Achieving success in digital marketing requires more than focusing solely on your own website. Knowing which strategies your competitors use and understanding their strengths and weaknesses gives you a significant market advantage. That’s where SEMrush comes in.
SEMrush is a professional digital marketing platform that consolidates SEO, advertising, content and social media insights in one place. Its in-depth competitor analysis tools make it indispensable for many marketers.
So, how do you perform competitor analysis step by step with SEMrush?
Identifying Competitors
Before analyzing competitors, you need to identify the right ones. There are two main types:
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Direct competitors: Companies offering the same products or services to your target audience.
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Indirect competitors: Companies addressing the same need with different solutions but targeting the same audience.
In SEMrush, enter your domain and go to the Organic Research section. The “Competitors” tab will show sites that compete with you for organic keywords.
Organic Search Analysis
Understanding how much organic traffic your competitors receive is critical for shaping your SEO strategy.
SEMrush Organic Research reports let you:
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See a competitor’s total organic traffic.
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Identify which keywords they rank highly for.
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Discover the content pages that drive their traffic.
These insights answer the key question: “Which topics should I focus on?” and help you prioritize content that can attract organic visitors.
Keyword Comparison
Keyword Gap reveals where your keywords overlap with competitors and where you have gaps to exploit.
You’ll typically find four types of opportunities:
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Shared keywords: Important to both you and competitors.
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Competitor-advantaged keywords: Competitors rank higher while you lag behind.
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Your advantage keywords: You rank higher than competitors.
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Missing keywords: Keywords competitors rank for that you don’t target yet.
Use this analysis to strengthen your SEO content strategy, filling the most valuable gaps while defending your strong positions.
Backlink Analysis
Backlinks remain one of the most important factors for building a site’s authority.
SEMrush Backlink Analytics enables you to:
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See the total number of backlinks pointing to a competitor.
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Examine which websites link to them.
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Assess link quality using authority scores.
These metrics help you identify domains to target in your link building outreach and prioritize high-value opportunities.
Advertising Analysis (Google Ads)
You should analyze paid strategies as well as organic ones to understand the full competitive landscape.
SEMrush Advertising Research allows you to:
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Find which keywords competitors bid on.
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Review their ad headlines and descriptions.
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Estimate their advertising budgets.
These insights guide the setup and optimization of your own PPC (pay-per-click) campaigns.
Content Marketing Competitor Analysis
Using SEMrush’s Content Analyzer, you can evaluate competitor content performance:
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Which blog posts attract the most traffic.
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Which pieces gain the most engagement on social media.
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Which keywords appear most often in competitor content.
With this data you can shape a content strategy that balances SEO goals and user engagement for better results.
Social Media Competitive Analysis
Social Media Tracker helps you monitor social performance:
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Track competitors’ growth across social platforms.
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See posting frequency and content formats they use.
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Analyze engagement rates to find what resonates with audiences.
These observations will help you optimize your social media content calendar for better reach and interaction.
Reporting and Ongoing Monitoring
Competitor analysis is not a one-time task. The digital landscape changes constantly, so regular monitoring is essential.
SEMrush My Reports helps you automate tracking by allowing you to:
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Create weekly or monthly automated reports.
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Easily observe changes in competitors’ performance over time.
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Save time so you can act quickly when opportunities or threats appear.
Tips for Conducting Competitor Analysis with SEMrush
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Analyze at least 3–5 competitors instead of focusing on a single rival.
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Review both organic and paid (PPC) data for a complete picture.
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Pay close attention to backlink sources and their quality.
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Regularly update your keyword opportunities as rankings shift.
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Report findings to your team to align actions and priorities.
SEMrush does more than show “what competitors are doing”; it also guides you on how to do better.
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SEMrush provides comprehensive data across organic traffic, keyword strategy, backlink profiles, advertising campaigns and social media performance.
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These insights are invaluable for refining and advancing your digital marketing strategy.
By conducting regular competitor analysis with SEMrush, you will better understand market dynamics and position your brand more effectively.