How to Do Competitor Analysis for SEO Without Expensive Tools

You search your target keyword, and there it is again, a rival site sitting above you like it owns the street. Their page isn’t even perfect. It just matches the search better, looks more trustworthy, and seems to answer more questions in one place.

Now the sting: most “proper” SEO platforms cost more than a small business can justify, often well over £200 a month. If you’re building content on a budget, that price tag can shut the door before you’ve started.

The good news is you can still run competitor analysis for SEO without expensive tools. You won’t get flawless numbers, and that’s fine. What you will get is direction: which pages to create, which keywords to target, what formats Google rewards, and what your competitors cover that you don’t. By the end, you’ll have a short, usable list of gaps to fill, not a folder full of graphs.

Pick the right SEO competitors (not just the biggest brands)

Your business competitors and your SEO competitors are often different people.

A business competitor sells the same thing. An SEO competitor steals your clicks. Sometimes that’s a blog, a marketplace, a directory, a forum thread, or a brand you never meet in real life. If you only compare yourself to the biggest names, you’ll miss the scrappy pages that are actually blocking you today.

A practical rule: your SEO competitors are the pages that rank for the same queries in your target country, with the same intent. Intent matters more than industry labels. A “best X” page competes with other comparison pages, not with a homepage. A “how to” guide competes with guides, not product category pages.

When you scan results, label the intent quickly:

• Informational: how-to, definitions, tutorials, troubleshooting.
• Commercial: “best”, “top”, “reviews”, “vs”, “alternatives”.
• Transactional: “buy”, “price”, “near me”, bookings.
• Local: map pack, local landing pages, “in London”, “in Manchester”.

Keep it grounded. If your site is a beginner-friendly explainer, don’t obsess over academic papers. If you’re selling, don’t benchmark against a news story.

Find real rivals with Google SERPs and a simple spreadsheet

Start with what Google is already telling you.

1. Make a list of 8 to 12 core queries. Mix head terms and longer phrases you’d happily rank for.
2. Search each one in an incognito window (or logged out). Set your location to the UK and keep language consistent.
3. For each query, note the top 5 to 10 results and record:
   • Domain
   • URL
   • Page type (guide, category page, tool, video, forum, news)
   • Angle (beginner steps, advanced tips, template, checklist, opinion)
4. Highlight domains that repeat across multiple queries.

After 20 to 30 minutes, the fog clears. You’ll usually see the same names returning like regulars at a café.

Your output should be:

• 3 to 5 main competitors (they show up often and match your intent)
• 2 wildcards (sites that appear for one key query or win featured snippets)

A simple sheet helps you stay honest. Here’s a clean structure that works:

Confirm overlap fast with free competitor finders and browser add-ons

Once you’ve got your shortlist, use free data to sanity-check it. Free tiers are limited, so treat them like a torch, not a floodlight.

• Semrush (free access where available): run a domain overview to spot top pages and a rough keyword set. Use it to confirm you’ve picked the right rivals, not to chase every metric.
• SpyFu free lookups: useful for quick competitor lists and top keyword snapshots. It’s especially handy when a competitor is clearly buying ads and you want clues about what converts. Start from the SpyFu competitor research platform.
• Ubersuggest Chrome extension: good for quick context when you’re on a competitor page, like estimated difficulty and related terms.

Cross-check because free data is sampled. If two different sources hint at the same topic or page, that’s a stronger signal than a single “estimated traffic” number.

If you want a lightweight browser helper for page checks, tools like SEOquake for quick on-page checks can speed up your review without opening ten tabs.

Steal the map: keyword gaps and content ideas without paid SEO suites

Think of competitor research like borrowing a street map. You’re not copying someone’s route step-by-step. You’re learning where the shortcuts are, where the roadworks sit, and where people keep getting lost.

Your job isn’t to find the perfect keyword list. It’s to spot patterns you can act on this month.

Reverse-engineer their best pages and topics with free tools

Pick one competitor and find their “money pages”, the ones that keep showing up across queries.

Use a mix of:

• Free reports (limited rows are fine).
• Manual checks: navigation menus, category hubs, “best of” round-ups, and internal linking patterns.

As you review each strong page, capture five things in your spreadsheet:

Page title: What promise does it make?
Angle: Beginner-friendly, expert-only, budget, UK-specific, template-based.
Format: Listicle, step-by-step, glossary, tool, calculator, comparison.
Freshness: Visible update date, recent references, new screenshots.
Depth: What questions does it answer that yours doesn’t?

You’ll also notice habits that win clicks, not just rankings. Many top pages earn traffic because the title is precise, the intro gets to the point, and the page makes scanning easy.

If you need inspiration for free tools you can combine, this UK-focused list is a decent starting point: best free SEO tools for small businesses. Don’t treat it as a shopping list. Treat it as a menu, choose only what you’ll actually use.

Do a simple keyword-gap check you can act on this week

Here’s a low-tech method that works well:

1. Open a competitor’s top page.
2. Scan the title, H2s, and FAQ-style sections.
3. Write down repeated phrases (real words on the page, not guesses).
4. Compare them to your own site content. Do you have a page that targets that need, clearly?

Then add an intent label so you don’t mix apples with oranges:

• Informational
• Commercial
• Local
• Transactional

Use a quick scoring system to keep yourself focused:

Easy win: you already have a related page, it just needs a better angle, clearer sections, or missing subtopics.
Medium: you need a new page, but the results include smaller sites and blogs, not only huge brands.
Hard: the results are dominated by major brands, government sites, or deep link profiles.

Your deliverable is simple and powerful: 10 keyword targets, each mapped to either “refresh an existing page” or “publish a new page”. That list becomes your content schedule, not a vague wish.

If you want a free, quick extra check on what a rival “thinks” their competition is, you can compare notes with tools like the Small SEO Studio competition checker. Use it to generate ideas, then verify everything in real SERPs.

Analyse what makes their pages rank (on-page, links, and trust signals)

When a competitor outranks you, it’s usually because they’re stronger in at least one of these areas:

1. On-page clarity: the page matches intent better.
2. Technical basics: it loads well and reads cleanly for Google.
3. Authority: other sites mention or link to it.

You can check all three without paying, as long as you stay methodical.

On-page checks you can do in 10 minutes per URL

Pick one keyword, then open the top three pages. Set a timer. You’re looking for what they do that you don’t, not for minor design choices.

Check these elements:

Title tag clarity: does it say exactly what the page helps with?
H1 matches intent: the main heading should mirror the query’s goal.
Subheadings answer real questions: are they covering “how”, “cost”, “examples”, “mistakes”, “tools”, “UK notes”?
Depth without waffle: strong pages tend to include steps, screenshots, and edge cases.
Internal links: do they link to supporting guides that keep readers moving?
Images and alt text: not for decoration, but to explain steps.
Schema hints: many winners use FAQ-style sections that can earn rich results.

Two fast, free tricks:

• Use “View Page Source” to find the title and meta description quickly. You’re not copying, you’re learning what they emphasise.
• Look for freshness signals. A page can be old, but if it references current tools and updated screenshots, it feels current.

Also watch how they handle the start of the page. The best intros don’t stall. They set context, then get into the steps. If your page takes 300 words to say hello, you’ve handed competitors an easy advantage.

Backlink and authority clues using free backlink checkers

Backlinks still matter because they act like public votes. You don’t need a full backlink database to learn something useful though. A snapshot is enough to spot patterns.

Use free backlink checkers with limited results (they often cap the number of links shown). Record:

Top referring domains: which sites link to them most often?
Anchor text patterns: are people linking with brand names, guides, or specific topics?
Link types: editorial mentions, directories, guest posts, resource lists, partnerships.

The key is restraint. Don’t chase every link you see. Hunt for repeatable sources you could also earn.

Example: if three competitors have links from “useful tools for X” pages, that’s a hint you should build something worth listing, like a calculator, a template, or a clear guide.

If you want to understand the broader set of competitor tool options (including free tiers), this roundup gives a useful overview: competitor analysis tools for SEO teams. Even if you never buy anything, it helps you learn what data types exist, and which ones you can approximate manually.

Turn insights into a 30-day action plan you can repeat monthly

Notes don’t rank. Pages rank.

A simple 30-day loop turns competitor research into steady movement:

Week 1: pick competitors, build the spreadsheet, choose 10 targets.
Week 2: refresh two existing pages (easy wins).
Week 3: publish one new “gap” page (medium win).
Week 4: improve internal linking, tighten titles, and collect a few realistic links.

Keep the process small enough that you’ll repeat it.

Build a one-page brief for each target keyword (so writing is faster)

Before you write, make a one-page brief. It stops you from drifting and helps you beat competitors without copying them.

Include:

• Primary keyword and 2 to 4 close variants
• Search intent (informational, commercial, local, transactional)
• Best competing URL (the one you must beat)
• Outline of subtopics (what you must cover to be credible)
• Examples to include (screenshots, mini case study, UK pricing, a template)
• Unique angle (your added value, not a rewrite)

Write for people first. Add proof points where you can. A single original screenshot or step-by-step walkthrough can do more than another 500 words.

Track wins with free reporting, then re-run the process

Use free reporting to keep yourself honest:

• Google Search Console for impressions, clicks, and average position.
• Google Analytics for engagement and which pages assist conversions.

Once a month, re-check the top 10 results for your target queries and keep a simple change log:

• Title changes
• New sections added
• Fresh dates
• New FAQ blocks
• Obvious new links or mentions

This keeps you calm when rankings wobble. You’re tracking real movement, not feelings.

Conclusion

You don’t need expensive tools to see what’s working. You need a repeatable method that turns real SERPs into clear actions. Pick the right rivals, find the gaps they’ve covered, check what makes their pages strong, then plan a month of updates and new content.

Set a timer for one hour today: choose three keywords, pick three competitors, and build your first spreadsheet. That single document becomes your SEO competitor analysis engine, and it gets better every time you run it.