Competitor Analysis
Definition
Researching what your competitors do online to identify their strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities you can exploit. Essential for informed SEO and marketing decisions.
What is Competitor Analysis?
Competitor analysis means systematically examining what your competitors do in search and marketing. This includes their keyword rankings, backlink profiles, content strategies, and technical approaches.
The goal isn't to copy them—it's to understand the landscape and find opportunities they've missed.
Why Competitor Analysis Matters
You don't operate in isolation. Understanding competitors helps you:
- Discover keywords worth targeting
- Learn from their content successes and failures
- Find backlink opportunities
- Benchmark your performance
- Spot gaps in the market
What to Analyse
Keywords
What terms do they rank for? Which bring the most traffic? Where are they weak?
Content
What topics do they cover? What formats work for them? What's missing from their content?
Backlinks
Who links to them? Can you earn links from the same sources? What content attracts their links?
Technical Performance
How fast is their site? How's their mobile experience? Are there technical weaknesses you can beat?
Practical Approach
- Identify 3-5 direct competitors (businesses targeting the same customers)
- Use SEO tools to compare keyword rankings
- Review their top-performing content
- Analyse their backlink sources
- Note gaps and opportunities
Important Caveats
Don't obsess over competitors. Your best strategy might be completely different from theirs. Use analysis to inform decisions, not dictate them.