How to conduct a competitive analysis

Winning markets starts with knowing exactly where you stand and where competitors leave gaps. This guide shows you how to conduct a competitive analysis you can actually execute – from finding the right competitors and collecting the right data to benchmarking, positioning, and turning insights into growth experiments. If you prefer expert support, explore competitive analysis services.

Identify direct and indirect competitors

Begin by mapping the landscape you operate in. Direct competitors solve the same job for the same audience with a similar product. Indirect competitors solve the same job in a different way or for an adjacent segment. Both matter because customers compare across categories when deciding.

Use practical sources to discover competitors. Search Google with core keywords and intent modifiers like best, vs, alternative, near me. Check marketplace categories, app stores, review aggregators, industry directories, and analyst lists. Ask new customers which solutions they considered. Look at who runs ads on your brand and category terms.

Narrow to a shortlist for analysis. Choose 3 to 5 direct competitors and 1 to 2 strong indirects that influence buyer choice. Prioritize those with meaningful visibility or momentum over legacy players that rarely appear in your buyer journey.

Collect the right data for competitor research

Decide what to measure before you start so you avoid vanity metrics. Your goal is to quantify positioning, acquisition, conversion, retention, and moats. If you need a single phrase to guide your scope, think how to do market research on competitors that enables decisions, not decks.

Acquisition and demand

– Keywords and topics: which queries competitors rank for or buy, intent coverage across the funnel, gaps where searchers are underserved.

– Traffic mix and velocity: organic vs paid vs referral, top landing pages, seasonal cyclicality.

– Channels: SEO, paid search, paid social, partnerships, affiliates, marketplaces, PR.

Positioning and messaging

– Unique value propositions, proof points, category language, differentiators used in above-the-fold copy.

– Audience focus: ICPs, segments, geographies, use cases emphasized.

Product and pricing

– Feature set by tier, onboarding friction, integrations, tech stack signals.

– Pricing architecture: free, trials, per-seat vs usage, discounting patterns, perceived value anchors.

Experience and conversion

– Funnels: entry points, CTAs, lead capture, demo flows, paywalls, UX friction points.

– Trust signals: case studies, certifications, performance benchmarks.

Authority and distribution

– Backlink profile sources and quality, content formats that earn links, partner ecosystems.

– Community footprint: events, Slack communities, forums, social engagement quality.

Where possible, quantify. Use search operators, keyword tools, traffic estimators, archive snapshots, built-with detectors, and social listening to triangulate. You do not need perfect data – you need consistent, comparable inputs across companies so you can perform competitor benchmarking over time. For practical applications, see AI-driven keyword and intent analysis.

Create a simple benchmarking matrix and positioning map

Put your data into a compact matrix so patterns jump out. Score on a 1 to 5 scale or use traffic and ranking counts where available. Then add your own brand to the same rows to see relative strengths and weaknesses.

Example matrix structure

– Attribute: Organic non-brand traffic. You: 120k. Competitor A: 200k. Competitor B: 90k.

– Attribute: Content gaps covered. You: Onboarding, Pricing. Competitor A: Integrations, Security. Competitor B: ROI, Comparisons.

– Attribute: Paid search share on core terms. You: Moderate. Competitor A: High. Competitor B: Low.

– Attribute: Pricing power. You: Mid. Competitor A: Premium. Competitor B: Discount.

Next, map positioning visually. Choose two axes that matter in your category, for example simplicity vs flexibility and price vs performance. Plot yourself and competitors to reveal clusters, white space, and where your messaging may need to shift. To frame these findings within your broader search strategy, run a holistic SEO audit.

Compare products, pricing, and marketing in detail

Product features and experience

– Identify the few capabilities that actually drive selection – speed, accuracy, integrations, compliance, support SLAs. Do quick smoke tests yourself and capture objective results where possible.

– For UX competitor analysis, walk the first mile: homepage, product page, signup or demo. Note friction, clarity, speed, and mobile parity. Screenshot critical moments for side-by-side review.

Pricing and packaging

– Document plan names, unit economics, feature gates, upgrade triggers, and money-back policies. Look for unguarded price hikes and hidden fees that frustrate buyers – these are opportunities to contrast.

Marketing and funnel

– Track which formats convert – calculators, comparison pages, templates, webinars. Analyze the intent coverage of their content marketing competitor analysis: do they own top-of-funnel guides and bottom-of-funnel alternatives pages, or is there room for you to win?

Use SWOT and Five Forces to turn data into insight

SWOT for each key rival and for yourself

– Strengths: Where they already win – scale, brand, distribution, IP.

– Weaknesses: Speed, UX friction, gaps in features, thin proof.

– Opportunities: Emerging segments, keywords they ignore, partner plays.

– Threats: Platform risk, commoditization, new entrants. This is how to do a SWOT analysis of a competitor without fluff – direct, evidence-backed bullets.

How to conduct a Five Forces analysis quickly

– Rivalry: Concentration, growth rate, switching costs.

– Supplier power: Dependence on external data, APIs, logistics.

– Buyer power: Price sensitivity, alternatives, consolidation of buyers.

– Threat of substitutes: DIY, adjacent categories, upstream platforms.

– Threat of new entrants: Capital needs, network effects, regulation. Use this to stress test margins and moat narratives.

Turn insights into action

Translate findings into a 90-day plan grounded in content gap analysis and strategy. Prioritize by impact vs effort and tie each initiative to a clear metric.

– Opportunity bets: Ship 2 to 3 content gap pages that match bottom-of-funnel intent. Launch 1 comparison tool. Improve onboarding speed by 20 percent.

– Experiments: A or B test headlines to mirror winning competitor claims while keeping your differentiation. Trial a pricing page layout that clarifies value per tier.

– Monitoring: Set up real-time tracking of keyword ranks, new backlinks, new pages, and ad copy changes so you can respond fast instead of reporting late. Complement this with competitor monitoring and reporting.

FAQs

How do you do a competitive analysis?

Define your competitors, collect comparable data on acquisition, product, pricing, and positioning, benchmark in a matrix, apply SWOT and Five Forces, and convert insights into a prioritized 90-day roadmap. Keep it living with monthly updates and a lightweight dashboard so you can run a competitive analysis continuously.

What are the 4 P’s of competitive analysis?

Use the classic marketing lens to compare Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. For Product, focus on must-win capabilities and UX. For Price, document tiers and value metrics. For Place, map channels and partnerships. For Promotion, track messaging, content formats, and ad plays. This frames how to do competitor analysis in marketing.

What are the 5 C’s of strategic analysis?

Company, Customers, Competitors, Collaborators, and Climate. Audit your own capabilities, the jobs your customers need done, the rivals shaping expectations, your partners that extend reach, and the macro environment. The 5 C’s help describe how to conduct a competitive analysis aligned to strategy, not just tactics.

What 5 steps should be followed to conduct a market analysis?

Define the market and segments, size demand and growth, map competitors and substitutes, analyze buyer needs and willingness to pay, and validate with real customer signals. In practice this pairs well with how to do competitor research using keyword data, traffic patterns, and funnel audits.

If you want expert hands to accelerate the work, InSpace offers competitive keyword analysis, content gap mapping, backlink forensics, traffic intelligence, and real-time tracking – an algorithmic espionage approach that converts research into wins. Book a free growth session at inspace.io to see where you can outperform rivals next quarter.