You don’t need a giant budget to outpace rivals—you need the right queries. This guide shows how to execute competitor keyword research that uncovers fast wins, fuels a 90-day content plan, and compounds results.
We’ll define the process, find true SERP competitors in the United States, run free and paid workflows, score keyword competition, and turn insights into a production-ready roadmap. Finally, see how automation with SEOsolved compresses weeks of work into minutes.
What Is Competitor Keyword Research? Definition and Outcomes
Competitor keyword research is the practice of analyzing the search queries your organic SERP competitors rank for—by page and site—to discover gaps you can realistically win. It differs from general keyword research by starting with what works right now in your niche, not broad brainstorming.
What you should expect from effective keyword competitor analysis:
Traffic gains from proven terms your audience already searches
Faster rankings by targeting achievable gaps vs. head terms
Clarity on competitor website keywords and topic clusters
A prioritized content roadmap aligned to business goals
Evidence-backed briefs that reduce rewrites and guesswork
Pro tip: Anchor your process in Google’s guidance on creating helpful content and E‑E‑A‑T principles from the Search Quality Rater Guidelines to ensure your pages are credible and user-first.
Find Your True Search Competitors
Your business rivals aren’t always your search rivals. To win in the United States, identify the domains that actually appear for your target queries on Google.com in your key locations.
Use this quick approach to find your competitors’ keywords and who you’re up against:
Search incognito and set your location to the city/state you serve
Record domains on page 1–2 for 10–20 core queries
Note the repeated sites—those are your true SERP competitors
Fast Ways to Spot SERP Competitors
Manual SERP scans: Search your seed topics and list recurring domains. Skim titles and People Also Ask for intent clues.
Site operators: Use Google’s advanced search operators. For example,
site:example.comwith a topic term reveals related pages to estimate focus areas.Category queries: Try broader category searches (e.g., “best small business accounting software”) to surface comparison hubs and publishers that compete for attention.
On-page scans: Open top URLs and capture title tags and H1s—often the quickest way to infer how to search website keywords a page targets.
Prioritize by Overlap and Authority
After listing domains, focus your research on the few with the strongest overlap and credible authority.
Keyword overlap: Count how many of your seed terms each domain ranks for in the top 20. Prioritize high-overlap sites.
Topical authority: Do they have deep category hubs and clusters? Strong internal linking? A consistent editorial cadence?
Traffic indicators: Look for signals like frequent page updates, active blogs, and engaged comment sections—proxies for traction.
Need a faster process? See our guide to AI competitor analysis to automate discovery.
Free Methods: Get Competitors' Keywords Without Paying
Before investing in paid suites, you can find competitors’ keywords free with a tight, repeatable workflow.
7-step workflow (snippet-friendly)
List 5–10 real SERP competitors from your core queries.
Collect titles and H1s from their top blog posts and guides.
Use Google Keyword Planner to expand seed ideas and related terms.
Paste titles into a free keyword expander (e.g., WordStream tool) to group variants.
Mine People Also Ask and related searches for question intent.
Tag each term by intent (informational, comparison, transactional).
Prioritize terms with achievable difficulty and clear business fit.
Google Keyword Planner: The Free Google Keyword Research Tool
You can use the Google Keyword Planner tool free (no active ads needed) to gather seed ideas and infer competitor terms:
Discover new keywords: Enter 5–10 competitor domains or URLs. Export the ideas list.
Refine location: Set United States or specific states to localize volumes.
Group keywords: Use the “Grouped ideas” view to cluster themes quickly.
Value proxy: Sort by CPC and top-of-page bid to spot commercial intent.
Tip: Combine the export with your title/H1 harvest to check competitor website keywords by theme and discover related opportunities.
WordStream Free Keyword Tool for Quick Expansion
The WordStream free keyword tool helps extend lists and gauge intent quickly. Paste competitors’ titles, H1s, or seed terms, then export grouped lists. Use these to get competitor keywords into clusters for blogs, comparisons, and buying guides.
Use Google SERP Operators and On-Page Elements
Site operator:
site:competitor.com "topic"to surface relevant URLs fast.Titles & H1s: Copy top results’ title tags and H1s into a sheet. These often match the primary keywords.
People Also Ask: Expand relevant PAA questions into subheads/FAQs—rich long-tail intent your rivals may miss.
If you want an even faster gap-first approach, see our primer on keyword gap analysis.
Paid Tools Deep Dive: SEMrush, SpyFu, Ubersuggest and More
Paid platforms scale data and save time. Here’s how to extract competitor keyword ranking insights efficiently.
SEMrush: Organic Research and Keyword Gap
Open Organic Research for each competitor domain; export top pages and keywords.
Run Keyword Gap (domain vs. domain) against your site to reveal missing terms.
Filter for KD within your authority range and sort by traffic potential.
Cluster by topic; flag “weak spots” where you can build a cluster fast.
SpyFu and Other Competitor Spy Tools
Pull organic keywords and overlap vs. your domain.
Review paid terms and ad history to validate commercial value.
Export combined lists and deduplicate for prioritization.
Ubersuggest Setup and Quick Wins
Create your account and complete the Ubersuggest login.
Add 3–5 competitors; export keyword ideas and content suggestions.
Sort by low-to-medium difficulty with rising trendlines for quick wins.
When to Choose Paid vs Free
Use this decision framework to balance budget, speed, and depth.
Scenario | Budget | Speed | Data Depth | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Free methods | $0 | Slower | Shallow–Moderate | Validation, early-stage sites, niche topics |
Paid suites | $$–$$$ | Faster | Deep (historical + SERP features) | Mature sites, competitive categories, scaling teams |
Automation (SEOsolved) | $$ | Fastest | Deep + automatic clustering & briefs | Teams needing strategy + content at scale |
For a tool-by-tool overview, see top content gap analysis tools.
How to Check Competitor Website Keywords by Page and Site
Here’s a repeatable method to check competitor website keywords at both site and URL level.
Site-Level Themes and Topic Clusters
List primary categories in the nav, blog hub, and footer.
Scan category pages for subtopics and staple guides.
Group into clusters (pillar + supporting posts) to infer the competitor website keywords they emphasize.
Note interlinking patterns—signals of topical authority.
URL-Level Primary and Secondary Keywords
Copy the title tag and H1—likely the primary keyword.
Collect H2s, FAQ schema, and anchor text—secondary variations.
Check SERP snippet (bolded terms) to confirm user phrasing.
Review People Also Ask to add closely related questions.
Bonus: Our keyword gap analysis tutorial shows how to turn this audit into a prioritized hit list.
Evaluate Keyword Competition and Opportunity
Scoring keywords well prevents wasted effort. Blend difficulty, intent, and ROI to choose winnable terms.
Difficulty, Volume, CPC, and Intent
Difficulty (KD): How strong are page-1 competitors? Match against your site’s authority and content quality.
Volume: Use as a trend indicator, not a guarantee. Prioritize relevance and intent over raw numbers.
CPC/top-of-page bid: A proxy for commercial value; higher bids often indicate buyer intent.
Intent: Classify as informational, comparison, transactional, or navigational; map each to the right content type.
SERP Features and Click Potential
Featured snippets: Target definition, steps, or lists for snippet capture.
People Also Ask: Build FAQ sections to improve coverage and dwell time.
Local pack/shopping/news: Adjust expectations when SERP real estate is constrained.
Search Essentials: Align content with Google’s Search Essentials for technical hygiene.
Turn Insights Into a Content Plan
Convert discoveries into a 90-day editorial roadmap with clear briefs and cadence.
Map Keywords to Content Types and Funnel Stages
Informational: Blog posts, pillar pages, glossary entries.
Comparison: Versus pages and category roundups to capture switchers.
Transactional: Product/service pages optimized for conversions.
Pillar-cluster: Create a pillar for each major theme; publish 3–6 supporting posts per pillar over 90 days.
Create Briefs and On-Page Optimization Checklists
Use this brief template for each target keyword (snippet-friendly):
Search intent: What the user wants and must-have sections.
Primary/secondary keywords: Natural usage in title, H1, H2s.
Outline & evidence: Stats, examples, and unique POV.
Internal links: Map to related posts, pillars, and conversion pages.
Conversion hook: CTA and next step aligned to the stage.
Ready to scale from research to publishing? Explore how to scale SEO with automated content creation.
Automate It: How SEOsolved Does Competitor Keyword Research for You
Manual research is powerful—but time-consuming. SEOsolved automates the heavy lifting so you focus on approvals and publishing.
What SEOsolved Analyzes and Delivers
Automated competitor scans: The platform crawls top SERP rivals, discovering 500+ ranking keywords tailored to your U.S. market.
Clustering & roadmap: Keywords are grouped into topic clusters with a prioritized content plan for 90 days and beyond.
Production-ready content: Generates 30–60 in-depth, SEO‑optimized articles monthly—credibly sourced and formatted for rankings.
How It Selects the Right Keywords for Your Strategy
SEOsolved automatically does the keyword research of competitors and filters results by intent, difficulty, and your authority fit. That means you get terms you can win quickly—not just long lists.
Intent-aware: Pairs informational terms with pillars and comparison terms with versus pages.
Difficulty-aware: Avoids unwinnable head terms; prioritizes pragmatic gaps.
Authority-aware: Matches targets to your current site strength to accelerate time-to-rank.
Save 80 Plus Hours a Month and Scale Production
Teams typically reclaim 80+ hours/month by offloading competitor keyword search, clustering, and drafting. With ~10 minutes per week, you review outlines, approve posts, and keep a consistent cadence without adding headcount. Learn more about the ROI in our guide to SEO automation software.
Call to Action
Ready to get competitor keywords and publish at scale? Start ranking today.
Measure Impact and Iterate
Iterate every 30 days: track rankings, traffic, and conversions; then expand into adjacent clusters.
Rank Tracking and Visibility Growth
Monitor competitor keyword ranking vs. your positions for key terms.
Track share of voice per cluster to see where you’re winning.
Watch for cannibalization and consolidate overlapping posts when needed.
Content Updates and Expansion
Refresh posts every 3–6 months: update stats, examples, and FAQs.
Add supporting posts to strengthen pillar pages and internal links.
Use internal linking to pass authority from new winners to rising pages.
Common Pitfalls to Avoid
Steer clear of these mistakes when you check competitor website keywords and plan new content.
Copying Competitors Without Differentiation
Don’t clone what’s already ranking. Add unique data, frameworks, and examples—and surface your E‑E‑A‑T. Cite authoritative sources and include original insights to stand out.
Chasing Head Terms Over Intent
Volume is not value. Prioritize winnable, intent-matched terms that align with your buyer journey and lead to meaningful conversions.
Quick Reference: Research Checklist and Tool Stack
Print this checklist to execute competitor keyword research efficiently.
Identify true SERP competitors (US location, page 1–2).
Harvest titles/H1s from top competitor URLs.
Expand terms via Google Keyword Planner and free tools.
Mine People Also Ask and related searches for long-tail.
Score KD, intent, CPC; pick realistic wins.
Map to pillar, comparison, and transactional content.
Create briefs, internal links, and a 90-day cadence.
Measure rankings and iterate every 30 days.
Recommended stack: Google Keyword Planner, incognito SERP research, on-page scanning, and—when ready—automation with SEOsolved. For more structured techniques, read our deep-dive on AI competitor analysis and keyword gap analysis.
FAQ
What is competitor keyword research?
It’s analyzing the keywords your real SERP rivals rank for to uncover gaps you can win, then turning those insights into a prioritized content plan.
How do I find my search competitors in the US?
Search incognito for core queries, set your location to your target region, and record domains that recur on page 1–2—those are your SERP competitors.
What free methods reveal competitor keywords?
Use Google Keyword Planner, manual SERP mining, site operators, titles/H1s, and People Also Ask to build clusters without paid tools.
When should I choose paid tools?
When you need speed, historical data, and deeper SERP insights across many competitors—or when you’re scaling content production.
How does SEOsolved help?
It automatically researches competitor keywords, selects the best fits by intent and difficulty, builds your roadmap, and generates 30–60 articles monthly.
Want the fastest path from research to rankings? Start ranking today.