How to Find Keywords of Competitors' Websites

Understanding your competitors' keyword strategy is a game-changer for SEO. By analyzing their top-ranking keywords, you can uncover gaps in your own strategy and gain a competitive edge. Here’s how to find competitors' keywords effectively.

1. Use SEO Tools Like Ahrefs or SEMrush

Advanced SEO tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, and Moz provide detailed competitor keyword analysis. Simply enter a competitor’s URL, and these tools will reveal their organic keywords, search volume, and ranking positions.

2. Analyze Google Search Console (GSC) Data

If you have access to a competitor’s Google Search Console (unlikely but possible), you can see their top-performing queries. Alternatively, use your own GSC to find overlapping keywords.

3. Spy on Paid Keywords with SpyFu

SpyFu specializes in uncovering both organic and paid keywords used by competitors. Enter their domain to see their ad history and top-performing PPC keywords, which often overlap with SEO targets.

4. Check Competitor Backlinks with Majestic

Backlinks often contain valuable keyword-rich anchor text. Tools like Majestic or Ahrefs’ Backlink Analyzer can reveal these keywords, helping you understand what terms drive their link-building efforts.

5. Scrape Competitor Meta Tags and Content

Manually review competitors’ title tags, meta descriptions, headers (H1, H2), and content for repeated keywords. Tools like Screaming Frog can automate this process.

6. Leverage Google’s "People Also Ask" and Related Searches

Search for your competitor’s brand or top pages and note the "People Also Ask" and "Related Searches" sections. These often reveal secondary keywords they rank for.

7. Monitor Competitor Blog and News Sections

Frequently updated content hubs (like blogs) highlight trending keywords. Analyze their recent posts for recurring themes and keyword usage.

8. Use Ubersuggest for Long-Tail Keywords

Ubersuggest provides long-tail keyword ideas based on competitor domains. It’s a great free tool for expanding your keyword list.

9. Reverse-Engineer Their Sitemap

Access their sitemap.xml (e.g., example.com/sitemap.xml) to see prioritized pages and infer target keywords from URLs and page titles.

10. Track Social Media and Forum Mentions

Monitor how competitors are discussed on social media, Reddit, or Quora. These platforms reveal untapped keyword opportunities.

By combining these methods, you’ll build a robust list of competitor keywords to refine your SEO strategy. Focus on high-opportunity terms with lower competition to maximize your rankings.