Competitive SEO tools are the best way to measure your SEO and online marketing campaigns against the competition. The world of SEO is tough and sometimes it can feel like an uphill battle. Being able to measure your site rankings against the competition can be a real game changer for your business.
There are many tools on the market today that will give you an idea of how well you rank compared to your competitors, but if you want to take it one step further, there are some great tools that will give you detailed information on how they perform in different aspects such as keyword optimization, backlinks, social media management and more!
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Competitive Seo Tools
Do you know what your SEO competitors are doing, how they rank in Google, and how much traffic they get?
Knowing this information can be the difference between future SEO success or failure.
That’s why a competitive analysis is an essential step when developing your SEO strategy.
This chapter will explore some SEO competitive analysis tools that can help you answer all (or most) of your questions and provide you with the most accurate data about your client’s current competitive landscape.
SERP Analysis
This section will cover tools that can show you what’s going on in Google SERPs for any domain you want to analyze.
Please note that there may be some data discrepancies.
The tools listed below work by scraping Google search results and the dataset accuracy mostly depends on the number of keywords that each of these tools has in its database.
The reason why the number of keywords matters so much is pretty simple. The more keywords a software has, the better it can show your competitor’s current ranking positions and their estimated traffic.
Also, we can’t ignore the logic behind peeking under competitor’s hood.
The process is based on matching the keywords for which several domains are ranking: if datasets overlap, chances are these sites are competitors.
However, when we try to analyze relatively small sites (i.e., that have less than 1,000 keywords), we come across an issue.
For instance, some of these tools can show that a domain’s competitors are YouTube or Wikipedia even though the real competitors are lurking.
- Searchmetrics
This tool was founded in 2005 by Marcus Tober and was primarily focused on competitive analysis. After a couple of years, Searchmetrics began shifting its focus more toward the enterprise market.
As content marketing influence kept growing, Searchmetrics concentrated on content marketing performance rather than SEO.
However, the Searchmetrics Suite will still tell you about a site’s position in search, how well a certain domain is ranking in Google, and for what kind of keywords it is ranking for.
Searchmetrics SERPs analysis tool
As mentioned earlier, some tools can incorrectly identify your competitors.
Searchmetrics, in particular, has an algorithm that is based on matching sets of keywords without considering any additional metrics.
On the screenshot below you can see that Searchmetrics shows that the competitive landscape of Search Engine Journal consists of Google, YouTube, and Wikipedia:
Searchmetrics – market analysis
However, let’s not jump to conclusions here.
If we let this minor flaw slide, I can say that Searchmetrics has a nice array of handy organic rankings reports that automatically filters out long-tail keywords by displaying them in a separate tab:
Searchmetrics SERPs analysis tool – organic visibility report
- SpyFu
Just like Searchmetrics, SpyFu has been around for a while and specializes in providing SEO competitive landscape data.
If you’re trying to identify your most aggressive competitors, SpyFu can also give you a list of competitor names for the domain you’re analyzing.
Here’s a screenshot that shows rivals of the same domain I analyzed using Searchmetrics. Obviously, SpyFu is much more accurate:
SpyFu Organic Competitors report
The SEO Overview dashboard is another great feature.
It gives you a comprehensive overview of a domain’s performance such as the distribution of its position on the first page of search results and some other details:
SpyFu SEO Overview dashboard
- iSpionage
It seems like most tools visualize their data alike.
However, iSpionage supports more search engines including Bing and Yahoo, and covers Google databases like Australia and Canada.
iSpionage Top Organic Keywords report
Unlike SpyFu, the list of top organic competitors in iSpionage doesn’t look so well organized.
However, it’s one step ahead of Searchmetrics by displaying fine-tuned results:
iSpionage Top Organic Results
- SEMrush
If you go to G2Crowd, you’ll find that SEMrush is the leading SEO software for small and mid-sized businesses.
SEMrush, best SEO software according to G2Crowd
SEMrush supports an extensive database of 131 countries (e.g., Google databases).
I ran the same analysis to identify organic competitors for Search Engine Journal, and the results are quite impressive:
SEMrush main organic competitors report
Another cool feature is that SEMrush’s dashboard displays proportion of branded to non-branded traffic, the number of search queries, and the amount of traffic branded search brings along with how its been trending over time:
Semrush branded to non-branded traffic
SEMrush also shows you what category (or categories) does a domain belong to based on the keywords for which it ranks in Google.
Knowing this will help you locate successful keywords your competitors are using to rank well in Google, and whether those keywords are relevant to your niche.
SEMrush domain overview report
- Ahrefs
Ahrefs is well-known for its outstanding quality of backlink data and being among the best link tools on the market.
Not so long ago Ahrefs has implemented a set of reports for competitor analysis that shows you a list of competitors based on the number of related keywords:
Ahrefs competing domains reports
Speaking of data accuracy, Ahrefs won’t detect your competitors with precision because Ahrefs doesn’t count in such metrics as the size of a domain or the type of industry a domain belongs to.
To organize their data and put things in order, Ahrefs has excluded big domains like Quora, Google, and Apple from their results. This will really improve the overview of the landscape they’re building.
If you feel like there is some inconsistency with your keyword strategy, use Content Gap report. This report allows you to spot the keywords your rivals are visible for but your domain isn’t:
Ahrefs Content Gap report
This gives you an opportunity to seize the moment and improve your rankings. Taking advantage of this information can help you move forward with your SEO strategy.
Note: Be sure to read Kevin Rowe‘s chapter, 12 Great Link Building Tools That Are Essential to Your Success, to learn how you can take advantage of analyzing your competitors’ backlink profiles.
- SERPstat
SERPstat is new to the market and seems to mirror features other SEO software tools have.
The quality of its data is comparable to SEMrush and SpyFu:
SERPstat competitors in organic search report
The main dashboard gives you an overview of the most visible pages, which is extremely useful.
It will save your time and help you avoid the endless process of exporting organic rankings data and building pivot tables in Excel:
SERPstat – Pages with highest visibility report
- BrightEdge
BrightEdge is an enterprise-level platform that offers many great features for keeping an eye on competitors.
For instance, BrightEdge’s SEO X-Ray technology consolidates myriads of keywords in a “Reverse Index” of the web. It reveals which keywords are moving your competitors on top of SERPs – and that you should be taking advantage of as well.
SEO X-Ray follows the trail of your organic search history and identifies previously unknown competitors so that you can stay alert.
It also lets you analyze your competitors’ SEO campaigns in great detail, along with their recent link strategies, or find which of their single pages drive the most organic traffic.
- Conductor
Conductor is another enterprise-level tool you can look into if you need more options.
Their source of keyword data comes from SEMrush.
Conductor allows you to view the market share that belongs to a certain brand you’re analyzing by pointing out both its current situation, and estimates its future potential growth.
This kind of data can help your clients comprehend their future SEO prospects, and gives reasons why hiring an agency is their best bet.
Traffic Analytics
Analyzing the SERPs helps you to understand your competitive landscape and gives you a list of pages that are ranking well in search engines.
But the fact that some sites may be showing up on the first page of search results doesn’t necessarily mean they’re getting a lot of traffic.
What’s more important is getting access to real user behavior that can reveal hidden SEO opportunities.
That’s why you can’t survive without tools that can give you traffic analytics insights.
- SimilarWeb
SimilarWeb helps you learn exactly how a site attracts traffic.
This tool shows you traffic distribution across all channels (Search, Social, Direct, etc.) and also displays the percentage of search traffic that comes from various search engines.
SimilarWeb Traffic Sources
The option of looking up the keywords that bring the most visitors from search engine results is at your disposal.
With the help of this data, you can tell for certain which keywords should be your priority because they have the potential to bring more traffic to your client’s site.
SimilarWeb – Organic Keywords report
SimilarWeb also shows you the list of competitors based on what kind of sites are ranking in search engines for the same set of keywords:
SimilarWeb – Competitors and Similar Sites
- SEMrush Traffic Analytics
SEMrush has some traffic analytics data, but there’s still some work that needs to be done to improve its functionality.
SEMrush offers information about traffic distribution across various search engines but unfortunately provides no keyword data.
SEMrush Traffic Analytics
SEMrush Traffic Analytics doesn’t have any data for mobile devices, so for some industries where the volume of online traffic is always high, this data may not be so valuable.
- Alexa
Historically, the biggest complaint against Amazon-owned Alexa has been its inaccurate data.
Originally, Alexa’s traffic data was gathered from users of the Alexa toolbar.
That all changed in 2008 when Alexa updated its ranking systems to include more sources. However, it’s really hard to say how much the data has changed, for the better or worse, since that time.
Regardless, Alexa is still a popular service that boasts a lot of (paid) competitive analysis reports that can give you a good representation of demographics and traffic data.
- Quantcast
Quantcast used to have a product comparable with SimilarWeb, but about a year ago they’ve decided to get rid of their standard solution and switched to custom-made reports that represent unique datasets based on clients’ needs.
This tool can be a good fit for enterprise-level clients who want to see custom-based datasets to further interpret what’s going on in their industry.
- Jumpshot
Jumpshot is a promising and overall consistent tool that launched only a couple of years ago.
Its data comes from Avast – and the data quality is high.
Jumpshot can also shed some light on such intricate data like CTR of a specific button located on your rivals landing page. Not bad for competitive intelligence.
Conclusion
Hopefully, you can now make an informed decision as you’re selecting your competitive analysis tool.
There are many great tools available – but ultimately it’s about choosing the tool that is right for you.
top 5 seo tools
Feeling overwhelmed while researching the best digital marketing tools?
We have all been there, researching for countless hours, trying to compare the dozens of SEO tools, and feeling even more lost than at the beginning of our research.
Therefore, we wanted to step up and help other marketing agencies & in-house marketers. After our quest, we have consolidated the top 5 SEO tools that will help you conquer your digital marketing strategy and elevate your SEO performance.
Our Top SEO Tool List
According to our analysis, these are the top 5 SEO tools in the 2021 market. For all SEO tools we have included a scenario where they could be beneficial to you. It is important to clarify that they are not ranked and arranged in a particular order.
- Spyfu
Spyfu is a search analysis tool that offers SEO research, PPC research, keyword research, SERP checker, and domain overviews. One of the most loved features is Spyfu Kombat. In the blog Kombat Overview (Shared Keywords) by Sidra Condron, Kombat is described as “easy to start and nearly fool-proof to understand”.
According to Spyfu’s website, PC Mag has awarded Spyfu with the “editors’ choice” badge and has also been categorized by G2crowd as part of the “Top 50 Products for Marketing 2020”.
By adding this tool into your kit, you will be able to search any domain and find out everyplace the domain shows up on Google. As listed on Spyfu’s website, by doing so you will be able to see “every keyword they’ve bought on Adwords, every organic rank, and every ad variation in the last 14 years.” Furthermore, you will be able to learn how to connect with these domains, find online and traditional leads methods such as social media, email, phone, and address.
How to best use Spyfu
Spyfu Kombat can be especially handy when doing keyword research. For example, you have a client who would like to find out what keywords their competitors are ranking for to generate keyword ideas for new content. Moreover, your client has a PPC campaign already running and is wondering if there is room for improvement.
When utilizing Spyfu Kombat, all you need is to do is to input your client’s domain and compare it against their competitor’s domain. By doing this, you will be able to find out what keywords your client is not ranking for that their competitors are in both organic and paid searches. After obtaining this information, your client can generate new content that will target those better performing keywords.
In terms of the PPC campaign that they are looking for optimizations, Spyfu Kombat can help you determine wasteful keywords to drop and update them with new ones that will outperform the previous keywords. In short, you’ll become the best digital marketer spy in the industry.
Spyfu Pricing
*This image was taken in October 2020. We recommend checking Spyfu’s pricing page for the most updated information. According to this page, if you decide this tool isn’t for you, there is a 30-day money-back guarantee.
- SEMRush
SEMRush is an all-inclusive suite that will help optimize your marketing workflow. It covers SEO, advertising, social media, content, competitive research, and reporting.
According to SEMRush’s website, “SEMrush is recognized as the best SEO suite according to US Search Awards 2019, MENA Search Awards 2019, and SEMY Awards 2019. It is also the best digital tool, according to Interactive Marketing Awards 2019.”
Some of their 6,000,000 users are eBay, Philips, HP, Quora, and many others. Quite an impressive list. It is fair to say that SEMRush is one of the most popular and purchased tools in the industry.
How to best use SEMRush
When clients ask you to generate a backlink audit, SEMRush is your best option. With this tool, you can generate a comprehensive backlink report from your client’s competitors and let you compare your client’s backlinks to up to 5 domains. Moreover, it can help you discover backlink opportunities and clean your client’s link profile.
If you would like to learn more about the benefits of link building, make sure to read our blog “Research Tips to Gain SEO Friendly Links” by DeltaV Digital Partner, Keith Vera.
SEMRush Pricing
*This image was taken in October 2020. We recommend checking the SEMRush pricing page for the most updated information. According to this page, there is a 7-day free trial.
- MOZ Pro
According to MOZ Pro’s website, Moz Pro is considered “the proven, all-in-one SEO toolset” that will provide you with SEO solutions for every need that will help you achieve success. A shortened list of Moz Pro’s features are site audits, rank tracking audits, site crawls, backlink analysis, keyword research, and more. Upon signing up to MOZ Pro, every plan includes a full access to MozBar(SEO toolbar for Chrome), track keywords on multiple search engines, SEO insights, one-on-one walkthrough, and 24-hour online support.
Some of the companies that have successfully used Moz Pro are Otter, Razorfish, Zillow, and many more. Jason Nurmi, the marketing manager at Zillow mentions in Moz Pro’s website that this tool has given his team the necessary data to justify projects and strategies. Moreover, it has helped them track the ROI of their efforts.
How to best use MOZ Pro
When assigned to fix your client’s common technical SEO issues give MOZ Pro a chance. When using MOZ Pro to create a site crawl and audit, it will help you find those technical SEO issues and also show you how to fix them.
For example, MOZ Pro will monitor broken redirects and missing title tags. Lastly, it will also assist you by prioritizing the issues to make sure you tackle those who need your immediate assistance.
Moz Pro’s Pricing
*This image was taken in October 2020. We recommend checking the MOZ Pro for the most updated information. According to this page, there is a free 30-day trial.
- Ahrefs
As described in the Ahrefs website, this tool is an “all-in-one SEO toolset” where you can optimize your website, analyze your competitors, study your customers’ searches, analyze your industry’s top-performing content, and track your ranking progress. Something important to mention is that Ahrefs offers free learning material that anyone can access without spending the $7.00 on trial. Upon making your decision whether Ahrefs is the right tool for you, you can sign up for the 7-day trial.
How to best use Ahrefs
Let’s say you are prepping for your company’s new blog, but have no clue on what to write about that will perform. With Ahref’s content explorer, you can discover the best content that exists in your industry by pulling competitive content research that will help you determine which content your blog should be about that will outperform your competitors’ content.
As shown in the image from Ahref’s website, all you need to do is type your general idea on the tool’s search bar and it will show you a list of pages that have content around your general idea. In addition to finding low competition topics and link building prospects.
Ahref’s Pricing
*This image was taken in October 2020. We recommend checking the Ahrefs pricing page for the most updated information. According to to his page, there is a 7-day trial for $7.00
- Google Keyword Planner
The Google Keyword Planner tool is a great resource for building a robust and strong keyword list that will substantially set your PPC campaign off to a good start. In overall terms, we can all agree that the Google Ads suite is the leading tool in PPC and SEO, but for the purpose of this blog, we chose to focus on Google Keyword Planner. According to the Google Keyword Planner’s website, “by using the Google Ads Keyword Tool, you can search for keyword and ad group ideas, see how a list of keywords might perform, and even combine keyword lists to create new ones.”
You will have four options to choose when using this tool. You could search for new keywords by typing a phrase, website, or category to generate new ideas. You could also combine two separate lists that you input to create new keyword combinations. Additionally, it can show you the historical trending and search volume data of keywords. Lastly, it can provide you with a click and cost performance forecast by giving you performance projections for your keywords’ lists based on bids average and your budget.
If you’d like to learn more about utilizing Google Keyword Planner, we invite you to check out “How to Use Google Keyword Planner in 2020” by Brian Dean.
How to best use Google Keyword Planner:
As you are setting up a new PPC campaign in Google Ads for a client that has never run one in the past, you will find this tool beneficial. Like mentioned earlier, to start your keyword inspiration, input your client’s website address into the tool, and it will provide you with a keyword list. On the results, you will be able to custom filter or organize your keywords by different parameters, such as average searches or competition. On top of that, you can add a term that you think could be a potential keyword, and it will also provide you with stats for that specific term.
Another way to use this tool is shown in the image below taken from Google Ads Help. Instead of utilizing your client’s domain, you could also type a general idea. As shown below, in this case the word used was “boots”. In the results we can see the list of keywords this tool generated including the average number of searches for each keyword and competition level.
Google Keyword Planner Pricing
Google Keyword Planner is a free tool that you can access by creating a Google Ads account.
If you would like to learn more about Google prices, we invite you to read “The 10 Hidden Costs of Google Ads” by DeltaV Digital Sr. Digital Strategist, Carter Poore.
Feeling confident with our top 5 SEO tool list?
Overall, all of these tools are very similar in terms of what they can offer to you. Although not completely alike, we can see there is a general offer of an “all-in-one” SEO tool with individual offerings. From Spyfu “spying” on your client’s competitor’s website to Google Keyword Planner, giving you keyword inspiration, we can all agree that all these tools are phenomenal aids.
When researching for our top SEO tools, it was very surprising to find out that according to Search Engine Journal there are over 100 SEO tools in 2020. Therefore, it comes to your user experience and what you can benefit from. If you would like to find out more about them we invite you to read The 109 Best SEO Tools That Are Totally Free by Jon Clark.
At the end of the day, it comes to what fits your budget and your digital marketing needs. It will be interesting to compare our research results to those of next year. Ultimately, we are in an ever-evolving industry where today’s popular tools might become obsolete. If you think we forgot to mention your favorite tool, please comment below.
Conclusion
Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
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