A Beginner’s Guide to Competitor Keyword Analysis

Don’t be scared of competition in Google’s search results. Embrace it.

Your competitors aren’t just an opportunity to learn about potential high-quality backlinks in your niche; you can also use them to find hundreds of relevant keywords that generate a serious amount of traffic.

Keyword competition analysis is the process of finding high-value keywords that your competitors rank for but you don’t. It’s an essential tool in any keyword research strategy and an effective method of competing in highly saturated search markets.

When done well, you’ll leapfrog your competitors and send your traffic levels soaring.

In this post, I’ll cover how to analyze your competitor’s content step-by-step and the best tools for the job.

Key Takeaways

• Keyword competitor analysis is the process of finding new keyword opportunities by analyzing the efforts of your competitors. It helps you identify content gaps—topics that align with your audience’s interests that you aren’t covering.
• Focus on keywords highly relevant to your niche and target the “why” behind searches.
• See what works for competitors, identify weaknesses, and create content that’s more informative and engaging.
• There are several tools that can help you do competitor keyword analysis, including Ubersuggest, Buzzsumo, and SpyFu.
• Make sure you create exceptional content for each keyword you target to give yourself the best chance of stealing a ranking spot.

Table of Contents

• Key Takeaways
• What Is Keyword Competitor Analysis?
• Why You Need to Do Keyword Research and Competitor Analysis
• Tools for Keyword Competitive Analysis
  • Ubersuggest
  • AnswerThePublic
  • BuzzSumo
  • SpyFu
  • Ahrefs
  • Semrush
  • SimilarWeb
  • Pro Rank Tracker
  • MozBar
• How To Do Competitor Keyword Analysis
  • 1. Find Your Competitors
  • 2. Identify Potential Competitor Keywords
  • 3. Choose Competitor Keywords to Target
• Tips for Analyzing Competitive Content
• FAQs
• Conclusion

What Is Keyword Competitor Analysis?

Keyword competitor analysis, at the core, is about learning and then taking steps to reverse engineer the SEO success of others, then outrank them.

Analyzing competitor keywords is one of the quickest and easiest keyword research methods. It’s also a great way to find keywords that generate traffic, as that proven traffic can convert into potential customers for your competitors.

Not just any competitor keywords will do, however.

Here are the different types of keywords to consider:

• Informational Keywords: These focus on answering user questions and building brand awareness. They often begin with phrases like “how to” or “guide to.”
• Commercial Keywords: When a searcher is comparing options and nearing a buying decision, they use commercial keywords. They could be looking for reviews or a top 10 list.
• Navigational Keywords: These keywords are used by people looking for a specific website or webpage.
• Transactional Keywords: If they’re searching for terms like “buy now” or product-specific searches, they’re using transactional keywords.

When prioritizing competitor keywords, relevance is key. 

• Don’t chase after high-volume keywords that aren’t related to your business. 
• Focus on competitor keywords that are relevant to your target audience and that you have a chance to rank for. 

This will ensure you’re attracting the right kind of traffic that converts.

Why You Need to Do Keyword Research and Competitor Analysis

The secret to landing in the top of search results lies in strategic keyword research and competitor analysis. These can help boost your SEO and outrank your competition.  As Nikki Lam, VP of SEO at NP Digital, explains: 

“It’s important to understand why competitors are outperforming you, how they’re meeting user needs better, and on the flip side, where they’re weak and leaving you an opening to get ahead.”

Let’s dive deeper into why you should care:

• Uncover Hidden Traffic Opportunities: Keyword research helps identify topics your target audience searches for, but you haven’t covered yet. These are content gaps waiting to be filled.
• Surpass the Competition: Analyzing your competitors’ keywords reveals terms they’re ranking for that you might be missing. This is your chance to steal traffic and climb the search rankings ladder.
• Craft Content Google Loves: By understanding what type of content ranks well for specific keywords (blogs, product pages, etc.), you can tailor your content strategy for maximum SEO impact.
• Learn from the Best: Analyzing competitor content structure and backlinks can give you valuable insights on how to improve your own content and build a strong backlink profile.

By using these strategies, your website can attract more users, deliver exceptional value, and dominate search results.

Tools for Keyword Competitive Analysis

You don’t have to manually trawl through your competitors’ pages to do keyword research. There are several tools that can help:

Ubersuggest

My SEO tool, Ubersuggest, helps you dominate organic search by uncovering your competitor’s keyword strategy.

It dives deep, revealing the exact keywords your competitors rank for. This lets you identify valuable keyword gaps that you can strategically target to gain an edge in search results.

It also analyzes your website for SEO weaknesses, helping you fine-tune your content for optimal ranking.

Plus, you can track your progress over time, giving you the data you need to craft Google-approved content strategies that drive targeted traffic to your site.

AnswerThePublic

AnswerThePublic helps you discover what your audience is really searching for. It analyzes search queries and reveals questions and long-tail keywords that might be flying under your competitors’ radar.

By entering your niche keyword, AnswerThePublic generates a visual map showcasing prepositions (like “for,” “with,” “vs.”), comparisons, and questions users are asking.

With these valuable search insights, you can create content that strategically targets these gaps. This means attracting a wider audience, boosting your content’s relevance, and gaining a competitive edge.

BuzzSumo

While BuzzSumo excels at finding hot topics, it also shines in competitive analysis.

Simply add your website and a competitor’s domain to see a side-by-side comparison of your top-performing content. This lets you identify trending keywords and content formats that resonate with your target audience.

BuzzSumo also unveils your competitor’s most successful content, allowing you to see what formats resonate best and which social channels drive the most engagement. This intel helps you craft even better content and a winning promotion strategy.

SpyFu

SpyFu acts like a spyglass, giving you a comprehensive view of your competitor’s SEO and PPC strategies.

You can see the organic keywords they rank for, along with the estimated clicks they receive each month from Google. This gives you valuable insights into what search terms resonate with your target audience. 

SpyFu also researches their PPC campaigns, analyzing their top keywords, cost-per-click, and estimated monthly spend.

Go a step further by tracking their keyword history and ad copy changes over time. You’ll be able to see how they’ve refined their campaigns to improve conversion rates and lower costs. 

Ahrefs

Ahrefs simplifies the complexities of SEO by providing insights into your competitor’s strategy.

Ahrefs’ Site Explorer dives deep into competitor analysis, allowing you to find hidden opportunities.

With this tool you can identify your top competitors for target keywords. This way you can see content gaps or topics they cover that you don’t.

Semrush

Semrush is like a roadmap, revealing competitor strengths and weaknesses to help you refine your own keyword strategy.

With Semrush, not only can you see competitors’ organic search traffic and top keywords, but also their content strategies and paid advertising. This lets you identify trends and opportunities before your competitors do.

All you have to do is enter a URL and Semrush reveals data including organic competitors, keyword rankings, and even paid keywords.

SimilarWeb

SimilarWeb sheds light on your competitors’ SEO efforts, specifically their keyword strategies.

By entering a competitor’s website, you can discover the keywords driving their organic traffic. This allows you to identify potential keyword opportunities and see which terms your competitors are ranking for.

SimilarWeb even provides insights into competitor’s paid search strategies, giving you a well-rounded view of their overall keyword approach.

Pro Rank Tracker

Pro Rank Tracker helps you analyze your competitor’s website and see how they rank for specific keywords.

Once you enter a competitor’s URL and your target keywords, PRT will show their ranking positions.

You can then use this data to target keywords with high potential for your own website, giving you a roadmap to surpass your competitors in search results.

MozBar

MozBar, a free Chrome extension, directly analyzes your competition on search engine results pages.

This handy tool shows key SEO metrics, including domain authority and page authority. The scores provide a snapshot of a website’s overall SEO strength and the ranking power of individual pages.

How To Do Competitor Keyword Analysis

Use the steps I outline below to find high-value competitor keywords quickly and easily.

1. Find Your Competitors

The first step is to identify your top competitors.

Here’s a breakdown to help you build a strong competitor list:

• Target Keyword Analysis: If you have target keywords in mind, see who’s already ranking for them in search results (SERPs) and add them to your list.
  
• Size of Target: Consider your resources when choosing competitor size. Target giants only if you have the capacity to compete. Chasing smaller, relevant players can be a good starting point.

• Direct vs. Indirect Competition: Consider both direct and indirect competitors. A direct competitor offers a similar product or service as your business, while an indirect competitor offers something different that solves the same problem.

In my experience, it’s smart to focus on your direct competitors. Let me explain why.

While an indirect competitor may solve a similar customer problem, if they don’t use the same product or method, then you may have a completely different prospect pool.

If you want to find your niche’s heavy hitters, a simple Google search will do the trick. They’ll be the ones dominating both the organic and paid results. As Nikki Brandemarte, Sr. SEO Strategist and Local SEO at NP Digital, explains:

“Look at which pages and topics are driving the highest amount of nonbrand traffic to your competitors. This can reveal emerging trends that can be leveraged within your industry, or help determine which content on your own website should be prioritized to maximize organic traffic.”

Finding smaller, niche websites requires a different approach. Here are some effective methods:

• Competitor Analysis Tools: Explore tools mentioned earlier. Enter your website or a competitor’s domain, and the tool will generate a list of competing sites.
  
• Industry Publications: Look for publications like blogs and reports that highlight thought leaders in your niche. This can be a helpful way to find strong competitors worth analyzing.
  
• Social Media Scouting: Find out who your target audience follows and engages with on social media platforms. These accounts might be your competitors or offer valuable insights into the content landscape.

The goal isn’t to copy, but rather to identify what resonates with your audience and adapt it to your unique brand voice and value proposition.

2. Identify Potential Competitor Keywords

Now, it’s time to start mining your competitors’ keyword data to identify the keywords you don’t rank for.

There are two main ways to tackle this:

1. Keyword Analysis Tools: Use the tools listed above like Ubersuggest and enter your competitors’ websites to look for their top keywords.
2. Manual Research: Head to your competitor’s website and see what terms they naturally target throughout their content. Look at their page titles, meta descriptions, headings, and overall content focus.

No matter the method, you’ll probably end up with a large list. Here’s how to trim it down:

• Search Volume: Focus on keywords with a healthy search volume, indicating there’s actual interest in the topic. Tools and related searches on search engines can help you gauge this.
• Focus on Unbranded Keywords: Skip keywords that include your competitor’s brand name. You want organic search terms with broader appeal.

By combining these methods, you’ll create a well-rounded keyword list that informs your content strategy and helps you compete with the big players.

3. Choose Competitor Keywords to Target

Once you have your list of keywords, it’s time to start finding ones that make sense to target.

First, rule out keywords that aren’t relevant to your business or target audience. There’s no point creating content to rank for a keyword if it isn’t going to bring in potential customers. 

For smaller businesses, eliminate keywords that are obviously too competitive. These could be super high-volume keywords, one-word keywords, or keywords that have a high SEO difficulty score, as shown in Ubersuggest:

I recommend targeting keywords with an SEO difficulty of 30 or less unless your site has a huge domain authority score. You don’t have to delete these competitive keywords from your list, as they’ll come in handy in the future. Simply disregard them for now and create a new list for the keywords that make the cut.

Finally, do a manual search to identify the strongest opportunities among your remaining keywords. Here’s what to look for:

• High User Satisfaction: Plug each keyword into Google and examine the top three results. If there’s a lack of in-depth content or the pages are outdated, this is a good sign that you can create something better and attract that audience.
• Established Sites: Look for established websites ranking for the keyword. This indicates search engines trust these sources, but it also creates an opportunity for you to compete if your content is exceptional.
• Technical Factors: Check the loading speed and mobile friendliness of the top-ranking pages. If these aspects are lacking, it presents an opportunity for your site to shine, as long as you provide a fast and user-friendly experience.

These criteria will help you decide whether it’s worth attempting to rank for each competitor keyword. The worse the results, the easier you should find it to rank—especially if you have a strong domain yourself.

Tips for Analyzing Competitive Content

While competitor keyword research is crucial, true SEO dominance lies in creating content that stands out. Here’s how analyzing competitor content can be your secret weapon.

Understanding the user’s “why” behind a search term is key.

For instance, “buy running shoes” screams product page like the image below:

However, “best running shoes for beginners” indicates a blog post is more suitable.

Analyze top-ranking content to see how they cater to user intent.

Does the content deliver on its promise? Look for outdated information, lack of examples, or poor readability. This unveils opportunities to create content that’s more informative, engaging (think visuals), and cites credible sources when compared to competitor content.

Tools like Surfer SEO or Frase can analyze competitor content, giving it a score and suggesting improvements.

Leverage this data to identify target keywords, headings, and topics to include in your content, giving you a roadmap to outrank them.

By analyzing your competitor’s content, you gain valuable insights into user intent and SEO best practices. This helps you to create content that not only ranks higher but also provides a better user experience.

FAQs

What is a competitor keyword analysis?

Competitor keyword analysis is a method of identifying the keywords your competitors rank for, but you don’t. This analysis helps you discover potential keyword opportunities that you may have overlooked and provides insights into the market trends and search behaviors in your industry. It’s an essential part of developing a competitive SEO strategy.

How do I do a competitor keyword analysis?

To perform a competitor keyword analysis, start by identifying your main competitors and use SEO tools like Ubersuggest to analyze their websites. Next, look for the high-value, low competition keywords that you aren’t ranking for and then go after them. 

What insights can I gain from competitor keyword analysis?

Competitor keyword analysis provides several valuable insights:

• Keyword opportunities: Discover keywords your competitors are ranking for but that you might be missing.
• Content gaps: Identify topics they cover that you could also address, potentially in a more comprehensive way. 
• SEO strategies: Understand the keyword density, backlink strategies, and on-page SEO tactics your competitors use.
• Performance benchmarks: Evaluate how well your competitors are performing and set benchmarks for your own SEO goals.

How often should I perform competitor keyword analysis?

How often you perform competitor keyword analysis will depend on the size of your industry and the aggressiveness of your SEO strategy. For most industries, a monthly cadence is a good starting point. However, you’ll want to continuously monitor competitors in SERPs to be aware of changes. 

Conclusion

Hopefully, I’ve shown that your competitors can be a source of inspiration as well as aggravation. Keyword research and competitor analysis helps you find high-value keywords you’ve overlooked and also offers valuable insights into the SEO strategies that work for your competitors.
But finding competitor keywords is only half the battle. Make sure you spend as much time creating great content and giving it as much chance to rank as possible by building backlinks.