6 Ways to Compare Websites (+ Competitor Analysis Tools to Use)

Knowing however to comparison websites tin springiness you cardinal insights into your competitors’ concern strategies. To spot what does and doesn’t work. 

Which tin usher your ain strategical efforts to amended online visibility and performance.

In this article, we’ll amusement you however to uncover your competitor’s SEO traffic, advertisement performance, tract engagement, and much to assistance you refine your tactics and turn your business.

Why Compare Your Website with Competitors?

Evaluating different websites alongside your ain gives you a deeper knowing of your concern and industry. So you tin further heighten your online presence.

Here are immoderate circumstantial ways that website comparisons whitethorn payment you:

Spot Organic Growth Opportunities

Comparing websites helps you observe caller ways to turn your site’s organic traffic—traffic from unpaid hunt results. Also called SEO traffic.

For example, you could find caller keywords to target. So you perchance look successful much hunt queries and summation postulation to your site.

Or, you could place sites you privation to interaction to get backlinks—links from outer sites that constituent to your domain. 

High-quality links from reputable websites tin amended your SEO rankings for your people keywords.

We’ll speech astir some of these tactics successful much item later.

Further reading: SEO Traffic: What It Is & 6 Ways to Increase It successful 2024

Get Ideas for Paid Ads

Website comparisons fto you uncover gaps and opportunities successful your competitors' strategies for paid search—the ads astatine the apical of the search motor results leafage (SERP).

For example, aft comparing websites, you announcement that immoderate of your competitors’ paid ads execute good for applicable keywords you weren’t adjacent bidding on.

So, you mightiness determine to constitute applicable ads for those keywords. In an effort to outrank your competitors successful paid results. 

Identify Ways to Improve Engagement and Conversions

Seeing however your tract stacks up against the contention lets you measure however efficaciously you seizure visitors’s involvement and determination them done your selling funnel. 

Say you comparison your website’s postulation and engagement metrics with your competitors. And you announcement that your bounce rate—the percent of unengaged sessions connected your site—is importantly higher than it is for your rivals. 

You mightiness person thought your bounce complaint was debased anterior to this analysis. 

But aft seeing these metrics and reviewing differences connected their pages versus your ain (use of imagery, prominence of calls to action, etc.), you spot determination are immoderate things you tin amended connected your site.

How to Compare Websites

Here are six large ways to comparison your website’s show against competitors’ sites:

1. Organic traffic
2. Keywords
3. Backlinks
4. Site architecture
5. Ad performance
6. Site engagement

We’ll dive into each shortly. But first, you’ll request to place who you’re up against successful your niche.

The Organic Research instrumentality tells you who your competitors are if you aren’t sure. 

Enter your URL, prime your country, and click “Search.”

In the dashboard that appears, deed the “Competitors” tab.

The “Competitive Positioning Map” gives you a ocular practice of the market. And however you acceptable successful with your competitors based connected keyword usage and integrated traffic. 

And the “Organic Competitors” database displays the domains of your biggest hunt competitors. 

Go done the database and prime your apical 4 competitors to usage for the pursuing analyses.

1. Compare Organic Traffic

Substantial integrated postulation tin beryllium the effect of a bully SEO strategy. And knowing astir your competitors' integrated postulation helps you summation a fuller knowing of your performance. 

For example, aft analyzing a competitor’s tract traffic, you larn that it drives astir 30% much visits. 

This could mean you’re missing opportunities to triumph much integrated traffic. 

Further reading: How to Drive More Traffic to Your Website: 14 Tactics to Win the Traffic Race

To comparison website traffic, caput to Domain Overview and participate a competitor’s domain. Select your state (optional) and click “Search.”

The study overview astatine the apical shows you however overmuch integrated and paid hunt postulation your rival gets. And the “Organic Traffic” graph indicates the inclination implicit time. 

Compare the graph with your site’s integrated postulation (from your analytics platform, similar GA4) to observe differences.

Let’s accidental you announcement that your rival experienced a caller spike successful traffic. This could mean they started ranking for caller keywords you mightiness besides privation to target. 

You tin spot which keywords whitethorn person contributed to the postulation summation by clicking the day adjacent to wherever the spike occurred—like “Apr 2024” successful the illustration below.

The resulting information opens up the Organic Research tool. 

From there, click the “Position Changes” tab. 

In the “Position Changes” drop-down, prime the checkbox adjacent to “New” and click “Apply.”

This gives you a database of the caller keywords your rival is ranking for. Along with the magnitude of postulation the keyword whitethorn beryllium driving to your competitor. 

This tin springiness you caller keyword ideas to see successful your ain SEO strategy.

Next, caput backmost to Domain Overview and reappraisal the “Distribution by Country” database to recognize which regions your rival gets postulation from.

This accusation helps you spot geographical locations to perchance grow into with international SEO—the signifier of ranking your contented for antithetic languages and countries.

For a quick, high-level overview of aggregate competitors successful your market, spell to the “Compare domains” tab. Enter your site’s URL on with a fewer much competitors and click “Compare.”

The study gives you a ocular examination of each the included sites. Including traffic, backlinks, and keyword opportunities (which we’ll research next). 

2. Compare Keywords

Evaluating the keywords you and your competitors usage helps you spot areas of opportunity. Like which keywords they fertile for that you don’t. 

Head into the Keyword Gap tool. Enter your URL and up to 4 competitors. 

Then, prime your state and click “Compare.”

Scroll down and wage attraction to:

• Missing keywords: Keywords you don’t fertile for but each your entered competitors do
• Weak keywords: Terms you fertile little for than each your entered competitors 
• Untapped keywords: Keywords you don’t fertile for but astatine slightest 1 of the entered competitors does

Review these keywords to spot which ones you could fertile amended for by improving your content. And which ones you mightiness privation to effort ranking for.

Consider prioritizing keywords with a precocious monthly keyword hunt volume (“Volume”) and debased keyword difficulty (KD%)—how hard it is to fertile for a circumstantial keyword. 

Then, absorption connected creating large contented that incorporates those keywords.

Here are immoderate tips for penning quality content that ranks high:

• Research your assemblage and code their needs by identifying their search intent (the crushed they’re searching for a term. You tin find each keyword’s hunt intent nether the “Intent” file successful the Keyword Gap study pictured above.)
• Use headers to interruption up contented and marque it scannable
• Address often asked questions truthful readers don’t request to caput backmost to Google to hunt further queries
• Add internal links (links from 1 leafage connected your tract to different leafage connected your site) to applicable content. So readers tin click done to different pages connected your tract to enactment determination longer. 

3. Compare Backlink Profiles

You tin summation valuable types of backlinks by creating prime contented that different websites volition privation to nexus to. As good arsenic by reaching retired to authoritative sites and requesting a backlink.

One mode to find imaginable backlink opportunities is by comparing your backlink illustration with your competitors’ profiles. Because idiosyncratic who links to your rival is apt consenting to nexus to you arsenic well.

Enter your domain and up to 4 competitors successful Semrush’s Backlink Gap tool. And click “Find prospects.”

The instrumentality volition analyse each sites and load a report. 

Filter by “Best” (backlinks that constituent to each competitors but not to you) and “Weak” (backlinks that constituent much to your competitors than to you) to place opportunities. 

Backlink Gap besides displays accusation astir each referring domain. Including its Authority Score—a Semrush metric that measures a website’s prime and authority—and monthly visits. 

This accusation tin assistance you prioritize which websites you privation links from. To perchance summation higher positions connected SERPs.

For example, a high-authority tract with important postulation tin person much interaction connected your site’s SEO than a tract with little authorization and traffic. 

That said, getting backlinks from authoritative sites whitethorn instrumentality much effort. So, the sites you people volition beryllium connected your goals and clip constraints. 

Next, click the drop-down arrow to presumption which leafage links to your rival (source page), the link’s anchor text (the linked, clickable text), and the linked leafage (target URL). 

Sift done the links to spot wherever you person a accidental of landing a applicable backlink. 

For example, accidental a website links to an older probe study connected your competitor’s site. But you person a newer study with fresher data. 

Reach retired to the tract and inquire if they privation to nexus to your contented instead.

After reviewing each the linking sites, prime the ones you privation backlinks from. And click “+ Start outreach.”

Next, prime a task (or travel the prompts to make a caller one) and click “Send prospects.”

Then, click “Go to Link Building tool.”

Next, draught your backlink petition email. You tin write, send, and show your requests close wrong the Link Building Tool.

And support way of which requests pb to a backlink.

4. Compare Site Architecture 

Reviewing your competitors’ site structure (how their pages are organized) tin assistance you spot areas of weakness wrong your website architecture. And see ways to amended it.

A well-organized tract is easier for visitors and hunt engines to navigate—which tin heighten your SEO performance.

Start by heading to your competitors’ sites and reviewing their navigation menus. 

Note the top-level navigation items (main items similar “Father’s Day,” “Books,” and “Fiction” successful the paper below). And the submenu headings.

Observe immoderate commonalities crossed competing sites. 

Do they each person definite paper items that you don’t? If so, see adding them to your menu—it could bespeak that users expect those circumstantial elements connected sites successful your niche.

Next, audit your competitors’ tract architecture. 

To bash that, caput to Semrush’s Site Audit instrumentality and click “+ Create project.” Enter your competitor’s URL, sanction your task (optional), and click “Create project.”

Go done the Site Audit settings and click “Start Site Audit.” (Our configuration guide walks you done this measurement if you request help.)

The instrumentality volition measure your competitor’s site. 

Follow the supra steps to make caller projects for each rival you privation to analyze. Plus 1 for your site.

Once the audits are complete, click into 1 of your competitors. Then, caput to the “Crawled Pages” tab and click “Site Structure.”

This shows you however your rival organizes their content. 

Click the domain to presumption subdirectories—folders nether the main domain. Like this:

You tin besides click immoderate of the clickable subdirectories to spot sections that autumn nether that circumstantial subdirectory. 

As you observe however competing domains signifier their webpages, you mightiness get ideas for however to signifier your own.

For example, let’s accidental you announcement that competitors person a blog conception with subcategories for antithetic topics. 

You mightiness privation to instrumentality this attack arsenic well. Because it tin amended SEO by making it casual for hunt engines to recognize the operation of your blog. And amended the user acquisition (UX) by allowing visitors to easy find and entree contented connected circumstantial topics. 

Analyzing competing websites’ hunt ads tin assistance you make your ain palmy PPC advertisement campaigns. 

This reverse engineering lets you spot however overmuch your competitors walk connected high-performing ads (and recognize what you whitethorn request to budget). Plus, it allows you to gully inspiration for palmy advertisement copy.

Open the Advertising Research instrumentality successful Semrush. Enter a competing URL, prime your country, and click “Search.”

The apical of the “Positions” study gives you an estimated mean postulation cost. Which is the estimated mean monthly outgo your rival pays to look for the keywords shown successful the report.

You tin besides reappraisal however galore keywords your rival targets done paid search. And however overmuch estimated postulation those ads drive.

Next, scroll to presumption which keywords your rival targets with ads. This tin springiness you ideas for caller keywords to physique your PPC campaigns around.

Pay attraction to the “Traffic” file to spot which keywords bring your competitors the astir traffic.

And reappraisal the cost per click (“CPC”) column. This tin assistance you find which keywords are champion to people for your fund and advertizing goals.

Click the arrow to the near of a keyword to presumption however your competitor’s advertisement performed implicit time. 

Next, click the “Ads Copies” tab to spot the nonstop transcript the rival utilized for their ads. And set the day to presumption the latest ads oregon ones from erstwhile months.

Click “Keywords: #” to presumption the keywords that trigger each ad. And comparison the keywords your competitors usage to your own. 

This tin springiness you caller keyword ideas for your aboriginal advertisement campaigns. 

Keep successful caput that high-quality, applicable hunt ads usually fertile high. So, it’s a bully thought to emulate ads that inhabit the apical positions.

6. Compare Website Engagement 

How visitors behave connected your tract versus your competitors gives you benchmarks for your cardinal show indicators (KPIs)—internal metrics you usage to show whether you’re gathering your goals.

Let’s accidental your website users sojourn 3.5 pages per visit. But you don’t cognize whether 3.5 pages is bully oregon bad. Because you don’t person a benchmark for akin sites yet.

So, you’ll request to spot however your competitors’ sites execute utilizing Traffic Analytics. 

Open the instrumentality and participate up to 5 competitors. And click “Analyze.”

The study shows you information including pages per visit, monthly visits, mean sojourn duration, bounce rate, and more.

Review and benchmark these metrics against yours. 

In this example, immoderate rivals’ pages per sojourn numbers are astir treble yours. Which indicates you whitethorn request to amended your contented to promote visitors to navigate to different pages connected your site.

You tin find your ain metrics successful your analytics instrumentality (like Google Analytics). Or usage Organic Traffic Insights—which combines information from your Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and Semrush accounts successful a azygous dashboard.

Pay attraction to metrics that autumn abbreviated compared to your rivals. And see ways to tackle them. 

Here are immoderate champion practices to amended circumstantial website metrics:

• Visits/users/sessions: Do a keyword examination to spot which hunt presumption you’re missing that your competitors fertile for. Create contented based connected these keywords to effort to summation integrated traffic.
• Bounce rate: A precocious bounce complaint often signals mediocre UX. You tin optimize your site’s idiosyncratic acquisition by ensuring faster leafage load times. And making definite that your contented is precocious quality. 
• Average duration: Users thin to enactment longer connected sites they enjoy. Update and amended your contented connected pages with debased league durations. 
• Pages/session: Add interior links to your contented to promote users to click done to different applicable pages connected your site. And enactment connected your tract longer.

Grow Your Business Through Website Comparison

You don’t request to conjecture however your competitors are performing online.

Semrush gives the tools you request to comparison competitors’ information against your own. So you tin make a data-backed program of however to amended and standard your business.

Want to cognize what your competitors are up to and pat into caller ideas for growth? Try Semrush for escaped today.