Categories: Web Marketing

Competitor Keyword Research & Benefits for SEO Strategies

In search engine optimization (SEO), every one of us is facing rising competition due to many factors. We need to gain a competitive edge, and one of the most effective ways is competitor keyword research. You can develop a comprehensive SEO strategy by analyzing the keywords your competitors are targeting to boost your search engine rankings. In this article, we will discuss the benefits of competitor keyword research and helpful tips to outrank your SEO rivals.

Who are your SEO competitors?

Your first step is to identify your SEO competitors. Search Google with your important keywords and see top-ranking websites in the results. After identifying your true competitors, analyze their keyword rankings, backlinks, and organic traffic. You have to evaluate your competitors regularly as the competitive landscape is constantly evolving.

Benefits of Competitor Keyword Research to Your SEO Strategies

There are many benefits we can discuss. Here are some important ones:

Identifying Keyword Gaps and Opportunities

After identifying your competitors, use a keyword research tool and enter the domain or its page URL to search. It will show you all their ranking keywords. From the results, you can see keyword gaps and untapped terms you can target on your website. If you focus on these overlooked keywords, you can drive more organic traffic with your content.

Benchmarking SEO Performance

When you conduct keyword research on your competitor sites, you can compare their keyword rankings, search volumes, and click-through rates (CTR) with your website. This will reveal whether your SEO strategy is effective or not. This comparison helps you refine your approach to outperform your competitors.

Discovering High-Converting Keywords

When you analyze their keywords, you can identify the keywords that attract more qualified leads and convert them into customers. You can incorporate these high-converting keywords into your SEO strategy to improve your search engine rankings and traffic growth.

Staying Ahead of Industry Trends

Your competitor keyword research informs you about emerging keyword trends. Your research helps you stay updated and adapt your own approach accordingly. This proactive approach ensures you remain relevant with new search trends and visible to your target audience. For example, if you see the keyword “sustainable travel” emerging, you can incorporate it into your content.

How to Conduct an Effective Competitor Keyword Research?

Know Your Top Competitors

Know your main competitors in the search engine results pages (SERPs). They consistently rank well for your target keywords and have products or services like yours. You can learn from their SEO strategy.

Use a Keyword Research Tool

For competitor keyword research, you have to use a powerful tool like Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, Ahrefs, or Moz. Analyze valuable SEO metrics like keyword search volumes, competition levels, and ranking difficulty from the results. Look for any opportunities and target any similar or related terms and phrases valuable to you. >> See these best keyword research tools (free & paid)

Analyze Their Content and Backlinks

Look at your competitors’ top-ranking pages and their backlink profiles. What types of content do they create? What topics do they cover, and how do they naturally integrate keywords into their content? Also, analyze their backlink sources. They will inspire you to potential link-building opportunities for your website. You can replicate their strategies to enhance your SEO efforts.

Monitor Competitor Keyword Rankings

Track their keyword rankings over time. Regular tracking helps you detect any changes in their keyword strategy and replicate them in your approach accordingly. This will help you maintain your competitive edge and continue to outrank your SERP competitors.

Guide to using keyword tools for competitor keyword research

You can start from a free option. Google Keyword Planner (GKP) is a free tool you can use for your research. While designed for paid ad campaigns, you can use it for your competitor keyword analysis purposes.

To use this keyword tool, you need a Google Ads account. However, you can set up an account for free. If you have already created your account, you can open the GKP page from this URL: https://ads.google.com/aw/keywordplanner/home. You can research in two methods:

Method 1: Start with a competitor’s website

Identify a competitor website you want to check.
Then, on the GKP page, choose “Discover new keywords” and select the “Start with a website” option.
Enter the URL of your competitor’s website. You can analyze their specific landing page or entire domain.
Click “Get Results.” The tool will analyze their website and generate a list of their ranking keywords.
From the list, look for any keyword opportunities for your site.

Method 2: If you know some of your competitor keywords

Click on the “Start with Keywords” option.
Enter their keywords and hit “Get Results.” Google will provide associated terms your competitors might be targeting.

Refine and Analyze the Results for Opportunities:

Look for keywords highly relevant to your website.
Prioritize keywords with high search volume.
Look for low-competition keywords for which you can rank.
You can group the keywords into categories for easier analysis and download it as a Google Sheet file.

However, Keyword Planner data is primarily for paid search. The competition metric is not for organic difficulty. In this case, you can use SEMRush or any other tools. Let’s learn about SEMRush.

SEMrush is a comprehensive SEO suite you can use in competitor analysis. Let’s see how to use GKP strategically with SEMrush. Visit www.semrush.com and create your account. Then, follow the following steps:

Organic Research: Use this SEMRush feature and enter the competitor website as above. In the results, pay attention to the keywords with high search volume and decent ranking positions.
Keyword Gap: Use this feature to find any keyword gaps between your website and the competitor’s website.
Augmenting Existing Lists: Export keyword lists from SEMrush. Use GKP to expand these lists with related terms and variations.
Search Volume and Competition: Compare GKP’s search volume data with SEMrush’s more precise “Keyword Difficulty” metric. Choose any keyword opportunities with a balance of decent volume and achievable organic difficulty.
Commercial Intent: See GKP’s suggested keyword variations. You can check their commercial or informational intent with SEMRush.
Bulk Analysis: You can import the GKP’s keyword list into SEMrush’s Bulk Analysis tool for a more in-depth SEO evaluation.
Keyword Manager: You can also add valuable keywords found from GKP to your SEMrush Keyword Manager lists. This helps you facilitate your research and streamline tracking.

You can use both SEMrush and GKP for a powerful competitor keyword research campaign. SEMrush is great for finding your competitors’ top keywords and identifying potential gaps. You can use GKP as a complementary tool for discovering additional terms they might be targeting and providing valuable data points like search volume. By cross-referencing these insights, you can make more informed decisions when selecting keywords you can target.

Conclusion

Competitor keyword research is a powerful tool for your SEO strategy. From these strategies, you can discover untapped opportunities and benchmark your performance. Conducting competitor analysis and integrating these findings into your SEO strategy can give you a significant boost in search engine rankings. Run competitor keyword research regularly and unlock your SEO efforts to drive organic traffic and boost conversions.

Valuable Resources

Disclosure: We are partners or associates of Amazon and other top brands. We may earn a small amount from qualifying purchases without increasing the price.

Ibochouba Singh is a content writer and reviewer with a passion for writing about digital marketing and tech gadgets, including software tools and new tech gadgets. He has over 15 years of experience writing for several consumers and clients, including tech startups, marketing agencies, and software companies. He is writing many articles and product reviews for many websites, including nigcworld.com, buywin.in, medium.com, and quora.com.

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View Comments

Studio 36 Digital says:

October 18, 2020 at 5:32 pm

Great read. It's essential to see what your competitors are doing for both keyword use and how they are ranking. I use Ahrefs, it's a great tool. Thanks for sharing.