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How to Use Competitors' Keyword Analysis for SEO

How to Use Competitors' Keyword Analysis for SEO

Follow this step-by-step guide and steal your successful competitors' SEO strategies.

Follow this step-by-step guide and steal your successful competitors' SEO strategies.

🥸 What is keyword gap analysis?

🥸 What is keyword gap analysis?

Keyword gap analysis is to identify the keywords your competitors are ranking for and the ones you’re missing out on. By closing this gap, you can improve your rankings and attract more visitors to your website.

Here's a step-by-step guide to help you do just that:

In a nutshell:

Step 1

Step 1

Find your competitors.

Find your competitors.

Step 2

Step 2

Analyze their top-ranking posts.

Analyze their top-ranking posts.

Step 3

Step 3

Choose keywords to target.

Choose keywords to target.

Step 4

Step 4

Create content based on those keywords.

Create content based on those keywords.

How to use competitors' keywords
to boost your SEO results

How to use competitors' keywords
to boost your SEO results

Step 1

Step 1

Find Your Competitors.

Find Your Competitors.

You are probably aware of who you are competing against.

However, with different companies and products coming up in the market all the time, it's worth checking your new, smaller competitors as well as big players in your industry.

On search engines like Google and Bing, type the main keywords related to your business. Who consistently shows up on the first page?

Step 2

Step 2

Analyze their top-ranking posts.

Analyze their top-ranking posts.

First, How to find the top-ranking posts:

  • ✅ Manual Search:
    Well, obviously, you can search for relevant keywords directly on the search engines and see which of your competitor's posts rank high (top 3-5 results).

  • Use SEO Tools: 
    If you want to get a little more technical, use free or paid SEO tools (such as SEMrush or Ahrefs) that can help you discover competitor top pages.

    (👨‍💻 Tips: Look for features like "Organic Research" or "Top Ranking Pages".)

First, How to find the top-ranking posts:

  • ✅ Manual Search:
    Well, obviously, you can search for relevant keywords directly on the search engines and see which of your competitor's posts rank high (top 3-5 results).

  • ✅ Use SEO Tools: 
    If you want to get a little more technical, use free or paid SEO tools (such as SEMrush or Ahrefs) that can help you discover competitor top pages.

    (👨‍💻 Tips: Look for features like "Organic Research" or "Top Ranking Pages".)

Once you have a list of high-ranking competitor posts, it's time to analyze them:

  • ✔️ Content Format: Is it a blog post, listicle, infographic, etc.?

  • ✔️ Content Depth: How in-depth is the content? Does it cover the topic comprehensively or leave room for more information?

  • ✔️ Keywords*: Find the keywords they (likely have) targeted in those contents. Brainstorm, and don't forget long-tail keywords.

    *While you can't see their exact keywords, look for the general themes and terms they use throughout the content.

    Check out our step-by-step guide below.

👉 How to identify competitors' keywords

Step 3

Step 3

Choose keywords to target.

Choose keywords to target.

Look at the keywords you identified in Step 2. Are there relevant keywords they're using that you're missing? These are potential keyword gaps!

Now the question is, which keywords should you target (first)?

SEO rule of thumb:

Look for keywords with ✔️ high search volume and ✔️ relatively low competition that are relevant to your business or content.


In other words, among different options, choose keywords that are 1) more relevant to your product and 2) popular enough but not too competitive.

SEO rule of thumb:

Look for keywords with ✔️ high search volume and ✔️ relatively low competition that are relevant to your business or content.

In other words, among different options, choose keywords that are 1) more relevant to your product and 2) popular enough but not too competitive.

When picking and prioritizing the keywords to target, consider:

  • Search Volume: How many people are searching for this keyword? (Free tools like Google Keyword Planner can help with this).

  • Competition: How competitive (difficult)* is it to rank for this keyword?

  • Relevance: Does this keyword fit your target audience and content strategy?

*Keyword Difficulty Scores:

  • The more people search for a keyword, the more likely your competitors are going to want to rank for it. Hence, it becomes more "difficult."

  • Tools like Semrush provide keyword difficulty scores.

Step 4

Step 4

Create content based on those keywords.

Create content based on those keywords.

Now that you've dug deep into your competitors' top-ranking content and chosen new keywords to target, let's design the content based on these keywords.

👉 How to create content based on chosen keywords

Of course, creating SEO-focused content is not a simple process (for more detailed guide, read the article I linked above), but:

Put simply,

  • Choose the format: landing page or blog? Maybe something else like a listicle or video-focused webpage?

  • Create content that targets these new keywords while maintaining the depth and format that worked for your competitors' top posts.

  • Add your own unique perspective and insights, like a new and improved version of the competitor's top-ranking content that can better answer the queries of search engine users.

Lastly…

Lastly…

By following these steps, you can leverage competitor analysis to find new keyword opportunities and create content that helps you rank higher in search results.

Remember, SEO is a long-term strategy, so be patient and keep creating high-quality content!

By following these steps, you can leverage competitor analysis to find new keyword opportunities and create content that helps you rank higher in search results.

Remember, SEO is a long-term strategy, so be patient and keep creating high-quality content!

Bonus Tip: Keep in mind that Google updates prioritize user experience and helpful content. Focus on creating valuable, informative content that solves your audience's problems, and the keywords will follow.

Bonus Tip: Keep in mind that Google updates prioritize user experience and helpful content. Focus on creating valuable, informative content that solves your audience's problems, and the keywords will follow.

Know your competitors?

Create comparison pages in just a few clicks.

Coming out soon. Get free access.

Know your competitors?

Create comparison pages in just a few clicks.

Coming out soon. Get free access.

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