Understanding which keywords your competitors are ranking for can help you improve your overall SEO strategy.

Gaining insights into the keywords your competitors are targeting or ranking for helps you determine if there are keywords you are missing and should incorporate into your SEO strategy.

This is where SEO keyword competitor research comes in.

Competitor keyword analysis involves identifying your competitors, discovering the keywords they rank for, and assessing the relevance and performance of these keywords.

This information can then be used to inform your own SEO strategy, helping you attract more organic traffic, reach your target audience more effectively, and achieve your business goals.

Here are four SEO keyword competitor analysis methods you can use:

1. Brainstorm Your Top Competitors

   Work with your marketing or sales team to manually compile a list of top competitors. For example, if you’re a hotel in downtown Calgary, collaborate to identify other hotels of the same star level within the downtown area or nearby.

2. Perform a Relevant Google Search to Determine Your Competitors

   After brainstorming ideas, perform a Google search to see which companies rank for the search terms you want to target. For example, searching for “Calgary Downtown Hotels” will reveal both direct competitors (other hotels) and indirect competitors (travel sites) ranking for this query.

3. Enter Your Competitors in a SEO Competitor Analysis Tool such as SEMRush

   An SEO competitor tool like SEMRush provides insight into the search terms a website ranks for. For example, entering a URL like https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/yycbl-residence-inn-calgary-downtown-beltline-district/overview/ in SEMRush will show you the keywords that URL ranks for.

   You can use these insights to enhance your SEO strategy by creating content targeting the keywords your competitors are ranking for.

4. Enter Your Competitors in Google Ads Keyword Planner

   Another great tool you can use is Google Ads Keyword Planner. In this tool, you can enter a URL and Google Ads Keyword Planner will generate a list of keywords associated with the URL.

   For example, if you enter https://www.coasthotels.com/coast-calgary-downtown-hotel-and-suites-by-apa, Google Ads Keyword Planner will list out search terms related to the webpage. Examples include: “hotels Calgary downtown” and “Calgary hotels with pools”.