The world of SEO is constantly evolving, and if you don't keep up, you might just be left behind. But SEO is a complicated aspect of business, and you'll need all the help you can get to make it work for your brand. Here are ten of the best SEO competitor analysis tools you need to check out ASAP!
1. Ahrefs
One of the most popular SEO competitor analysis tools, Ahrefs, is considered the gold standard for SEO by many industry professionals. It lets you do keyword research, backlink analysis, paid advertising insights, and content analysis, among many other features. It also has site audit, rank tracking, and website optimizing capabilities.
Ahrefs offers four different plans that suit all types of businesses. Its subscription fees range from $129 per month up to $14,490 per year. While it does not offer a free trial, it has an affordable Starter plan that can get you started for only $29 per month.
2. Semrush
An all-in-one SEO tool, you can use Semrush for almost all of your SEO tasks. Aside from competitor analysis, it lets you do keyword research, on-page SEO, content marketing, local SEO, rank tracking, and more. It also has a social media listening function that allows you to connect your social media accounts and track your progress against the competition.
Semrush's pricing structure is somewhat complicated, but it offers three monthly plans with fees starting at $139.95. It also has a free plan that lets you do the basics, which can be ideal if you want to explore the tool before buying.
3. Sprout Social
If social media listening is your priority, then Sprout Social is the SEO tool you need. It lets you monitor brand mentions, hashtags, keywords, and more across varying platforms. It also has an AI-powered analytics tool that gathers and interprets your competition's data to give you actionable information about their successful strategies.
Sprout Social lets you see what your competitors post and how viewers perceive these posts. This information is crucial in crafting marketing strategies that provide optimum results. Pricing starts at $249 per seat per month.
4. Similarweb
Promising to make competitor research quick, easy, and efficient, Similarweb will show you what is happening with your competitors in real-time. It will reveal traffic data, visitor behavior, paid advertising, affiliates, and other SEO strategies. Its key features include market research, benchmarking, keyword research, ad intelligence, audience analysis, and so much more.
Similarweb will also review your competitors' websites to show you the platforms from which they get the most traffic. It will also provide you with insights into your own website's traffic and keywords and many other functionalities. Pricing plans start at $125 per month.
5. SpyFu
Not only is Spyfu an efficient SEO competitor analysis tool, but it's also a backlink builder, rank tracker, keyword researcher, SERP analyzer, and many others. It will search for any of your most successful competitors' domains and see where they have shown up on Google. You will know every keyword they bought on Google Ads, their ranking, and the ad variations they used in the last 18 years.
Spyfu can help increase your website traffic, track and monitor your keyword rankings, and make better connections. This will help you build partnerships and generate sales leads. Its basic plan is available for a limited time at $9 per month.
6. Owler
A robust SEO competitor analysis tool, Owler can help you understand market trends, track performance, and keep you updated on industry news. It can also help you discover your direct and indirect competitors, search over 20 million private and public companies for accurate data, and access these for revenues, employee count, and even funding history.
Thanks to its forever-free plan, Owler is an excellent option for budget-conscious businesses. It is suitable for occasional research, but if you need more features, its Pro and Enterprise plans will be more than enough. Pricing starts at $39 per month if billed annually.
7. Surfer
To help you optimize your content for search engines, Surfer analyzes and compares your content with the top-ranking pages in real-time. It offers an advanced editor that suggests real-time edits to improve your SEO, provides a scoring system that rates your content against your competitors, and gives a detailed analysis of your keyword use, among other things.
Surfer also has an AI-powered tool that can generate articles with just a click. It has an outline generator, AI detector, content humanizer, and paraphrasing tool. It offers a free trial and four paid plans, with pricing starting at $89 per month.
8. SE Ranking
Offering a wide range of tools to help you rank higher in search engines, SE Ranking is a powerful competitor analysis tool. It can track ranks, check on-page SEO, audit websites, and check for backlinks and other SEO features and functionalities. It can also provide you with your competitors' search queries, keyword metrics such as volume and difficulty, and PPC competitor research.
SE Ranking also offers an AI writer, a local marketing tool, a content marketing module, and a SERP analyzer. Its three pricing plans have subscription fees ranging from $65 to $259 per month.
9. BuzzSumo
Another excellent content analysis tool, BuzzSumo, helps you detect which of your competitor's content is ranking well. You'll find which of your and your competition's content resonates well with your audience. It has content alerts to show you keyword mentions and relevant influencers. It also points you to viral content via insights on high-performing posts, niche keywords, customer queries, and trending stories.
BuzzSumo offers different pricing plans suitable for businesses of various types and sizes. Its monthly subscription fees start at $199, each comes with a free trial that lets you explore before committing to a plan.
10. Feedly
Using AI technology, Feedly scans and filters articles, blogs, social media, and even research journals to let you know which content is relevant for curation. It observes your competitors' themes to help you identify the newest and emerging trends within your industry. Its inspiration and innovation tools let you analyze content topics your competition uses to give you ideas for your own content creation.
Feedly offers a free, albeit limited, version of the tool. It has three paid options: the Pro, Pro+, and Enterprise plans, with pricing starting at $6 per month.
