How can you compare competitors to prioritize SEO improvements?

When comparing SEO competitors, first identify websites competing for the same search demand, then compare relevant keywords, corresponding pages, content structure, and link gaps. Priorities should not be determined solely by competitors’ traffic levels. Instead, consider business goals, search intent, and estimated effort: identify worthwhile gaps first, then decide whether to add content, adjust existing pages, or plan longer-term structural and link improvements. Obtaining competitor data does not mean you have identified the causes of their rankings, nor does it guarantee you can outrank them.

Start with search competitors and define the scope of comparison

A Stack Exchange discussion suggests that, because other websites’ internal data is difficult to obtain, you can begin by observing how they rank for keywords you care about and are targeting. The greater the overlap, the more relevant they are as comparison candidates. This is a method for choosing sites to analyze, not an official search engine rule. (S8)

Semrush’s local search analysis process distinguishes between countries, locations, devices, and an entire domain versus a URL for a specific business location. In practice, define the comparison scope clearly before starting. For example, when analyzing demand for services in a particular city, examine the corresponding city pages rather than comparing only sitewide figures. Do not treat results from different scopes as if they represent the same competition. (S1)

Assess keyword gaps and traffic separately

A 2025 Semrush article recommends first identifying keywords for which competitors rank in the top ten but your site does not rank. However, this is only a list of candidates that still need to be screened:

• Are they relevant to your products, services, and business goals?
• Does the search intent match the content you can provide? Local businesses should also check the location.
• Do the search volume and ranking difficulty justify the effort? Exclude competitors’ branded keywords that you do not intend to target.

These screening criteria draw on S1 and S7. You should also assess the number of ranking keywords separately from estimated search traffic. A 2019 tenten article notes that one page may attract substantial traffic from a single high-volume keyword, while another may rank for many keywords but, because its positions are lower, not appear in reports of pages with the highest estimated traffic. These metrics reflect different gaps and are not interchangeable. (S6)

Examine page structure and links, not just totals

Beyond content gaps, examine how competitors organize related pages. A 2026 Screaming Frog article suggests aggregating breadcrumb paths to reconstruct category hierarchies, which can reflect parent-child relationships between content more accurately than URL directories alone. However, this depends on consistent breadcrumbs across pages and cannot be applied unconditionally. (S5)

Links can be compared by page group. In particular, examine which internal links point to important commercial pages, whether their anchor text is appropriate, and the sources and quality of external links, rather than simply trying to match competitors’ sitewide link counts. (S20)

Turn gaps into a reasoned list of priorities

Start by adding keyword gaps that align with business goals to your task list, specifying which existing pages need improvement or what new content is needed. Then assess the effort required to address structural, content, and link gaps, and divide the work into short-, medium-, and long-term tasks. (S1, S7, S21)

For example, lacking a relevant city service page and having an existing page that lacks important internal links are different tasks. For the former, first establish the content requirements; for the latter, first audit the link setup. Do not prescribe more articles for both simply because both lag behind competitors.