How to Do Competitive Analysis in Digital Marketing

Before you can outperform your competitors online, you need to understand them. Competitive analysis in digital marketing is the process of researching what your competitors are doing — which keywords they rank for, what ads they run, how their content performs — and using that intelligence to inform your own strategy.

Identify Your Real Digital Competitors

Your digital competitors are not necessarily your offline competitors. A small local business might compete directly with a large national website for organic search traffic. A company in one city might find that a similar business in another city shows up for the same keywords because they've built a stronger online presence.

Find your digital competitors by searching your target keywords on Google and noting which websites consistently appear on page one. These are your organic competitors. For paid ads, note which companies appear in the ad positions above organic results — these are your paid competitors.

SEO Competitor Analysis

Use tools like Ahrefs, Semrush, or Moz to analyze competitor websites:

• Organic keywords: Which keywords does your competitor rank for? This reveals their content strategy and keyword targets. Some of these might be opportunities you haven't targeted yet.
• Backlink profile: Who links to them? High-quality backlinks from the same sources are often achievable for you too. This analysis identifies specific link-building opportunities.
• Top-performing content: Which pages get the most organic traffic? Understanding what resonates in your industry helps you create better content on similar topics.
• Domain Authority: How strong is their overall SEO foundation? This tells you how much effort it will take to outrank them.

Content Analysis

Study competitor content comprehensively. What topics do they cover? How long and detailed are their articles? What content gaps do they have — topics relevant to your shared audience that they haven't addressed? These gaps are your opportunities to create content that fills an unmet need and attracts traffic they're missing.

Note how frequently they publish and what their social media engagement looks like. Content that gets high shares and comments reveals what your shared audience finds genuinely valuable.

Paid Advertising Analysis

The Facebook Ad Library (facebook.com/ads/library) shows you all active ads any company is running on Facebook and Instagram — completely free. Use it to see what messaging, offers, visuals, and CTAs your competitors are using in their ads. If an ad has been running for several months, it's likely profitable — that's a strong signal about what messages resonate with your shared audience.

For Google Ads, Semrush's Advertising Research tool shows competitor ad copy, landing pages, and keywords they're bidding on. This is invaluable for developing your own ad strategy.

Website and User Experience

Visit competitor websites with a critical eye. How does their design compare to yours? Is their navigation clear and user-friendly? Are their calls to action compelling? Do they have more or fewer trust signals (testimonials, certifications, client counts)?

Run their pages through PageSpeed Insights — if your site is faster, that's a competitive advantage. If theirs is faster, you have an improvement opportunity.

Turning Analysis into Action

Competitive analysis is only valuable if it informs your decisions. After analysis, document: keywords they rank for that you should target, backlink sources you should pursue, content topics they haven't covered well, and ad messaging that resonates with your shared audience.

Review your competitive landscape every 6 months — the digital marketing space moves quickly, and a competitor's strategy today may be completely different a year from now.