Paid
Competitor Discovery Tool
~$39 / month
Surface additional competing websites you may have missed in manual research.
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Strategy Foundations
Competitor Analysis — Build Your SEO Plan on Real Data
A neutral, professional walkthrough of how to study competitors before launching any SEO plan. Six tool roles, a 7-pillar analysis model, the seven deliverables you produce, and editable templates.
Section 1 — Tools
The tool roles used in competitor analysis
You don't need every tool — you need every role. Below are the six categories of tools used to analyze competitors. Brand names vary; the function is what matters.
Free + Paid
Domain & Page Authority Checker
free + ~$99 / month
Measure Domain Authority (DA), Page Authority (PA), and identify the most influential backlinks.
Free + Paid
Keyword Classifier
free + ~$120 / month
Identify which keyword types (informational / commercial / transactional) drive most of a competitor's traffic.
Paid
Traffic & Keywords Analyzer
~$99 / month
Analyze visits, ranking keywords, and newly acquired backlinks for any competitor.
Free + Paid
Technical Site Audit Tool
free + ~$80 / month
Crawl a site to expose internal SEO issues, broken links, and on-page problems.
Free
Performance & Speed Tester
free
Measure page speed, Core Web Vitals, and performance issues affecting rankings.
Tip: Bundled tool subscriptions
Group / bundled subscriptions let teams access many premium tools at a fraction of individual subscription costs — ideal when you only need each tool occasionally.
Section 2 — Model
The 7-pillar competitor analysis model
Every competitor you study is broken down across seven pillars. Fill the cells of this matrix and you have the complete picture.
| # | Pillar | What it covers | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Top Keywords | The highest-traffic keywords driving competitor visits. | TOP KeywordBranded termsMoney keywords |
| 2 | Keyword Portfolio | Full keyword footprint by intent and difficulty. | InformationalCommercialTransactionalLong-tail |
| 3 | Backlink Profile | Where competitor links come from and what type they are. | WEB 2.0Guest PostSocial BookmarkingForumsCommentsAnchor text |
| 4 | Off-Page Issues | Toxic links, lost links, and risky link patterns. | Toxic backlinksLost linksSpammy referring domains |
| 5 | External SEO Signals | Authority and social trust signals. | DAPASocial MediaSocial SignalsBacklinks |
| 6 | On-Page Issues | Technical and content problems on the site itself. | Content UpdateProduct pagesFAQ Schema |
| 7 | Internal SEO | On-page elements that influence ranking and crawlability. | ALT<H1><H2>hreflangExternal LinksRobots.txtSchemaSitemap |
Section 3 — Outcomes
Before the Google battle — what you walk away with
When the analysis is done, these seven deliverables become the foundation of your SEO plan.
01
Your Site Plan
A clear strategy of what to build, fix, and ship next.
02
Data Types
Categorized data on competitors, keywords, and links.
03
Keyword Map
A topical map showing main keywords, sub-keywords, and supporting articles.
04
Content Plan
An editorial calendar tied to keywords with publish dates.
05
Internal Link Plan
A structure connecting articles into clusters that pass authority.
06
Issues List
A tracked log of every problem with status and resolution notes.
07
Backlink Plan
Targeted link-building plan based on competitor gaps.
Section 4 — Templates
Working templates you can edit live
Two practical tables to start with: an Issues tracker and a Content plan. Add, edit, and remove rows as you go — these mirror the templates real teams use.
Issues Tracker
| Problem | Status | Owner | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Content Plan
| Keyword | Article title | Description | Publish date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Knowledge check
Quick understanding check
6 questions. No timer.
The takeaway
Plan with data, not guesses.
Competitor analysis is the bridge between curiosity and strategy. Six tool roles, seven analysis pillars, seven deliverables — that's the entire pre-plan workflow.
Continue to more lessonsBy Mohamed Elnahrawy
Exclusive SEO lessons — SEO Engineer & Growth Consultant