.
2. Study their SEO strategy – Examine your rivals’ websites to gain insights into their SEO approach. This involves analyzing their website architecture, the variety of content they produce, and the specific keywords they are targeting, encompassing both short and long-tail variations. Additionally, it’s essential to assess the speed and mobile-friendliness of your competitors’ websites. By acquiring this information, you will develop a comprehensive understanding of how your website measures up against your competitors in the realm of technical SEO.
3. Check on your competitor’s content – To grab an audience for your website, be updated on the trending and in-demand content that your competitors use. Keep a check on their top-ranking pages, pages ranked by keywords, and pages with the highest traffic to improve your SEO strategy.
4. Be vigilant of your competitor’s social media presence – social media holds a major place in driving brand awareness. So, be updated on your rivals’ follower counts, social media strategies, content type, hashtags, etc.
5. Check your competitor’s ranking on your chosen keywords – Prepare a list of your targeted primary and secondary keywords you want to rank for. Analyze the keywords your competitors are ranking on and how well they are performing. Work toward ranking on your primary keyword, while also, utilizing the secondary ones.
6. Study their keywords – While you may be performing well for your primary keywords, it’s essential to consider those that place you at the lower end of the first page in search engine results (SERP). Devote attention to these keywords because investing effort in incorporating them into your content could potentially enable you to surpass your competitors and secure a position ahead of them. Examine any keywords that your competitors might have lost but still possess substantial search volume. Determine where they are experiencing a decline in rankings, visit those pages, and try to discern the reasons behind their decline. Seize this opportunity by creating content that incorporates these keywords, capitalizing on the gap left by your competitors.
7. Analyze your competitor’s on-page optimization – You need to analyze the pages that are surpassing your rankings. This analysis will assist you in understanding the factors responsible for your competitors’ superior performance in search engine positioning. The major elements to be analyzed are –
8. Title – The title of your page along with the right keyword is an essential factor in indicating how your content should be displayed in search results, social media, and browser tabs. It highlights the relevancy of keywords for search and ranking.
9. Meta-data – Meta keywords and meta description tags help Google to identify what your page is all about.
10. Headlines – Google has a preference for headings and accords significance to <h> tags, particularly when they are associated with particular keywords. These headings can also be highlighted for featured snippets, propelling your content to the top of the search results. It’s important to note that when Google disregards the title tag, it frequently resorts to utilizing H1 tags instead.
11. Internal links – Internal links play a crucial role in guiding visitors to related content and can significantly enhance the SEO performance of your pages. Avoid overloading a piece with numerous links, but instead, incorporate high-quality and relevant links that encourage users to stay engaged on your website.
12. Quality content – In content creation, prioritizing quality over quantity is key. Competitors who achieve high rankings often utilize authoritative blogs to establish their expertise on a subject. To gain insights into their strategies, conduct a brief search to identify these blogs.
13. Images and videos – Your images and videos should be properly optimized and tagged with descriptive and relevant names.
14. Schema markup and structured data – Structured data aids search engines in comprehending the content of a webpage and has the potential to enhance visibility within search results.
15. URLs – Ensure to create keyword-friendly, descriptive, and concise URLs.
16. Customer experience – Usability plays a pivotal role in search engine rankings. Therefore, assess your competitors’ pages in terms of their layout, navigation, and loading speed. Consider the overall user experience they offer and make comparisons with your own.
17. Study their backlinks – Backlinks hold significant importance for search engines and the ranking of web pages. However, it’s crucial to prioritize the quality of backlinks over quantity. High-quality backlinks are what you should aim for, as low-quality ones can negatively impact your pages and may be regarded as spam. Avoid pursuing links indiscriminately through outreach efforts. For instance, if one of your pages receives a link from a high-authority site like Wired, it adds credibility to your content and greatly benefits your rankings.

Conduct a thorough analysis to identify the backlinks that are contributing to your competitors’ improved rankings and strive to replicate their strategies. Additionally, take note of websites that link to your competitors, as they may also be open to linking to your content. Consider reaching out to them, particularly when you have new blog posts or guides covering relevant topics or providing superior information, as this can be an effective way to secure valuable backlinks.

Now that you know about what is SEO analysis, and how to perform competitive analysis, let’s know more about the tools required for the same.

10 Best SEO Analysis Tools

Many kinds of SEO strategies can help you rank high in SERP. For example – B2B SEO strategy, enterprise strategy, etc. Excelling in any of these requires the help of the right SEO analysis tool. Here is a list of the 10 best tools suggested by experts at SkyTrust.

Google Search Console – Google Search Console, a free SEO tool, enhances website visibility in Google search results. Monitor Google’s site crawling and indexing while addressing performance issues. It’s not only for SEO; it aids in identifying and resolving security threats like malware or phishing. Sign up for a free Google Search Console account to enhance SEO and site insights.

Google Analytics – Google Analytics, a free SEO tool, empowers site owners to monitor traffic and performance. Understanding user interactions informs SEO and user experience enhancements. It tracks pageviews, unique visitors, time on site, bounce rate, conversions, goals, and e-commerce transactions. Valuable for enhancing SEO and overall site performance.

Moz Pro – Moz Pro offers a comprehensive set of SEO tools to enhance your website’s SERP ranking. It’s favored by SEO experts and dedicated webmasters for researching keywords, monitoring SEO progress, and more. Key features include Site Auditing, Keyword Research, and Rank Tracking.

Ahrefs – Ahrefs stands out as a popular SEO tool widely embraced by webmasters and SEO experts. This web-based tool enhances website search engine rankings through comprehensive SEO performance analysis. Its array of features includes keyword research, competitor analysis, and backlink assessment. By inputting your website’s URL, Ahrefs provides detailed SEO reports, highlighting strengths and areas for enhancement.

SEMrush – SEMrush, a highly popular SEO tool, boasts an extensive feature set to enhance website SEO. Its user-friendliness appeals to both novice and experienced users. Moreover, it offers affordability with various pricing plans to suit different needs and budgets. Key features encompass SEO audit, competitive analysis, and keyword research, making SEMrush a top recommendation for improving website SEO.

Screaming Frog – Screaming Frog SEO Spider, available for PC and Mac, is a desktop program that conducts comprehensive website crawling from an SEO perspective. It collects crucial onsite elements and categorizes them in tabs (e.g., links, images). You can export this data to Excel for further analysis in tools like Google Analytics, Custom Search Engines, and Google Webmaster Tools. Ideal for auditing extensive websites with numerous pages, it replicates how search engines crawl, identifying issues like broken links, duplicate content, and more.

SpyFu – SpyFu, an affordably priced service, specializes in competitive research and offers a plethora of valuable features. It simplifies the competitive research process by providing all necessary data. Their SERP Analysis tool, available for free, offers unique insights like indicators for search result fluctuations, a Ranking Difficulty score, .gov or .edu site rankings, and the count of the top 100 ranked homepages.

Inlinks – Inlinks, a content optimization tool, excels at extracting pertinent data from search results and competitors. Its SERP analysis function offers a wealth of information on search results sites, including semantically related topics and user intent data. The unique user intent data and topic suggestions stand out, along with the Topic Analysis feature that aids in content creation. While other SERP analysis tools examine the top 100 to the top 5,000 results, the top 10 results are the most crucial, as not all sites in the top 100 or even the top 10 are true competitors.

Market Muse – MarketMuse, an AI-driven content analysis tool, integrates seamlessly into the content creation workflow, from research to content brief development and more. It stands out for its top-ranked page analysis and keyword insights. Notably, the Compete feature assists in analyzing competitors and suggests ways to outperform them by addressing overlooked related topics. MarketMuse is more than just a competitive tool; it streamlines the entire content creation process, with competitor research being a crucial component.

Similar Web – SimilarWeb is a distinctive competitor analysis tool, prioritizing a comprehensive comparison of two websites over SEO specifics. It provides extensive data, including traffic, keywords, traffic distribution by country, and audience demographics. Users can access both free and paid versions, with the free version offering ample data for effective competitor comparison.