Competitor Keyword Analysis
Competitor keyword analysis is the process of identifying which keywords your competitors rank for in organic search, and using that information to guide your own SEO strategy. It allows you to discover new opportunities, spot gaps in your content, and evaluate how difficult it might be to compete in your niche.
Rather than starting keyword research from scratch, analyzing competitors gives you insight into what already works in your industry. It’s especially useful for building topical relevance, planning content clusters, and targeting keywords with proven performance.
Why Competitor Keyword Analysis Matters
Studying what other sites are ranking for helps you:
- Identify high-value keywords you may have missed
- Understand how your site compares to top-ranking competitors
- Discover underserved content areas with ranking potential
- Benchmark your performance in organic search
- Prioritize content creation based on realistic competitive insight
It also allows you to learn from others’ successes without directly copying them. By analyzing their ranking keywords, you can infer what topics drive traffic, which pages attract links, and where your own domain has an advantage or weakness.
Step-by-Step Process
1. Identify Your True SEO Competitors
Start by determining who your actual competitors are in organic search. These may differ from your business or product competitors. For example, a local dentist might compete with review directories and health blogs in Google results, not just other clinics.
To find your real SEO competitors:
- Search your target keywords and record which domains appear consistently
- Use tools like Ahrefs, Semrush, or Moz to view competitors based on keyword overlap
- Focus on sites with similar topic coverage and audience - not just size
Avoid benchmarking against sites far outside your reach (for example, Amazon or Wikipedia), as this won’t yield actionable insights.
2. Analyze Their Top-Ranking Pages
Using a keyword tool, enter the domain of a competitor and review their top-performing pages. Focus on URLs that drive the most organic traffic, and note:
- What topics those pages cover
- How comprehensive or in-depth the content is
- Whether it targets informational, commercial, or transactional intent
- What type of content it is (blog post, product page, comparison, guide)
This helps you understand what formats perform best and which keywords are bringing consistent visibility.
3. Export Their Ranking Keywords
Next, export a list of the keywords your competitor ranks for. Most SEO tools provide this data, often with filters for:
- Keyword position (typically 1–20 is most relevant)
- Monthly search volume
- Keyword difficulty
- URL ranking for each keyword
Filter out branded terms unless they’re also relevant to your own strategy. Focus instead on non-branded queries that indicate general interest in the topic.
For example, if a competitor ranks for “best CRM for freelancers”, that may signal a valuable long-tail opportunity for you to target.
4. Find Gaps and Overlaps
Once you have their keyword data, compare it to your own. Most tools allow you to perform a keyword gap analysis - showing which keywords they rank for that you don’t. This reveals missed opportunities and content gaps worth addressing.
You can also segment results by:
- High-volume keywords you don’t rank for at all
- Keywords you both rank for, but where your position is weaker
- Keywords where you already outperform them (for defensive or optimization purposes)
By layering this with intent analysis, you can prioritize which gaps are worth pursuing first.
(For more on aligning keywords with search behavior, see Understanding Search Intent & the User Journey.)
5. Evaluate the SERP Landscape
Before pursuing a competitor’s keyword, inspect the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) for that query. Ask:
- What types of content are ranking (guides, ecommerce, videos, etc.)?
- Is there a featured snippet, map pack, or other SERP feature?
- Are the top-ranking domains large publishers, niche blogs, or businesses?
If the top results are all massive authority sites, it may not be worth targeting that keyword directly. Instead, look for terms where the results are more diverse or where weaker content ranks highly.
6. Plan Your Response Strategy
Once you identify valuable keywords from competitors, determine how to address them. Options include:
- Creating new content that fills a clear gap
- Updating and expanding existing pages to improve relevance
- Combining related terms into a topic cluster or resource hub
- Targeting related long-tail versions of a keyword to build relevance over time
Remember that your goal is not to copy content, but to outperform it - by offering more value, better depth, improved structure, or clearer intent alignment.
(For guidance on organizing keywords and planning content, see Keyword Mapping, Clustering & Organization.)
7. Monitor Results Over Time
After publishing or updating pages based on competitor keyword insights, track performance in Google Search Console, keyword rank trackers, or SEO dashboards. Look for improvements in impressions, clicks, and average position over time.
Competitor keyword analysis is not a one-time task. As your competitors publish new content and Google updates its algorithm, rankings will shift. Reviewing their keyword profiles regularly helps you stay informed and adapt strategically.