How to Do an SEO Competitor Analysis Without Paid Tools

So you’ve got a website, but your competitors keep showing up higher on Google than you do.

Frustrating, right?

I get it. You’re wondering what they’re doing that you’re not.

Here’s the thing: You can figure out their strategy. And no, you don’t need to spend hundreds of dollars on fancy SEO tools.

Let me walk you through exactly how I do competitor analysis using only free methods. I’ll keep it simple, I promise.

What Is SEO Competitor Analysis Anyway?

It’s basically spying on your competition. But the legal kind.

You’re looking at other websites in your space to see what they’re doing right. Then you take those ideas and do them even better on your own site.

Think about it like opening a restaurant. You’d eat at other restaurants first, right? You’d see what dishes people love, how they set up the menu, what works and what doesn’t.

Same idea with SEO.

Why Bother Doing This?

Look, I’ll be honest with you. There are three big reasons:

You discover what actually works in your industry (instead of guessing). You find keywords you never thought of before. And you skip the mistakes they already made.

Oh, and did I mention it’s all free?

Step 1: Figure Out Who You’re Really Competing With

Here’s something that surprised me when I started: Your business competitors aren’t always your SEO competitors.

Your real competition is whoever ranks for the same keywords you want to rank for.

Here’s How to Find Them

Open Google. Type in your main keyword. Maybe it’s “best running shoes” or “how to bake bread” or whatever fits your niche.

Look at the first 10 results. Those websites? That’s your competition.

Write down 3 to 5 of them. Don’t go crazy here. You just need a few to study.

Quick tip: Skip the massive sites like Amazon or Wikipedia. They’re playing a different game. Look for websites more similar to yours in size.

Step 2: See What Keywords They’re Going After

Keywords are just the phrases people type into Google. If you know what keywords your competitors are targeting, you can go after those same ones.

Read Also This – How to See What Keywords a Site Ranks For

Here’s My Free Method

Visit their website and just read. Look at their page titles. Look at their headings. The keywords are usually sitting right there.

Check out their blog too. What topics keep coming up? Make yourself a list.

Want a cool trick? Go to Google and type “site:theirwebsite.com” (but use their actual domain). You’ll see all their pages listed. It’s like a free sitemap that shows you everything they’re creating content about.

Step 3: Look at Their Content

Content is everything. Articles, blog posts, service pages… all of it.

If their content is good, Google rewards them with higher rankings.

What I Look For

I visit the pages that rank highest for them. Then I ask myself some questions:

How long are these articles? Are they using photos or videos? Is it easy to read or kind of confusing? Are they actually answering what people want to know?

Take notes while you browse. Your goal is to create something better.

Important: Don’t copy what they wrote. That’s a bad idea and Google will punish you for it. Get inspired, then write your own version.

Step 4: Check Out Their Backlinks (Yes, For Free)

Backlinks are when other websites link to theirs. The more quality backlinks they have, the better they usually rank.

How I Check Backlinks Without Paying

For your own site, use Google Search Console. But for competitors, it’s trickier.

You can try searching “link:theirwebsite.com” on Google, though this doesn’t work as well as it used to.

Better option: Use the free versions of tools like Ubersuggest or Ahrefs’ Backlink Checker. They let you do a few free searches each day.

When you find their backlinks, notice where they’re coming from. Blogs? News sites? Online directories? This tells you where you might want to get links too.

Step 5: Test Their Website Speed

Fast websites rank better. Slow ones don’t. It’s pretty simple.

Free Tool I Use

Google PageSpeed Insights. It costs nothing.

Just go to pagespeed.web.dev, paste in their website URL, and click analyze.

You’ll get a speed score. If they’re fast, see what they’re doing right. If they’re slow, well, that’s good news for you.

Step 6: Check Their Social Media

Okay, social media doesn’t directly help your Google rankings. But it shows you what content people actually engage with.

What to Pay Attention To

Pop over to their Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. Whatever they’re active on.

Which posts got tons of likes and comments? That content resonated with people. You can write about similar topics on your own website.

Step 7: See If Their Site Works on Mobile

More than half of people use Google on their phones now. If your site looks terrible on mobile, you’re in trouble.

Quick Free Test

Google has a Mobile-Friendly Test tool.

Go to search.google.com/test/mobile-friendly, enter their website, and see what happens.

If their site passes with flying colors, poke around to see how they set it up. Then make sure your own site works great on phones too.

Step 8: Look at Their Titles and Descriptions

You know when you search on Google and see those blue titles with gray text underneath? That’s the title tag and meta description.

The good ones make you want to click.

How to Study Theirs

Just Google their target keyword and look at how they wrote their titles and descriptions.

Notice any patterns? Do they use numbers like “7 Ways to…”? Do they ask questions? Do they promise something like “Simple Guide” or “Step by Step”?

Learn from their style. Then write your own versions.

Step 9: Find What They’re Missing

This is my favorite part. A content gap is a topic your competitors haven’t covered well. If you write about it, you might rank easily because there’s less competition.

How I Find These Gaps

Make a list of everything your competitors write about. Then brainstorm related topics they haven’t touched.

Search Google for those topics. If the results look weak or don’t really answer the question well, that’s your opportunity.

Example: Everyone writes “how to lose weight.” But maybe nobody’s covering “how to lose weight while working night shifts.” That’s a gap you can fill.

Step 10: Keep Checking Back

Here’s the thing about SEO: It changes. Your competitors add new content. They try different approaches. You can’t just check once and forget about it.

What I Do

I set a reminder to check my top 3 competitors every few months. I see what’s changed. Then I adjust my own strategy.

It takes maybe an hour each time. Totally worth it.

The Free Tools You Actually Need

Let me recap the tools I mentioned:

Google Search: For finding competitors and seeing their content
Google PageSpeed Insights: Checks how fast websites load
Mobile-Friendly Test: Makes sure sites work on phones
Ubersuggest: Limited free searches for keywords and backlinks
Google Search Console: Tracks how your own site is doing

That’s it. You don’t need a massive toolbox to start.

Mistakes I See People Make

Trying to analyze 10+ competitors at once. It’s overwhelming. Stick to 3-5 max.

Copying their content word-for-word. Google catches this and your rankings will tank. Always write original stuff.

Only looking at the giants in your industry. Learn from websites that are actually similar to yours in size.

Doing all this research and then… nothing. Analysis is worthless if you don’t actually use what you learned. Take action.

What You Should Do Right Now

You’ve made it this far. Nice. Now here’s your homework:

Find 3 competitors by searching your main keyword on Google. Look at their top 5 pages. Write down the keywords they’re using. Plan out 3 articles you could write that would be even better than theirs.

Don’t try to do everything today. Start with one small step.

Look, your competitors aren’t your enemies. They’re actually doing you a favor by showing you what works. Learn from them, then create something even better.

You’ve got this.

Frequently Asked Questions