How to analyze the SEO of your web competitors?

Learn how to analyze the SEO of your web competitors to gain an advantage in the race for the best positions on Google. In a business environment of increasingly competitive, where digital visibility becomes a major strategic issue, it is essential to know precisely your main Web competitors, understand their strengths and weaknesses, and identify their winning strategies. Carrying out an in-depth SEO competitive analysis will allow you to evaluate yourself against leaders in your sector, draw inspiration from their best practices, and stand out by filling their gaps.

This article explains step by step how to analyze the SEO of your direct competitors using a rigorous methodology and adapted tools, to draw valuable lessons on keywords and SEO levers the most buoyant.

You will thus be able to adjust your marketing action plan, better position your editorial line and your offers to stand out from the competition. By exploiting the data collected, your site will have a clear competitive advantage to gain traffic shares and initiate lasting growth in your visibility on the web.

Why analyze the SEO of your web competitors?

Analyzing your competitors' SEO is a bit like spying on the opposing team before a match. This gives you valuable information to refine your strategy. First, it allows you to see what works in your sector. If a competitor is a hit on certain keywords, there is surely something to explore in that area. Not to copy stupidly, eh, but to inspire you and find your own angle of attack.

Then, it can save you a lot of time. Instead of starting from scratch, you can see what others have already tested. You avoid making the same mistakes, and you can focus directly on what has proven itself. It’s also super useful for spotting opportunities. By analyzing your competitors, you can find niches that they have overlooked. Keywords that they have forgotten, subjects that they have not covered… This is where you can stand out.

It also gives you an idea of ​​the difficulty of the challenge. If your competitors have awesome backlinks and crazy content, you know it's going to be hot. But at least you know what to expect and can adjust your strategy accordingly. Another cool thing is that it can help you set realistic goals. If the best of your competitors has 10 visits per month, aiming for 000 overnight may be a bit ambitious. But 100, why not?

And then, it allows you to stay up to date. SEO changes all the time. By keeping an eye on your competitors, you can spot new trends and adapt faster.

How to select relevant competitors?

To select relevant competitors for analysis, it is recommended to proceed in several steps. First of all, it is important to identify direct competitors, that is to say those who offer products or services similar to yours. Then, it is advisable to take into account the geographical area of ​​activity, because search results may vary depending on the user's location.

It is also useful to take into account the size of the company, because SEO strategies can vary depending on the financial and human resources available to the company. Finally, it is recommended to focus on the most successful competitorss in terms of natural referencing, that is to say those which appear at the top of the search results for relevant keywords.

For this, you can use seo tools competitive analysis tools such as SEMrush, Ahrefs or Moz, which will allow you to identify the most successful competitors and analyze their SEO strategy. You will thus be able to determine the keywords on which they are positioned, the pages which generate the most traffic or even the backlinks which bring them the most value. This information will allow you to better understand their strategy and take inspiration from it to improve your own SEO.

What key indicators should you analyze for each competitor?

When analyzing competitors in terms of SEO, it is recommended to focus on the following key indicators:

✔️ Organic traffic

Organic traffic, this is the sinews of war. This is the number of visitors that your competitor naturally attracts from search engines. You don't have to be satisfied with the raw figure, but dig a little deeper. Look at the evolution over time. Is it going up? Is it going down? Are there seasonal peaks? This can give you clues about their strategy and the key times of the year in your sector.

Also try to understand where this traffic is coming from. Which country ? Which search engines? It can reveal markets to you that you hadn't thought of. And then, compare this organic traffic with the total traffic. If your competitor has a high organic traffic ratio, it means they are managing their SEO well. Otherwise, he may rely more on advertising or social networks.

✔️ Keywords

Keywords, this is the basis of SEO. Analyze for which keywords your competitor positions well. Not just the obvious keywords in your industry, but also the long tails, those more specific phrases that can bring in targeted traffic. Also look at the evolution of positions. If your competitor is climbing quickly on certain keywords, it may be because he has found an effective strategy.

Conversely, if it loses ground, there may be an opportunity to seize. Don't forget to check the “featured snippets” and “people also ask”. If your competitor often appears in these areas, it is because he has worked hard on his content to answer Internet users' questions. Finally, pay attention to branded keywords. If people search for your competitor's name a lot, it's because it has a strong reputation.

✔️ The structure of the site

To analyze the SEO of your competitors, the structure of the site, it may seem technical, but it is super important. Look at how your competitor organizes their content. How many pages does it have? How are they linked to each other? A good structure is crucial for SEO. Also check the depth of important pages.

If they are accessible in just a few clicks from the home page, that's a good sign. Also analyzes URLs. Are they optimized with keywords? Short and descriptive? And then, take a look at mobile navigation. With Google's mobile-first indexing, this has become super important. If your competitor has a super fluid site on mobile, it’s because they’ve figured it out.

✔️ Backlinks

Backlinks are like popularity on the web. The more quality you have, the more Google trusts you. So, analyze the quantity, but above all the quality of your competitor's backlinks. Where do they come from ? Authoritarian sites in your domain? Or unrelated crappy sites? Also look at the diversity of link anchors. If it’s varied and natural, that’s a good sign. If it's always the same keyword that comes up, it stinks a bit of forced SEO.

Also check the pages that attract the most backlinks. This is often where the most valuable content is found. And then, look at the evolution over time. If your competitor gains lots of backlinks all at once, try to understand why. He may have launched an effective link building campaign. Here's a complete guide to how increase the traffic of a site with backlinks.

✔️ The content

Content is the heart of any SEO strategy. Analyze your competitor's content in depth. What is the average length of his articles? What tone does he use? Does it focus on detailed content or rather short and impactful content? Also look at the frequency of publication.

If he posts regularly, it means he takes SEO seriously. Check the types of content: blog articles, product pages, videos, infographics… See what works best for them.

Don't forget to analyze the structure of the content: use of H1, H2 tags, etc., presence of bulleted lists, optimized images... All of this affects SEO. Finally, try to identify “pillar” content, these super complete pages that attract lots of traffic and backlinks.

A Regular competitive monitoring is the key to maintain your SEO lead! To gain speed and technical performance, using a plugin such as WP Rocket on WordPress is very efficient. By optimizing cache and resources, WP Rocket Plugin dramatically speeds up page speed. A super-fast site will positively set you apart from the competition!

By applying these methods, you will have an objective overview of the competitive landscape. What to develop a data-driven SEO strategy and outperform your rivals on Google!

Conclusion

Analyzing the SEO of your web competitors is an essential step to improve your own SEO strategy. By understanding the tactics your competitors use, you can identify opportunities to stand out in search results and attract more qualified organic traffic to your website.

By evaluating key metrics such as search engine ranking, organic traffic, keyword strategy, backlinks and content, you can gain valuable insights into your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses. This information allows you to adjust your own strategy accordingly and make informed decisions to improve your online positioning.

Remember that the SEO analysis of its web competitors in SEO is a continuous process. Market trends and SEO strategies are constantly evolving, so it's important to regularly monitor your competitors' performance and adapt your approach accordingly. By using the appropriate tools and intelligently exploiting the information collected during the analysis of your web competitors, you can strengthen your online presence, increase your visibility in search engines and gain a significant competitive advantage.

FAQs

Q: Why is it important to analyze the SEO of your web competitors?

A: Analyzing the SEO of your web competitors allows you to understand their SEO strategy, identify their strengths and weaknesses, and discover opportunities to improve your own online performance. This helps you stay competitive in search results and attract more organic traffic to your website.

Q: What are the key indicators to analyze for SEO competitors?

A: Here are some key indicators to analyze for SEO competitors:

• Ranking in search engines
• Organic traffic
• Keyword Strategy
• Backlinks
• Contents
• Technical optimization

Q: How can I find out how my competitors rank in search engines?

A: You can use competitive analysis tools or keyword tracking tools to know how your competitors rank. These tools will provide you with information on your competitors' position for relevant keywords.

Q: How can I evaluate my competitors' organic traffic?

A: You can use web traffic analysis tools, such as SimilarWeb or SEMrush, to evaluate the organic traffic of your competitors. These tools will give you an estimate of the volume of traffic your competitors are generating from search engines.