Your Competitor's SEO Strategy: How to Reverse-Engineer Their Success
Here's a question I get asked all the time: "Why does my competitor rank higher than me?"
You probably ask yourself the same thing. They're not even that good. Their website looks outdated. But somehow they're on page one of Google and you're on page two (or three, or four...).
The frustrating truth? They figured out something you haven't. And the best way to figure out what that something is... is to look at what they're doing.
This isn't about copying them (that would be pointless). It's about understanding their strategy so you can learn from it, do it better, and outrank them.
In this post, I'm going to show you exactly how to analyze your competitors' SEO strategies using free tools. You'll discover which keywords they're targeting, where they're getting backlinks, how they've structured their content, and why they're winning.
Then you'll use that knowledge to beat them.
Why Should You Analyse Your Competitors?
Before we get into the how, let's talk about the why.
Analysing competitors isn't about being creepy or unethical. It's about learning from people who are already winning in your market.
Think of it like this: if you were opening a coffee shop, you'd probably walk into existing coffee shops to see what they do well. What's their menu? How do they price things? What's the customer experience like? You're not copying them—you're learning.
SEO competitive analysis is the same thing. By looking at what your competitors are doing, you can:
Identify keyword opportunities you missed – They might be ranking for keywords you didn't even think to target
Understand what actually works – Instead of guessing at an SEO strategy, you can see what's proven to work in your market
Spot gaps in your own strategy – Maybe you're focusing on the wrong keywords, or you're missing obvious ranking opportunities
Find out where their traffic comes from – Are they getting links from industry directories? Local news sites? Other businesses? You can do the same thing
Benchmark your progress – If they rank #5 for a keyword and you rank #10, you know exactly what you need to do to beat them
Avoid their mistakes – If you see something they're doing that's not working, you don't have to waste time on it
What You Actually Want to Know About Competitors
Before you start analyzing, let's be clear about what matters and what doesn't.
What matters:
Which keywords they rank for
How many backlinks they have (and from where)
What content they're publishing
How often they update their content
How many reviews they have
Where their traffic comes from
What doesn't matter:
Their exact SEO budget
Their internal team structure
The specific tools they use
You can't know the first one anyway, and it doesn't matter because SEO works the same regardless of budget. You can beat them without spending more money.
The Free Tools You'll Need
Here's the good news: you can do competitive analysis with completely free tools. You don't need to pay for fancy SEO software (though it helps).
Essential free tools:
Google Search Console (your own website's data)
Google Analytics (your own website's traffic)
Ubersuggest (free tool for keyword and competitor analysis)
Ahrefs Free Tools (for backlink analysis)
Google Maps (for reviews and local competition)
Google Scholar (for citations and authority)
Moz Link Explorer (free backlink analysis)
SEMrush Free Tool (keyword gap analysis)
Most of these have premium versions, but the free versions are surprisingly powerful.
How to Reverse-Engineer Your Competitor's Strategy (Step by Step)
Alright, let's get practical. Here's how to analyze a competitor from scratch.
Step 1: Identify Your Top 3 Competitors
First, figure out who you're actually competing with. These should be the businesses ranking on page one for your main keywords.
How to find them:
Search your main keywords (e.g., "plumber Bristol")
Look at the top 10 results
Your competitors are the local businesses showing up in those results
Pick the top 3
You're not going to analyze 50 competitors. Pick the 3 that are winning the most.
Step 2: See What Keywords They Rank For
Now you want to know: what keywords are bringing them traffic?
Using Ubersuggest (free version):
Go to ubersuggest.com
Enter their domain name
Click "Domain Overview"
Scroll down to "Organic Keywords" – this shows keywords they rank for, their ranking position, search volume, and estimated traffic
What to look for:
Keywords with high search volume (1000+ searches per month) that they rank for but you don't
Keywords where they rank #1-3 and you're not even on page one
Long-tail keywords (3+ words) that have decent traffic
Example: You're a plumber in Bristol. Your competitor ranks for "emergency plumber Bristol," "24 hour plumber Bristol," "drain cleaning Bristol," etc. You might only be targeting "plumber Bristol."
Now you know there's traffic opportunity in those more specific keywords.
Step 3: Check Their Backlinks
Backlinks are often the #1 reason one site outranks another. So where are their backlinks coming from?
Using Ahrefs Free Backlink Tool:
Enter their domain
See their backlinks
Note which sites are linking to them
What to look for:
Local business directories (these are low-hanging fruit you can also get)
Industry-specific directories
Local news sites or blogs
Partnership sites
Review sites (Google, Trustpilot, etc.)
Real example: A garden design company in Surrey checked their competitor's backlinks. They found:
Links from 15 local business directories (the competitor had claimed listings)
A link from the local chamber of commerce
Guest posts on 4 gardening blogs
A link from a local business magazine
The garden company then:
Claimed listings on those same 15 directories
Applied to join the chamber of commerce
Pitched guest posts to those same gardening blogs
Within 4 months, they had comparable backlinks and started ranking higher.
Step 4: Analyse Their Content Strategy
What are they writing about? How often? What's performing well?
Using their website directly:
Go to their website
Look at their blog (if they have one)
Count how many posts they have
Look at what topics they cover
Notice which posts seem to be getting engagement (comments, shares, etc.)
Also check:
Do they have a FAQ page?
Do they have detailed service pages?
Do they have case studies or testimonials?
How long are their articles? (Usually 1500+ words for ranking)
Real example: A local accountancy firm checked their competitor's website. They found:
127 blog posts (the competitor was publishing 2-3 posts per month)
Posts about "Tax Return Deadlines," "Self-Employed Tax Tips," "Dividend Tax Explained," etc.
Long-form articles (2000-3000 words each)
A detailed FAQ page
Case studies from real clients
The accountancy firm realized they only had 8 blog posts and they were all 500 words long. They revamped their strategy to match: longer posts, more frequent publishing, deeper content.
Step 5: Check Their Google Business Profile
If they're a local business (which you are), their Google Business Profile is crucial.
What to check:
How many reviews do they have?
What's their average rating?
Do they have regular photos and posts?
How often do they respond to reviews?
What do customers say about them in reviews?
How to do it:
Search their business name on Google Maps
Click on their profile
Read through reviews
Note common complaints or compliments
Why this matters: Google reviews are a ranking factor. If they have 150 reviews and you have 5, they'll rank higher for local searches. This is something you can directly improve.
Real example: A dental practice found their competitor had 243 reviews with an average rating of 4.7. They had 12 reviews at 4.2. This was likely a big reason the competitor ranked higher. They implemented a review collection strategy: asking happy patients to leave reviews, following up after appointments, responding to all reviews.
Within 6 months, they'd collected 87 new reviews and their rating improved to 4.6. Their rankings improved too.
Step 6: Look at Their On-Page SEO
How are they structuring their pages? What keywords are they using? What does their meta data look like?
Using SEMrush Free Tool:
Go to semrush.com
Enter their domain
Look at "On Page SEO" recommendations
Or just check manually:
Right-click on their page, click "Inspect" (or "View Page Source")
Look at the
<title>tag (this is their page title in search results)Look for
<meta name="description">(this is their snippet in search results)Look for
<h1>,<h2>tags (their heading structure)
What to look for:
Are they using the main keyword in the title?
Is their meta description compelling?
Do they have good heading structure?
Are they using long-tail variations of the keyword?
Real example: A local electrician's competitor had a page titled "Emergency Electrician Bristol | 24/7 Available" and a meta description that said "Need an emergency electrician in Bristol? We're available 24/7. Call 0117-XXXXX." Straightforward. Keyword-rich. Clear call-to-action.
The electrician's own page was titled "Electrical Services" with a vague description. No wonder they weren't ranking as well.
Step 7: Check Their Structured Data (Schema Markup)
Remember schema markup? Your competitor might be using it, which gives them an advantage.
How to check:
Go to schema.org test tool
Enter their URL
See what schema they have
Or use Google Chrome extension "Structured Data Viewer" to quickly see their schema.
What to look for:
Do they have LocalBusiness schema? (This is big)
Do they have review schema?
Do they have organization schema?
If they have schema and you don't, that's a quick win. Add schema to your site and you'll immediately look more professional in search results.
Step 8: Track Their Updates
Check back every month or so. Are they adding content? Updating pages? Building links?
This helps you understand if they're actively working on SEO or if they did a bunch of work once and stopped.
If they've stopped, and you keep working, you'll eventually outrank them.
Common Mistakes When Analysing Competitors
Before we wrap up, let's talk about what NOT to do.
Mistake 1: Copying Them Exactly
You find out your competitor ranks well with a certain type of content, so you write identical content.
Don't do this. Google penalises duplicate content. Also, you can do better. Use their strategy as inspiration, then do it better.
Real example: A copywriter found their competitor had a popular blog post titled "5 Email Marketing Mistakes to Avoid." They wrote the exact same post word-for-word.
Google flagged it as duplicate content. Neither post ranked well.
Instead, they should have written "7 Email Marketing Mistakes (And How to Fix Them)" or "The Email Marketing Mistakes I See Most Often (And the Secret to Avoiding Them)" – a unique take on the same topic.
Mistake 2: Ignoring the Bigger Picture
You see they rank #1 for a keyword and you focus only on that. But maybe that keyword only brings 50 searches per month.
Look at the full picture: what are all the keywords they rank for? Which ones have the most traffic? Which ones have the most opportunity?
Mistake 3: Not Factoring in Your Unique Value
Your competitor might rank well for "accountant London" because they've been around for 20 years and have 1000 backlinks.
You're never going to beat them on that one keyword quickly. So don't try. Instead, find keywords where the competition is weaker but your unique value proposition is stronger.
Maybe you specialise in "accountant for freelancers" or "accountant for e-commerce businesses." Less competition. Better fit for your services.
Mistake 4: Obsessing Over Tactics, Ignoring Strategy
You notice your competitor has guest posts on 5 blogs, so you decide to get guest posts on 5 blogs.
But you don't know if that's actually a big part of their ranking success. Maybe their backlinks are from directories. Maybe it's their content. Maybe it's their reviews.
Look at the full strategy. Don't copy individual tactics without understanding if they actually matter.
Mistake 5: Analysing Dead Competitors
You check out a competitor who ranked well 3 years ago. But they haven't updated their site in years and they've dropped to page 3.
Analyse competitors who are currently winning. They're the ones doing something right.
FAQ
Q: Is it ethical to analyse competitors? A: Completely. You're not hacking them or doing anything illegal. You're just looking at publicly available information. It's the same as a business analyst studying competitors in any industry.
Q: How often should I analyse competitors? A: Once per quarter (every 3 months) is good. Monthly is overkill unless your market is very fast-moving. Annually is too infrequent.
Q: Should I analyse 1 competitor or many? A: Start with your top 3. Analyzing too many is overwhelming. Know your top 3 inside and out.
Q: What if my top competitor is a big national company with huge budgets? A: Don't worry about them. Analyse your local competition instead—the businesses actually competing for the same customers. You can beat them without a big budget.
Q: Should I focus on the keywords my competitors rank for? A: Not necessarily. Some of those keywords might be too competitive. Instead, look for keywords they don't rank for but could rank for. Those are your quick wins.
Q: If my competitor is doing something that works, should I copy it exactly? A: No. Use it as inspiration and do it better. Make it unique to your business. If you copy exactly, Google might penalise duplicate content.
Q: How long does it take to see results after copying a competitor's strategy? A: 2-3 months minimum. More realistically 4-6 months. SEO is a long game.
Q: What if my competitor is using sketchy SEO tactics (like buying links)? A: That's their risk, not yours. Ignore it. They'll likely get penalised eventually. Focus on doing things the right way.
Q: Can I analyse competitors for free? A: Yes. Ubersuggest, Ahrefs, and SEMrush all have free versions that are plenty powerful. You don't need to pay for tools to do competitive analysis.
Q: What if a competitor changes their strategy faster than I can? A: That's fine. You don't need to match every change they make. Focus on your long-term strategy. Quick changes usually don't work anyway.
Q: Should I tell my SEO agency I'm analysing competitors? A: Absolutely. A good SEO agency is already doing competitive analysis for you. If you share your findings, they can incorporate them into your strategy.
The Bottom Line
Your competitors have already figured out what works in your market. That's valuable information.
By analysing them—without copying them—you can:
Identify keyword opportunities
Understand what ranking factors matter most
Find gaps in your own strategy
Learn from their successes (and mistakes)
Build a better SEO strategy faster
You don't have to invent SEO from scratch. Study what's working. Do it better. Outrank them.
Want help analysing your competitors and building a strategy to beat them?
We'll analyse your top 3 competitors, identify opportunities, and give you a clear roadmap to outrank them. We handle the research, you focus on the business.
No guesswork. Just strategy based on what's actually working in your market.
You can also get in touch directly if you'd prefer email or phone.
