By WorkflowVerdict | Last Updated: May 2026 | Based on hands-on testing and verified user reviews
This step-by-step guide covers the complete competitor analysis workflow — from identifying who your real competitors are to uncovering keyword gaps, reverse-engineering their top content, and monitoring changes over time. By the end, you'll have a repeatable process you can run for any competitor, any niche, at any time.
What You’ll Cover in This Guide
- Step 1: Find your real organic competitors
- Step 2: Analyse their top keywords and traffic
- Step 3: Find keyword gaps you can exploit
- Step 4: Identify their highest-traffic pages
- Step 5: Examine their backlink profile
- Step 6: Research their paid search strategy
- Step 7: Set up ongoing competitor monitoring
Step 1: Find Your Real Organic Competitors
Your real SEO competitors are not always who you think they are. The businesses that compete for the same keywords in Google are often very different from your direct business competitors. Semrush shows you both — and the distinction matters.
How to do it:
| Step | Action |
|---|---|
| 1 | Go to Semrush → Competitive Research → Domain Overview |
| 2 | Enter your own domain in the search bar and select your target country |
| 3 | Scroll down to the Main Organic Competitors widget — this shows domains that rank for the most of the same keywords as you |
| 4 | Click View Full Report to see a ranked list of organic competitors with Competition Level, Common Keywords, and SE Traffic data |
| 5 | Select 3–5 competitors to analyse in depth — prioritise those with high Common Keywords counts and similar traffic volume to your site |
Step 2: Analyse Their Top Keywords and Traffic
Once you know who your competitors are, dig into the keywords driving their organic traffic. This tells you what topics they've invested in, which keywords they're ranking well for, and where their content authority is concentrated.
How to do it:
| Step | Action |
|---|---|
| 1 | Go to Competitive Research → Organic Research and enter a competitor's domain |
| 2 | On the Overview tab, note: total organic keywords, estimated monthly traffic, traffic trend, and top country |
| 3 | Click the Positions tab to see every keyword they rank for, with position, search volume, keyword difficulty, and URL |
| 4 | Filter by Positions 1–10 to see only keywords where they rank on the first page — these are their strongest traffic drivers |
| 5 | Filter by Intent: Commercial / Transactional to identify buyer-intent keywords driving their revenue |
| 6 | Export the data and flag any keywords where they rank in positions 1–5 that you don’t currently rank for |
Step 3: Find Keyword Gaps You Can Exploit
The Keyword Gap tool is the single most actionable feature in Semrush for competitor analysis. It shows you keywords that your competitors rank for — but you don't. These are gaps in your content strategy that represent direct opportunities to capture traffic your competitors are already proving exists.
How to do it:
| Step | Action |
|---|---|
| 1 | Go to Competitive Research → Keyword Gap |
| 2 | Enter your domain in the first field and up to 4 competitor domains in the remaining fields. Select Organic Keywords |
| 3 | Click Compare — Semrush generates a keyword overlap Venn diagram and a full keyword table |
| 4 | Filter by Missing — these are keywords that ALL your competitors rank for, but you don’t. These are your highest-priority gaps |
| 5 | Also filter by Weak — keywords where you rank but in a much lower position than competitors. Easier wins than starting from scratch |
| 6 | Sort by Volume (high to low) and filter KD% below 60 to find the best opportunities — high traffic potential, achievable difficulty, and proven demand |
Step 4: Identify Their Highest-Traffic Pages
Knowing which keywords a competitor ranks for is useful. Knowing which specific pages are driving the most traffic is more useful — because it tells you what content formats, topics, and angles are actually working in your niche. This is your content reverse-engineering step.
How to do it:
| Step | Action |
|---|---|
| 1 | Go to Competitive Research → Organic Research and enter your competitor’s domain |
| 2 | Click the Pages tab — this shows every page on their site ranked by estimated organic traffic |
| 3 | For each top page, note: the URL structure, the estimated traffic, and the number of keywords it ranks for |
| 4 | Click on any page URL to see a full list of keywords it ranks for — this reveals the full keyword footprint of their best-performing content |
| 5 | Visit their top 5–10 pages manually and analyse: content format (list, guide, comparison), length, structure, CTA placement, and what the page does better or worse than yours |
Step 5: Examine Their Backlink Profile
A competitor's backlink profile tells you three things: how strong their domain authority is (and therefore how competitive they are to outrank), where they're getting their best links from, and which pieces of content are earning the most links — revealing what works as link bait in your niche.
How to do it:
| Step | Action |
|---|---|
| 1 | Go to Link Building → Backlink Analytics and enter your competitor’s domain |
| 2 | Note the key metrics: Authority Score, total backlinks, referring domains, and percentage of follow vs nofollow links |
| 3 | Click Referring Domains and sort by Authority Score — these are the highest-quality sites linking to your competitor. These are your link building targets |
| 4 | Click Indexed Pages to see which competitor pages have the most backlinks — these are their link magnets. Study what makes these pages so linkable |
| 5 | Check the Anchors tab to see the anchor text distribution — revealing which topics people associate with their domain when linking to it |
| 6 | Use the Backlink Gap tool (under Link Building) to find sites that link to competitors but not to you — your most targeted outreach list |
Step 6: Research Their Paid Search Strategy
If your competitors are running Google Ads, Semrush shows you exactly what they're doing — which keywords they're bidding on, the ad copy they're running, how much they're estimated to be spending, and which landing pages they're sending paid traffic to. This intelligence is invaluable for teams running paid campaigns alongside SEO.
How to do it:
| Step | Action |
|---|---|
| 1 | Go to Competitive Research → Advertising Research and enter a competitor’s domain |
| 2 | On the Overview tab, see: estimated paid traffic, paid keywords count, and estimated monthly ad spend |
| 3 | Click the Positions tab to see every keyword they’re bidding on, with estimated CPC and position |
| 4 | Click Ads Copies to see their actual ad headlines and descriptions — study which angles, offers, and CTAs they’re testing |
| 5 | Click Pages to see which landing pages receive paid traffic — these are the pages they’ve invested in optimising for conversions. Study their structure, offer, and CTA design |
Step 7: Set Up Ongoing Competitor Monitoring
One-time competitor analysis is valuable. Ongoing monitoring is what makes it a genuine competitive advantage. Semrush lets you set up automatic alerts and Position Tracking to watch competitor movements in real time — so you're not running competitor analysis reactively, but staying ahead of changes as they happen.
How to do it:
| Step | Action |
|---|---|
| 1 | Go to Projects → Create New Project for your domain and set up Position Tracking |
| 2 | In Position Tracking settings, add your competitors’ domains under Competitors — Semrush now tracks your rankings and theirs side by side for all your target keywords |
| 3 | Enable Email Notifications for significant ranking changes — you’ll be alerted when a competitor makes a big move on your tracked keywords |
| 4 | Set up Backlink Audit → Backlink Monitoring for competitor domains to be alerted when they earn new high-authority links |
| 5 | Schedule a monthly competitor analysis review — run through Steps 2–4 for your main competitors and note any significant changes in their keyword portfolio or top pages |
Semrush Tools Used in This Competitor Analysis Workflow
| Tool | Where to Find It | What It Does | Plan Required |
|---|---|---|---|
| Domain Overview | Competitive Research | Snapshot of any domain's traffic, keywords, and top competitors | All plans |
| Organic Research | Competitive Research | Full keyword and page-level organic data for any domain | All plans |
| Keyword Gap | Competitive Research | Compare keyword coverage across multiple domains | All plans |
| Backlink Analytics | Link Building | Full backlink profile, referring domains, and anchor data | All plans |
| Backlink Gap | Link Building | Finds link opportunities from domains linking to competitors not you | All plans |
| Advertising Research | Competitive Research | Competitor PPC keywords, ad copy, and landing pages | Pro+ |
| Position Tracking | Projects | Daily rank tracking with competitor comparison built in | All plans |
Complete Competitor Analysis Workflow: Quick Reference
| # | Task | Semrush Tool | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Identify real organic competitors | Domain Overview | 15 min |
| 2 | Analyse their top keywords and traffic | Organic Research | 30 min |
| 3 | Find keyword gaps to exploit | Keyword Gap | 20 min |
| 4 | Identify highest-traffic pages | Organic Research → Pages | 20 min |
| 5 | Examine backlink profile | Backlink Analytics + Backlink Gap | 25 min |
| 6 | Research paid search strategy | Advertising Research | 15 min |
| 7 | Set up ongoing monitoring | Position Tracking + Backlink Monitoring | 15 min |
Final Verdict
Semrush's competitor analysis toolkit is the most comprehensive available at any price point — and the workflow above gives you a repeatable process to extract maximum value from it. The Keyword Gap tool alone can generate a 90-day content roadmap. The Organic Research pages view can transform how you approach content strategy. The Backlink Gap tool makes link prospecting systematic rather than speculative.
Run this workflow for your top 3 competitors before writing a single piece of content. You'll know exactly which keywords are worth targeting, which content formats win in your niche, where your backlink opportunities are, and how your competitors are spending their paid search budget. That's not a small edge — it's the difference between guessing at what might rank and building content around what's already proven to work.
Related Reading
- Semrush Review (2026): Is It Worth $139/Month?
- Semrush Pricing (2026): Plans, Real Costs & Hidden Fees
- How to Do Keyword Research with Semrush (Step-by-Step)
- Semrush vs Ahrefs (2026): Which SEO Tool Is Actually Better?
- Best Semrush Alternatives (2026): Top Competitors Compared
- Semrush Pro vs Guru vs Business (2026): Which Plan Should You Choose?
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I do a competitor analysis in Semrush?
Start with Domain Overview to find your organic competitors, then use Organic Research to analyse their keywords and top pages. Use the Keyword Gap tool to find keywords they rank for that you don't, Backlink Analytics to examine their link profile, and Advertising Research to understand their paid strategy. Set up Position Tracking to monitor changes over time. The full workflow takes 2–2.5 hours for 3 competitors.
What is the Keyword Gap tool in Semrush?
The Keyword Gap tool compares keyword rankings across multiple domains simultaneously. Enter your domain and up to 4 competitors — Semrush identifies keywords your competitors rank for that you don't (Missing), keywords where you rank much lower than competitors (Weak), and keywords unique to specific competitors. It's the fastest way to find content gaps and prioritise new article topics based on proven keyword demand.
Can you see a competitor's traffic in Semrush?
Yes — Semrush estimates any domain's organic traffic in the Domain Overview and Organic Research tools. These are estimates based on keyword rankings and search volumes, not actual analytics data. The estimates are generally reliable for directional comparison but should not be treated as precise traffic numbers. For more granular traffic data including traffic sources and audience behaviour, Semrush's Traffic Analytics tool (available on higher plans) provides additional insight.
How often should you do competitor analysis with Semrush?
Run a full competitor analysis at the start of every new project or client engagement. After that, use Semrush's Position Tracking and Backlink Monitoring alerts to catch significant competitor changes automatically. Run a complete refresh every quarter, or any time you notice a sudden drop in your own rankings — which may indicate a competitor made a major move. Monthly monitoring for your most competitive keywords is good practice for active campaigns.
Which Semrush plan do I need for competitor analysis?
Most of the competitor analysis workflow — Domain Overview, Organic Research, Keyword Gap, and Backlink Analytics — works on all Semrush plans including Pro (~$117/month). Advertising Research (PPC competitor data) and historical data require Pro or above. Traffic Analytics for deeper audience and traffic source data requires Guru or Business. See our Semrush plan comparison guide to find the right tier for your needs.