Knowing how to find your competitors’ keywords is one of the highest-leverage moves in SEO. Instead of guessing what your audience searches for, you reverse-engineer what is already working for businesses competing in your space. You skip months of trial and error and go straight to opportunities with proven search demand.
This guide walks you through the exact process: identifying who your real search competitors are, which tools to use, how to interpret the data, and how to turn keyword gaps into content and ranking wins. Whether you are running a small business or managing an enterprise site, these steps apply directly.
To find your competitors’ keywords, start by identifying your true search competitors using Google and SEO tools. Then use platforms like Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Ubersuggest to pull their top-ranking keywords, find gaps your site is missing, and prioritize by search volume and difficulty. The goal is to build a keyword list you can act on immediately, not just collect data.
⚡ Key Takeaways
- Your search competitors are not always your business competitors. Check who ranks for your target terms, not just who sells what you sell.
- Keyword gap analysis reveals terms your competitors rank for that you do not, which is your fastest path to new traffic.
- Tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, Moz, and free options like Google Search Console give you real data on competitor keyword performance.
- Focus on keywords with moderate search volume and low-to-medium difficulty first. High-volume terms take far longer to rank for.
- Competitor keywords are a starting point, not a final list. Validate every opportunity against your own audience intent.
- Combining competitor keyword data with strong content and technical SEO gives you a compounding advantage over time.
- Refresh your competitor keyword research every quarter because rankings shift and new competitors enter the space regularly.
Step 1: Identify Who Your Real Search Competitors Are
Before you can analyze competitor keywords, you need to know who you are competing against in search results. This is not always obvious. A business selling the same product as you might have a terrible website that never ranks, while a blog or media site you have never heard of could be capturing most of your target traffic.
Start with a simple Google search. Type in the keywords you most want to rank for and look at who is consistently appearing on page one. Note the domains. Do this for five to ten of your most important terms and a pattern will emerge. The same five or six domains will keep showing up. These are your real search competitors.
You can also use tools like Ahrefs’ Site Explorer or SEMrush’s Organic Research to enter your own domain and see a list of competing domains automatically. These tools calculate overlap based on how many of the same keywords you both rank for. A high overlap percentage means a strong competitor relationship.
💡 Pro Tip: Do not limit your competitor list to direct business rivals. Include content sites, comparison sites, and even large publishers if they rank for your target keywords. Understanding their approach helps you find angles they are missing.
Step 2: Pull Their Top Organic Keywords
Once you have a shortlist of two to five competitors, the next step is pulling the keywords they already rank for. This is where SEO tools do the heavy lifting.
Here is how to do it in the most common platforms:
- Ahrefs: Go to Site Explorer, enter a competitor domain, click on “Organic Keywords” under the Organic Search section. You will see every keyword they rank for along with position, search volume, keyword difficulty, and estimated traffic.
- SEMrush: Use the Organic Research tool, enter the competitor domain, and review the Positions report. You can filter by position (1-10 to see their best rankings), volume, and keyword difficulty.
- Moz: Use Keyword Explorer and the Ranking Keywords feature under a competitor’s domain to see what they rank for.
- Ubersuggest: A more affordable option. Enter the competitor domain, click on “Keywords” and you get a simplified but useful list of their ranking terms.
According to Ahrefs (2024), the average top-ranking page ranks for roughly 1,000 other keywords beyond its primary target term. This means each competitor page you analyze could surface dozens of keyword opportunities you had not considered. That is significant leverage.
Export the data to a spreadsheet. You will use it in the next steps to filter and prioritize.
Step 3: Run a Keyword Gap Analysis
Pulling a competitor’s full keyword list is useful, but the real gold is in the gap: keywords they rank for that you do not. This is called a keyword gap analysis, and it is one of the most efficient ways to build a prioritized target list.
Most major SEO tools have a built-in gap feature:
- Ahrefs Content Gap: Enter your domain and up to four competitor domains. The tool shows you keywords the competitors rank for that your site does not appear for at all, or ranks much lower for.
- SEMrush Keyword Gap: Similar functionality. You can filter by keywords where competitors rank in top 10 but you do not rank in the top 20, which highlights the most actionable opportunities.
When reviewing gap results, look for three types of opportunities:
- Quick wins: Keywords where you rank on page two or three and a competitor is on page one. A content update or a few new backlinks could push you up.
- Content gaps: Topics you have no page for at all. These require creating new content.
- Underserved niches: Keywords where competitor pages exist but the content quality is weak. You can outrank them by publishing something more comprehensive.
If you want to go deeper on improving existing content to close these gaps, our guide on how to boost your SEO efforts with page content analysis walks through the on-page tactics in detail.
Step 4: Analyze Competitor Paid Keywords Too
Organic rankings tell you a lot, but your competitors’ paid search keywords add another layer of intelligence. If a competitor is spending money on a keyword consistently over multiple months, it almost certainly converts. That is valuable signal even if you are focused on organic SEO.
In SEMrush, the Advertising Research report shows you which keywords a competitor is bidding on in Google Ads, along with estimated cost-per-click and ad copy. In Ahrefs, the Paid Keywords section under Site Explorer does the same.
According to WordStream (2023), the average small business spends between $9,000 and $10,000 per month on paid search. Businesses at that spend level are not guessing which keywords work. They are data-testing constantly. Borrowing their top paid keyword themes for your organic strategy is a legitimate shortcut.
Cross-reference paid and organic keyword lists. Keywords that appear on both lists for the same competitor are especially valuable targets.
💡 Pro Tip: If you notice a competitor bidding heavily on branded terms (their own brand name), it often signals they are defending against a competitor or affiliate. Look at what non-branded terms they bid on most aggressively. Those are their core commercial keywords.
Step 5: Use Free Tools to Supplement Paid Research
Not every business has budget for premium SEO tools. Free and freemium options can still give you solid competitor keyword data when used correctly.
- Google Search Console: If you have access to a competitor’s GSC (you do not, unless it is your own site), this is the most accurate keyword data available. For your own site, it shows which queries you are already getting impressions for, which helps you spot where competitors are outranking you.
- Google’s “People Also Ask” and Related Searches: These features reveal the topic clusters surrounding any keyword. Search your target term and note every question and related phrase Google surfaces. Your competitors are probably already ranking for many of these.
- Ubersuggest Free Tier: Gives you limited daily searches but useful for surface-level competitor keyword research.
- Google Keyword Planner: Technically an ads tool, but entering a competitor URL under “Start with a website” generates keyword ideas based on their page content.
- Also Asked and AnswerThePublic: Great for uncovering question-based keywords that competitors may be ranking for in featured snippets and People Also Ask boxes.
For businesses exploring how AI is changing the way search works, it is also worth reading about Google AI Mode vs AI Overviews because competitor keywords showing up in AI summaries may need a different content approach than standard blue-link results.
Step 6: Prioritize Keywords Strategically
Competitor keyword research generates a lot of data fast. Without a clear prioritization framework, you end up with a bloated list and no clear direction. Here is how to filter down to what actually matters.
| Priority Tier | Criteria | Action |
|---|---|---|
| High Priority | Moderate volume (500-5,000/mo), KD under 40, commercial or transactional intent | Create or update content immediately |
| Medium Priority | High volume (5,000+/mo), KD 40-60, informational intent | Plan content for next quarter |
| Low Priority | Low volume (under 200/mo) or KD above 70 | Monitor or skip unless highly relevant |
| Quick Win | You rank positions 11-30, competitor ranks 1-5 | Refresh existing page and build links |
| Content Gap | Competitor has a page, you have nothing | Create new content targeting this topic |
According to BrightEdge (2023), organic search drives 53% of all website traffic on average, making it the single largest traffic channel for most businesses. Prioritizing the right keywords from your competitor research directly impacts how much of that organic traffic flows to your site instead of theirs.
If you are working with limited resources, our SEO services for small businesses team recommends starting with quick wins and content gaps simultaneously. Quick wins build momentum in the short term while new content compounds over months.
Step 7: Turn Keyword Data Into a Content Strategy
Finding competitor keywords means nothing if you do not act on the data. The next step is mapping each keyword to a specific content action.
Group related keywords into topic clusters. For example, if you find that a competitor ranks for “best running shoes for flat feet,” “running shoes flat feet women,” and “flat feet running shoe guide,” these are all part of one topic cluster. You do not need three separate pages. One comprehensive guide targeting the cluster is more powerful and easier to build authority around.
For each cluster, decide:
- Does a page already exist on your site that could be expanded to cover this topic cluster?
- Or does this require a brand new page?
- What content format did the competitor use: blog post, product page, comparison article, or video?
- Can you produce something more useful, more detailed, or better structured?
When you are planning content around these keywords, pay attention to how competitors structure their pages. Tools like Screaming Frog let you crawl a competitor’s site to see how they use H1s, internal links, and page hierarchies. Understanding their structure helps you identify both what works and where they are leaving gaps.
For ecommerce businesses specifically, competitor keyword research feeds directly into product and category page optimization. Our guide on how to rank higher with a Shopify SEO checklist covers how to apply keyword research to product pages effectively.
Step 8: Monitor Competitor Keywords Over Time
Competitor keyword research is not a one-time project. Rankings shift. New competitors enter the market. Existing competitors expand into new topic areas. Running a quarterly review keeps your strategy current.
Set up these ongoing monitoring habits:
- Rank tracking: Use a tool like Ahrefs, SEMrush, or SERPWatcher to track your position on target keywords over time. When you see a keyword drop, investigate whether a competitor has recently published or updated content on that topic.
- Competitor content alerts: Use Google Alerts or Ahrefs Alerts to receive notifications when competitors publish new content or earn new backlinks to existing pages.
- Monthly gap check: Re-run the keyword gap tool once a month or quarter to see if competitors are now ranking for new terms you should be targeting.
Building internal links intelligently also plays a role in how well your pages rank for the target keywords you identify. If you are unclear on how internal linking supports ranking, the article on how to use internal links to boost backlink impact is worth reading as a companion resource.
💡 Pro Tip: When a competitor suddenly gains a large number of new keywords, it often means they published a major content asset or updated a core page. Investigate their site directly and look at what changed. You can then replicate or improve on their approach.
If you want to accelerate results through link building alongside your keyword strategy, understanding how to build backlinks in competitive and low-competition niches gives you a practical framework for both situations.
For businesses looking for professional support with ongoing keyword research and competitor analysis, working with a team that provides comprehensive search engine optimization services can significantly speed up your results, particularly if you are competing in a saturated niche where manual research alone is not enough.
Practical Action Plan: What to Do First
- Do This Now: Identify three to five true search competitors by Googling your top five target keywords and noting who consistently appears on page one. Then run a keyword gap analysis in any tool you have access to, even the free tier. Export the results and highlight any keywords where you rank positions 11 to 20. These are your immediate quick wins.
- Worth Doing: Build a full competitor keyword list from two or three competitors using Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Ubersuggest. Group the keywords into topic clusters. Map each cluster to either an existing page you can improve or a new content piece you need to create. Build this into your next 90-day content calendar.
- Low Priority: Set up automated competitor monitoring alerts and schedule a quarterly review of the full keyword gap report. This is valuable but only after you have acted on the initial opportunities. Monitoring without acting first is a low-return use of time.
For businesses running ecommerce operations, competitor keyword research also extends into product listing optimization. If that is relevant to your situation, our ecommerce SEO packages include ongoing competitor analysis as part of the engagement.
Conclusion
Learning how to find your competitors’ keywords is not about copying what they do. It is about understanding the landscape you are operating in and finding the gaps, angles, and opportunities that let you compete more intelligently. The process requires the right tools, a clear prioritization framework, and the discipline to act on what you find rather than just collect data.
Start with identifying your real search competitors, pull their top organic keywords, run a gap analysis, and map what you find to specific content actions. Revisit the research quarterly so your strategy stays aligned with how the competitive landscape shifts. Over time, this becomes one of the most reliable inputs in your entire SEO process.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best free tool to find competitors’ keywords?
Google’s People Also Ask, Related Searches, and the free tiers of Ubersuggest and Google Keyword Planner are the most accessible free options. Google Search Console is also excellent for understanding where you are already close to ranking and where competitors are ahead of you, though it only shows data for your own site.
How many competitors should I analyze at once?
Three to five competitors is the practical sweet spot. Analyzing fewer may leave blind spots. Analyzing more than five tends to generate so much overlapping data that it becomes hard to act on. Pick the competitors who consistently appear on page one for your most important keyword categories.
How often should I run competitor keyword research?
A quarterly review is the minimum for most businesses. If you are in a fast-moving niche or actively publishing new content, monthly checks are more appropriate. Set up competitor alerts through Ahrefs or Google Alerts to catch major movements between scheduled reviews.
Can I find competitors’ keywords without paid tools?
Yes, though with limitations. You can manually search your target keywords, study competitor pages using browser extensions like MozBar or Keywords Everywhere, review their meta tags and headers, and use the free tiers of Ubersuggest or AnswerThePublic. The results will be less comprehensive than paid tools but still actionable for early-stage research.
What should I do after I find my competitors’ keywords?
Prioritize the keywords by intent, difficulty, and your current ranking position. Group them into topic clusters and map each cluster to a content action: update an existing page, create a new one, or build links to a page that already exists but ranks too low. The research only delivers value when it drives actual content and optimization work.
