Unless you’ve completely reinvented the wheel in your respective industry, chances are that your new business will have competitors right from the get-go. But have you ever taken a look at these businesses with similar products or services and wondered, “What have they got that makes them so special?” Well, why not take a peek? The truth is, your competitors aren’t ranking by accident. In fact, they’re likely already showing you exactly what works. Their rankings are the result of deliberate keyword targeting and SEO strategies that are likely not so different from your own.
Rather than a full, in-depth SEO analysis, you can get quite a bit of mileage by monitoring your competitors’ websites as you create new content of your own. Sometimes called “competitive stalking” (at least by me), this easy and free tactic quite literally involves visiting your competitors’ websites and taking note of what they’re up to. But competitor website analysis isn’t just about copying keywords. It’s about identifying opportunities you’ve missed and recognizing patterns with your competitors’ success.
Why Is “SEO Stalking” Important?
Sure, gathering insights on your competitors’ SEO strategies takes time, but rest assured, it’s time well spent. An SEO competitive analysis is an easy way to get the lay of the land. If you’re updating your website without looking at your competitors, you’re essentially working in a vacuum. The Search Engine Results Page (SERP) gives you real-world insight into what’s actually working in search right now, not just what should work in theory. Done right, competitive SEO stalking can reveal keyword gaps, content ideas, backlink opportunities, and technical improvements, which could all significantly boost your rankings.
Ultimately, SEO stalking allows you to benchmark your site against the best in your space.
Identifying Competitors
Before we get started, we have to first decide which competitor pages to evaluate. In SEO, your biggest competitors are the websites consistently ranking for the keywords you care about. A company might compete with you in the market, but if they’re not ranking alongside you in the SERPs, their sites may not provide as much SEO insight. Here are a few ways to effectively identify competitors for this exercise:
- Search your target keywords on Google – Review the results for a few of your primary keywords and see which names show up multiple times.
- Use SEO tools like Semrush – The Domain Overview report shows sites ranking for similar keywords.
- Review paid search competitors – If companies are bidding on your keywords, they may be strong SEO competitors too.
What to Look For on Competing Pages
Once you’ve identified your competitors, the next step is understanding why their pages are outperforming yours. The key is looking for commonalities between them. Remember, the goal isn’t to copy their pages, but to identify what’s working and how you can improve on it. Here are a few categories that will help you pinpoint opportunities to strengthen your own SEO strategy.
- Do the top pages for a search result all mention a specific topic?
When multiple top-ranking pages mention the same subtopics, that’s a strong signal of what Google considers valuable for a specific search result. These recurring themes represent the baseline expectations for that query. If your page is missing one of these key elements, it may struggle to compete, even if the rest of your content is strong.
As you review competing pages, take note of repeated questions, keywords, definitions, lists, and specific examples that elevate the surrounding content. Identifying these patterns will help you build a more complete piece of content that aligns with what users and search engines want to see.
- Are you noticing more snackable short-form content or heavily detailed long-form content?
The depth of top-ranking content can reveal a lot about what users prefer for a given query. Some searches favor quick, digestible answers, while others require lengthy guides with more comprehensive explanations. Understanding this distinction is important before you start making changes or adding new pages to your site.
If the SERP is dominated by long-form content, it’s likely that users are looking for highly detailed information. On the other hand, if shorter, more concise pages are ranking, clarity and speed may matter more than depth.
- Are there any downloadable PDFs or illustrations to aid the content?
The best ranking sites often go beyond the text on the page by implementing visual elements or downloadable resources to aid the user. By including a combination of charts, infographics, photographs, and PDFs, you can help make complex information more engaging for the user.
As you analyze competitor sites, keep track of how they’re adding value for their visitors. Then, if your team has the capacity, try to include similar elements on your own page to improve the user experience and increase time on page.
- Is there anything missing from these pages?
As you’re sifting through these competitor pages, keep your own expertise top of mind. If there’s a subtopic you don’t see mentioned on these pages, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it should be excluded. Content gaps exist, and identifying them before your competitors do is an extremely valuable opportunity.
Are there any unanswered questions that consumers want answered? Is there an abundance of outdated information that your competitors haven’t updated yet? Filling in these gaps is a great way to set yourself up as a more complete resource, which could give your site the edge it needs to outperform other high-ranking pages.
Turning Insights Into Action
Monitoring your competitors’ websites is only valuable if you make use of what you’ve learned. An easy way to get started is by prioritizing opportunities that are easy to implement without major technical development. Adjusting keywords, adding internal links, and improving content depth can be completed in an afternoon, but adding a blog or changing the site’s structure may take more time. Also, remember that it’s perfectly fine if everything can’t be completed at once. Incremental improvements can compound over time and lead to the same meaningful gains.
If possible, try to create your own repeatable process. Analyzing and implementing changes over time also makes it easier to identify what’s working for your site.
Continue Monitoring!
Once you’ve done your fair share of competitive stalking and have updated your site with your findings, the fun shouldn’t end there! Competitor analysis is an ongoing process. By consistently monitoring your competitors, you can stay ahead of emerging trends and test similar improvements on your own site.
The goal is to treat competitive SEO stalking as a routine activity, rather than a one-off exercise. Content freshness is important for both users and search engine rankings, so try to refine your content regularly to ensure that it remains relevant. The more consistently you track and learn from your competitors, the better positioned you’ll be to overtake them for some of your most valuable keywords.
