How to Analyze Competitors in Semrush
Reverse-engineer competitor SEO strategies in Semrush. Traffic, keywords, backlinks, and content analysis step by step.
Step-by-step
How to Analyze Competitors in Semrush
Start with Domain Overview
Enter a competitor's domain in the search bar and select 'Domain Overview'. You'll see their estimated organic traffic, top keywords, traffic trend, and Authority Score at a glance.
Analyze their organic keywords
Click into 'Organic Research' to see all keywords the domain ranks for. Sort by traffic share to find their most valuable keywords. Filter by position (1-10) to see what they rank best for.
Run a Keyword Gap analysis
Go to Keyword Gap and enter your domain plus 2-4 competitors. Filter for keywords where competitors rank but you don't ('Missing' or 'Weak'). These are your immediate content opportunities.
Study their backlink profile
Open Backlink Analytics for the competitor. Review their top referring domains, anchor text distribution, and new links. Use Backlink Gap to find sites that link to them but not you.
Tips
Pro tips
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Don't just look at direct competitors — analyze sites that rank for your target keywords even if they're in different industries
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Export competitor keyword data monthly to track how their strategy evolves
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Use Traffic Analytics to see which competitor pages get the most traffic — this reveals their best content
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