Your competitors have already done some of your keyword research for you. The searches that bring them traffic and customers are a map of what your shared audience is looking for. Competitor keyword analysis is the process of studying that map, finding the gaps and deciding where you can win. Here's a step-by-step method.
Step 1: Identify your real search competitors
Your business competitors and your search competitors are often different. A local agency might compete in search with national publications, software companies and directories. To find yours:
- Search Google for five to ten of your most important keywords and note which domains keep appearing.
- Use an SEO tool's "competitors" report, which finds sites ranking for many of the same keywords as yours.
- Separate direct competitors (who sell what you sell) from content competitors (who only publish about it). You'll learn different things from each.
Step 2: Pull their ranking keywords
Tools such as Semrush, Ahrefs, Ubersuggest and similar platforms estimate which keywords a domain ranks for, its position, and the approximate traffic. Export the keyword lists for three to five competitors. These figures are estimates based on each tool's own data, so use them to compare and prioritise, not as exact numbers.
Step 3: Find the keyword gaps
A keyword gap analysis compares your rankings with your competitors' and sorts keywords into groups:
- Missing: competitors rank and you don't. This is where most of the new opportunities are.
- Weak: you rank, but well below them. These often improve with updates to existing pages.
- Strong: you already outrank them. Protect these pages.
- Unique: only you rank. These can show a niche you own.
Step 4: Judge which keywords are worth chasing
Not every gap deserves a page. Score each keyword on:
- Relevance: would someone searching this become a customer?
- Intent: are they learning, comparing or ready to buy?
- Volume: enough searches to matter, remembering that low-volume, high-intent keywords often bring the best leads.
- Difficulty: how strong the current results are, and whether your site can realistically compete.
Our guide to using Google Keyword Planner explains volume and competition data in more detail.
Step 5: Study the pages that rank
For each priority keyword, open the top results and ask:
- What type of page ranks? A guide, a list, a service page, a tool, a video?
- What do they cover, and what do they leave out?
- How current, detailed and trustworthy are they?
- What features does the results page show, such as AI overviews, "People also ask" or local maps?
Your aim isn't to copy the top result. It's to create something more useful for the same intent, using your own experience.
Step 6: Turn findings into a content plan
- Group related keywords into topics, so one strong page targets a cluster rather than one keyword per page.
- Decide whether each topic needs a new page or an update to an existing one.
- Prioritise: quick wins (weak rankings you can improve), then high-intent gaps, then wider informational topics.
- Plan internal links so new pages support your key service pages.
See how SEO and content marketing work together for the full process from plan to promotion.
Step 7: Track and repeat
Track rankings and traffic for your target keywords, and repeat the analysis every quarter. Competitors change, new players appear and search results evolve, including more AI-generated answers. Our guide to ranking in Google AI Overviews covers that shift.
Common mistakes
- Analysing business competitors who don't actually compete in search.
- Chasing big keywords that don't match what you sell.
- Copying competitors' pages instead of improving on them.
- Treating tool estimates as exact traffic figures.
Want a competitor keyword report for your business?
Every Virtual Snipers SEO engagement starts with competitor and keyword research. Explore our SEO services or contact us to see where your competitors are winning searches you could own.