- \n
- Pricing:<\/strong> Plans start at $119.95 per month.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Semrush<\/a> not only offers good data for search results analysis, but everything functions the way you expect it to \u2013 it\u2019s that easy to use.<\/p>\n
There is no need to read a manual to use Semrush\u2019s SERP analysis tool.<\/p>\n
Every link, button, and heading has a tooltip that explains what it is so that everything makes sense.<\/p>\n
Semrush Tooltip Explains SERP Analysis Tool Data<\/h3>\n
![\"10](\"https:\/\/marketingnewsbox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/10-tools-you-can-use-for-seo-competitive-analysis-via-sejournal-martinibuster.png\")
Screenshot from Semrush, January 2023<\/span><\/div>\nSemrush Tooltip Explains Jargon<\/h3>\n
![\"10](\"https:\/\/marketingnewsbox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/10-tools-you-can-use-for-seo-competitive-analysis-via-sejournal-martinibuster-1.png\")
Screenshot from Semrush modified by author, January 2023<\/span><\/div>\nSemrush\u2019s Authority Score is assigned to every URL listed in the SERP Analysis.<\/p>\n
Like any third-party metric, the Authority Score is just a score based on factors like backlinks, traffic, and referring domains.<\/p>\n
The metric makes it easy to make a quick judgment about a webpage without having to spend hours researching all of the factors for each webpage.<\/p>\n
The research is already done; that\u2019s what Semrush\u2019s Authority Score is about.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s just one part of the Semrush SERP analysis, but it\u2019s the part that is directly tied to competitor research.<\/p>\n
Semrush is useful for researching competitor backlinks. The ease of use makes the workflow of researching links a pleasure.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s no need to read a manual. Everything is self-explanatory.<\/p>\n
Starting an analysis consists of entering a domain name or an entire URL.<\/p>\n
The resulting page shows various metrics that help you see the competition at a glance, literally.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a graph that shows the growth of referring domains and also backlinks by year, which provides a quick idea of how aggressively they\u2019re building links, organized by time.<\/p>\n
![\"10](\"https:\/\/marketingnewsbox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/10-tools-you-can-use-for-seo-competitive-analysis-via-sejournal-martinibuster-2.png\")
Screenshot from Semrush modified by author, January 2023<\/span><\/div>\nBeneath that graph, there\u2019s another visual representation of the backlinks organized by the categories of referring domains.<\/p>\n
The categories are the general niche areas that the backlinks belong to.<\/p>\n
![\"10](\"https:\/\/marketingnewsbox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/10-tools-you-can-use-for-seo-competitive-analysis-via-sejournal-martinibuster-3.png\")
Screenshot from Semrush, January 2023<\/span><\/div>\nWhen you click through a category, the tool presents a filter where you can add a word, a phrase, or a TLD, which means Top Level Domain (.net or .org), to find all the relevant links.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s also a drop-down menu for selecting \u201czones by TLD,\u201d but I found that typing in the TLD works better.<\/p>\n
Or you can get granular and click on the View Full Report button to see all of the categories in granular detail.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s easy to recommend Semrush because it truly is designed for researching competitors and for link building.<\/p>\n
The tools for competitive research are easy to use and give a visual snapshot of their activities and offer a useful user interface for drilling down by category.<\/p>\n
2. Ahrefs SERP Checker (Free And Paid)<\/h2>\n
- \n
- Pricing:<\/strong> Free checker tool, then starts at $99 per month.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Ahrefs<\/a> has a free SERP checker that shows the same SERP data as the paid version, only for just the first few positions.<\/p>\n
The paid version has more data. But if you\u2019re on a budget, the free version is a useful start.<\/p>\n
Below is a screenshot of the SERP overview that lists featured snippets, people also ask, and the sitelinks enhancements.<\/p>\n
This extra data gives a good overview of what the SERPs look like, plus page and domain rating metrics.<\/p>\n
![\"10](\"https:\/\/marketingnewsbox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/10-tools-you-can-use-for-seo-competitive-analysis-via-sejournal-martinibuster-4.png\")
Screenshot from Ahrefs, December 2022<\/span><\/div>\nHere is a screenshot showing more data from the SERP analysis tool.<\/p>\n
All of the column headings show a tooltip that explains what each column means.<\/p>\n
![\"10](\"https:\/\/marketingnewsbox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/10-tools-you-can-use-for-seo-competitive-analysis-via-sejournal-martinibuster-5.png\")
Screenshot from Ahrefs, December 2022<\/span><\/div>\nAhrefs is a solid choice for search results competitor analysis.<\/p>\n
3. Serpstat<\/h2>\n
- \n
- Pricing:<\/strong> Free version, then starts at $69 per month.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Serpstat<\/a> is an affordably priced SEO platform that offers SERP analysis tools. It\u2019s possible to sign up for free to test it out.<\/p>\n
Serpstat is focused on analyzing the search results and is useful for Backlinks Analysis and Competitor Analysis.<\/p>\n
4. SpyFu<\/h2>\n
- \n
- Pricing:<\/strong> Free analysis tool, then starts at $39 per month (or $16 per month on an annual plan).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
SpyFu<\/a> is a very reasonably priced service that is dedicated specifically to competitive research and offers many useful features.<\/p>\n
The benefit of the tool is that it generates all the data necessary for competitive research.<\/p>\n
SpyFu basically takes the \u201cresearch\u201d part out of competitive research tasks and provides the data.<\/p>\n
The SERP Analysis tool, which can be used for free, offers unique information, such as indicators that signal a website rises or drops in the search results.<\/p>\n
![\"10](\"https:\/\/marketingnewsbox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/10-tools-you-can-use-for-seo-competitive-analysis-via-sejournal-martinibuster-6.png\")
Screenshot from SpyFu, January 2023<\/span><\/div>\nAnother interesting feature is that it offers a Ranking Difficulty score, data on whether .gov or .edu sites are ranking, and the number of homepages that are ranking in the top 100 positions.<\/p>\n
![\"10](\"https:\/\/marketingnewsbox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/10-tools-you-can-use-for-seo-competitive-analysis-via-sejournal-martinibuster-7.png\")
Screenshot from SpyFu modified by author, January 2023<\/span><\/div>\nSpyFu Backlinks Report<\/h3>\n
Another unique feature is how SpyFu identifies what it determines are the strongest webpages to get a link from.<\/p>\n
Just enter a keyword phrase into the search box, and SpyFu searches the backlinks of the top 5,000 ranked sites, including for similar keyword phrases, and identifies all the backlinking domains that the ranked sites have in common.<\/p>\n
Even better, SpyFu allows users to filter those webpages by backlink types.<\/p>\n
The backlink types one can filter for are .gov\/.edu\/, sites with affiliate links, blogs, news sites, forums, and directories.<\/p>\n
Filtering for forums reveals all the strongest forum backlinks, filtering for .edu domains shows the best .edu sites to get a link from, and so on.<\/p>\n
Another cool feature is called Backlink Kombat.<\/p>\n
![\"10](\"https:\/\/marketingnewsbox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/10-tools-you-can-use-for-seo-competitive-analysis-via-sejournal-martinibuster-8.png\")
Screenshot from SpyFu, January 2023<\/span><\/div>\nThis tool allows you to enter two competitor domains and then exclude your own domain. It will then show you all the links the competitors have in common that your site does not.<\/p>\n
I like using tools in creative ways to get even more or better data.<\/p>\n
What I would suggest doing with the SpyFu Backlink Kombat tool is comparing sites that aren\u2019t your direct competitors. This can help you discover opportunities you might not otherwise.<\/p>\n
So if your topic is plumbers in City X, compare roofers in City X.<\/p>\n
Competitor backlink research with SpyFu is incredibly easy. I would like the flexibility to filter by keywords (like Favorite Sites) or by TLD (to find .org or .us domains).<\/p>\n
A limited amount of this data is free, and the complete data set is available to paid subscribers.<\/p>\n
SpyFu is an interesting tool because it takes the extra step of presenting the data while minimizing research.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s easy to use, specific to competitor research, and reasonably priced.<\/p>\n
5. Sandboxweb.io SERP Analysis Tool<\/h2>\n
- \n
- Pricing:<\/strong> Free version, then pricing starts at $19 per month.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Sandboxweb.io<\/a> offers a SERP analysis tool that provides data on top-ranked competitors.<\/p>\n
This tool shows the schema types, Core Web Vitals data, and word counts.<\/p>\n
You can click on each competitor in the SERP to research further.<\/p>\n
The free version of this tool offers a lot of information. But it\u2019s limited to 10 keywords per month.<\/p>\n
The data is somewhat limited, but it does offer a quick analysis.<\/p>\n
6. Screaming Frog<\/h2>\n
- \n
- Pricing:<\/strong> Free version and a paid version at $209 per year.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Screaming Frog<\/a> has a SERP analysis function. It\u2019s not easy to use, but it\u2019s not excessively difficult.<\/p>\n
I\u2019d like to see Screaming Frog make it easier to run this kind of analysis without getting technical.<\/p>\n
If you take the time to figure it out, Screaming Frog can scrape the SERPs and provide analysis.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also useful for analyzing competitors one at a time to get a sense of what sites they link to, how much content they have, interlinking patterns, headings used across the site, and many other competitor data points.<\/p>\n
7. Inlinks<\/h2>\n
- \n
- Pricing:<\/strong> Free version, then pricing starts at $39 per month.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- Pricing:<\/strong> Free version and a paid version at $209 per year.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- Pricing:<\/strong> Free version, then pricing starts at $19 per month.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- Pricing:<\/strong> Free analysis tool, then starts at $39 per month (or $16 per month on an annual plan).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- Pricing:<\/strong> Free version, then starts at $69 per month.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- Pricing:<\/strong> Free checker tool, then starts at $99 per month.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n