Competitive Analysis Templates: A Comprehensive SEO Guide

A competitive analysis template is a pre-formatted framework or spreadsheet that helps you systematically compare your website (or business) against rivals. In SEO and keyword research, these templates collect data on competitors’ keywords, backlinks, content strategies, and performance metrics in one place. The result is a clear view of your strengths and weaknesses relative to others. In fact, “a competitive analysis helps you to define a strategy for your organization by assessing your strengths and weaknesses and those of other companies in your market”. Templates make this process faster and more organized, guiding both beginners and experienced marketers through in-depth keyword and competitor research.

Competitive analysis matters in SEO because your ranking depends on how you stack up against competitors. By using structured templates, you can uncover competitors’ top keywords, high-quality backlinks, and content gaps – then apply those insights to boost your own keyword strategy. For example, an SEO competitor analysis template “helps identify your competitors’ strengths, weaknesses, and tactics in keywords, backlinks, and content strategy”, so you can see where they rank well and where you can improve. This blog post is written for intermediate SEO practitioners and marketers who want a deep dive into the keyword research and competitor analysis process. We’ll cover different types of templates (for SEO, business, product, etc.), how to use them with tools like SEMrush or Ahrefs, and practical tips for getting the most out of them.

Why Competitive Analysis Matters for SEO

Competitive analysis is crucial in SEO because search engines rank pages against each other for the same keywords. By studying competitors, you learn which keywords drive their traffic and how they attract visitors. For instance, a competitor analysis template can list your main rivals’ domain authority, traffic sources, and target keywords side by side. You might discover that a competitor outranks you for high-value keywords, or that they have backlinks from industry blogs. Templates help capture this information consistently. As SEO pros point out, tracking “keyword rankings, backlink profiles, and SEO strategies” for competitors lets you identify opportunities to outrank them.

Using a template also makes the analysis repeatable. You can update it monthly or quarterly to see trends over time. Attrock notes that templates help with “comparing data consistently over time, enabling better tracking of your competitors’ strategies and progress”. In practice, this means you can chart how your keyword rankings improve as you implement changes, and how competitors respond. Ultimately, competitive analysis templates tie directly into the keyword research process by highlighting gaps—keywords your competitors rank for that you don’t—and helping you generate ideas to target those gaps.

Types of Competitive Analysis Templates

Competitive analysis templates come in many forms depending on the goal. Below are common categories:

• General Competitor Matrix (Business/Strategy) – A simple table listing each competitor with key info (company name, location, product, strengths, weaknesses, etc.). This is more business-focused and may not include SEO data. For example, HubSpot offers a generic competitor analysis matrix where you fill in columns for Our Company and multiple competitors and rows for attributes like Strengths, Weaknesses, Products, Marketing, etc. This kind of template (illustrated below) helps compare brands on broad business factors.
  
• Keyword Gap Analysis Template (SEO) – This focuses on keywords: it lists keywords, their search volume, difficulty, and shows which competitors rank for each. You fill in columns such as “Your Domain” and each competitor’s domain with their ranking for that keyword. The goal is to find keywords where competitors rank but you don’t, revealing content opportunities. As Attrock explains, “keyword gap analysis helps you identify keywords that your competitors are ranking for, but your website isn’t”. Many SEO templates automate this: for example, Ercule’s template imports data from SEMrush or Ahrefs to flag “opportunity” keywords that you could target.
  
• Backlink Gap Analysis Template (SEO) – Similar idea but for backlinks. You list competitor URLs and compare their backlink profiles. The template might track referring domains, domain authority, spam score, and highlight sites linking to competitors but not to you. A backlink gap template helps pinpoint link-building targets. For instance, Attrock’s template tracks “URLs pointing to competitors’ sites, spam scores, domain authority of backlink sources” and suggests link-building strategies.
  
• Content Strategy Comparison Template – This template compares competitors’ content: you might list top pages or blog posts, content length, publishing frequency, and estimated traffic. It helps find content gaps. Inflow’s template (preview shown below) includes rows for content metrics and columns for “Your Site” and several competitors, making it easy to spot who publishes more frequently or covers what topics.
  
• SWOT Analysis Template – A quadrant template (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) for each competitor. This is more strategic than keyword-focused, but still useful to summarize findings from SEO research in a SWOT format.
  
• Product/Feature Comparison Template – Used in product marketing to compare product features, pricing, etc. Less common for keyword research specifically, but could be relevant if your SEO strategy involves product-level content.
  
• SEO Report/Dashboard Template – Some tools or spreadsheets provide a dashboard summarizing SEO metrics (traffic, ranking trends, social signals) for your site and competitors. These are often more visual and high-level.
  

Overall, for an SEO keyword research focus, the most important templates are the Keyword Gap, Backlink Gap, and Content Strategy templates. These directly feed into discovering keywords, building content, and earning links.

Popular Competitive Analysis Templates and Resources

There are many free templates and tools available online. Below are a few well-known options, especially for SEO:

• HubSpot Competitive Analysis Template – A general business-oriented template (Excel/Word/Google Sheets) that compares company attributes (market, strengths, weaknesses, etc.) for up to four competitors. It’s free and easy to use, and can be repurposed for high-level SEO strategy by focusing rows on things like Domain Rating, Top Keywords, etc.
  
• ClickUp SEO Templates – ClickUp’s blog lists several SEO templates. For example, ClickUp provides an SEO Competitor Analysis Template that “easily identifies, analyzes, and compares competitors’ backlinks, keywords, and content strategies,” helping teams track competitor SEO metrics. They also highlight a Spreadsheet SEO Competitor Analysis Template by Moz which helps analyze competitor rankings, keywords, and backlink gaps, and a SEO Competitor Analysis Template by Attrock (similar to the one described above). The Moz template’s description notes it covers “keyword gap analysis” and “backlink gap analysis” to boost your SEO.
  
• Attrock SEO Competitor Analysis Template – A detailed Google Sheets template focused on SEO. It includes sections for competitors’ top keywords, backlink sources, and traffic sources. Attrock’s guide explains it helps uncover your competitors’ top-ranking keywords and their backlinks, pinpointing areas to improve your SEO. (A screenshot of the Attrock template from the ClickUp article is shown below.)
  
• Ercule SEO Competitor Analysis Template – Ercule offers a Google Sheet that uses SEMrush or Ahrefs data. It highlights where your site is strong, where competitors are strong, and where keyword opportunities exist. The template guides you to “Extract Keyword Rankings” via the SEMrush Keyword Gap tool, import that data, and then analyze “strong, opportunity, and competitive” keywords. In the ClickUp overview, Ercule’s template is described as leveraging SEMrush/Ahrefs data and filtering to identify strong vs opportunity keywords.
  
• Inflow SEO Competitor Analysis Template – A spreadsheet by Inflow that gathers data on competitors’ content frequency, backlink profiles, traffic sources, and engagement. According to ClickUp, it lets you track how often competitors publish content and which high-authority domains link to them. This helps prioritize your SEO efforts (see the example image above).
  

Beyond these specific templates, you can often find Notion, Airtable, or Excel templates shared by SEO communities. For example, Airtable has a competitive analysis base for market research, and ClickUp itself offers templates in their template gallery. Whether you download a template or build your own in Google Sheets, the key is ensuring it covers the essential SEO data points.

How to Use Competitive Analysis Templates with SEO Tools

Simply having a template isn’t enough; you need to populate it with data from SEO tools and then interpret the results. Here’s a step-by-step guide:

1. Identify Your Competitors: List your main organic search competitors—typically 3–5 domains that rank for the keywords you care about. You can determine these by searching your target keywords and noting the top sites, or by using SEMrush/Ahrefs competitive research features. Enter these competitor domains in your template.
   
2. Gather Keyword Data: Use an SEO tool’s keyword gap or research feature (e.g. SEMrush’s Keyword Gap or Ahrefs Site Explorer). These tools let you input your site and competitor sites and pull shared and unique keywords. For instance, in SEMrush’s Keyword Gap tool, you enter your domain and your competitors’ domains, click “Compare,” then export the list of all keyword rankings.
   Copy that keyword data into your template’s keyword section. Make sure the columns align (e.g. one column for each site’s rank on each keyword). Also filter out branded keywords if desired (Ercule’s template suggests filtering out brand terms to focus on true competitor comparisons). Now you have a chart of which keywords each competitor ranks for and how well.
   
3. Identify Keyword Gaps: In the template, look for keywords where a competitor has a ranking and you don’t (or rank much lower). These are your opportunities. For each such keyword, note its search volume, difficulty (if available), and any competitor ranking. Attrock’s template, for instance, emphasizes listing “keywords with high search volume and low competition missed by your competitors” and vice versa. Use your judgment to pick the gaps that fit your strategy (some may not align with your business).
   
4. Gather Backlink Data: Next, perform a backlink gap analysis. Many SEO tools (like Ahrefs’ Link Intersect or SEMrush’s Backlink Gap) allow you to enter multiple competitors and see which referring domains link to competitors but not you. Export those URLs and log them in your template. Include metrics like the linking site’s domain authority or spam score. Attrock’s template tracks each competitor’s backlink domains and domain authorities. Look for high-quality links that you might try to earn through outreach or content marketing.
   
5. Assess Content and Other Metrics: Use the template to record other competitive metrics. For example, list each competitor’s top pages or content topics (you might manually browse their site or use SEO tools to find their highest-traffic pages). Note their publishing frequency if relevant (Inflow’s template tracks this). You can also log social media presence, SERP features they have (featured snippets, knowledge panels), or traffic sources breakdown. Essentially, any data that helps you compare “content strategy, quality, and promotion” can go in the template.
   
6. Analyze and Plan: Once the data is in place, use the template’s structure to gain insights. Good templates will have built-in visual cues or summaries. For example, Ercule’s template highlights “Strong,” “Opportunity,” and “Competitive” tabs that categorize keywords. You can filter or sort to see where your site is weakest. The templates may also include charts or scorecards. Based on this analysis, create an action plan: target the high-potential keywords you found, start a link-building campaign for valuable backlinks, or create content similar to high-performing competitor content.
   
7. Repeat and Update: Competitive analysis is not one-and-done. Use the template regularly (e.g., monthly or quarterly) to track progress. As you implement changes and competitors update their sites, the template will reflect shifts in rankings or new gaps. A template keeps historical comparisons so you can measure growth over time.
   

In summary, you use SEO tools to fill the template and then let the template guide you to insights. Many templates even come with instructions; for example, Ercule’s Google Sheet walks you through each step (choosing competitors, extracting data, editing, filtering, then analyzing).

Key Features of an Effective Template

A good competitive analysis template should include the following sections:

• Competitor Details: A place to list each competitor’s basic info (domain name, business focus, etc.). This helps you remember who’s who and why you included them.
  
• Keyword Rankings: Sections for the target keywords and each competitor’s rank. This highlights the keyword gap. Include search volume and keyword difficulty if possible, and mark branded vs. non-branded terms.
  
• Backlink Profile: Columns to record each competitor’s number of backlinks and referring domains, plus notable linking sites. Ideally, include domain authority/spam score to gauge link quality.
  
• Content Strategy: Rows for “Top Pages” or “Content Topics” and notes on publishing frequency or content type. This is more custom but helps capture qualitative data.
  
• Technical SEO Metrics: Space for comparing page speed, mobile-friendliness, and use of SERP features across sites. For example, note which competitors appear in featured snippets for target keywords.
  
• Traffic & Social: Optionally, record each competitor’s monthly traffic estimates (from tools) and their main referral sources (organic, social, direct). Attrock’s template even tracks “traffic sources” in detail.
  
• Analysis & Summary: Some templates include automated summaries or charts (like ClickUp’s that visualizes traffic or content quality). At minimum, have a “Notes” column to jot insights (e.g., “Competitor A outranks us for X because of strong backlink profile”).
  

The ClickUp article’s checklist for a good template is helpful: it emphasizes keyword gap analysis and backlink profiles as must-haves. It also mentions tracking SERP features and social media strategies, which can be useful extras. The more comprehensive your template, the clearer the competitive picture.

Tips and Best Practices

• Keep it Updated: SEO is dynamic. Set a schedule to refresh your data (monthly or quarterly) so you track how competitor strategies evolve. A template’s real value is in this consistency.
  
• Use Multiple Tools: No single tool has perfect data. While SEMrush and Ahrefs cover keywords and backlinks well, you might supplement with Google Search Console (to verify your own site’s rankings) or Similar Web for traffic splits. Export what you can and merge it.
  
• Focus on Your Niche: Don’t include irrelevant competitors. SEO analysis works best when comparing sites targeting similar keywords or audiences. Sometimes an indirect competitor can be skipped if they play in a different market segment.
  
• Customize for Your Needs: Not all templates fit every business. Add or remove columns as needed. For example, an e-commerce site might add “Product Categories” vs. a SaaS site. The general format (see HubSpot’s matrix) is adaptable.
  
• Look for Opportunities, Not Just Gaps: Identify where competitors are weak. If they lack content on a subtopic, that’s your chance to rank for those keywords. Keyword gap analysis is about finding both what they have and what they’re missing.
  
• Document Sources: In your template notes, record where each data point came from (e.g., “Google Analytics: main traffic = 40% organic; SEMrush: Domain Authority 50”). This helps later validation and explanation to your team.
  
• Share and Collaborate: If you work with a team, use Google Sheets or a collaborative tool (Notion, Airtable). ClickUp’s guides suggest centralizing tasks and data in one place. This way, content creators and strategists all see the competitive insights.
  

Conclusion

Competitive analysis templates are invaluable for serious keyword research and SEO strategy. They ensure you systematically gather the right data – keywords, backlinks, content metrics – and compare them across your industry. Whether you use a simple SWOT matrix, a specialized SEO spreadsheet, or a comprehensive dashboard, the goal is the same: learn from rivals to outrank them.

By using tools like SEMrush, Ahrefs, and Google Sheets/Excel, you can populate these templates and uncover the keyword gaps and link opportunities that will grow your organic traffic. As one guide explains, a thorough SEO competitor analysis “enables you to make data-driven decisions to improve your organic traffic and online visibility”. With regular updates and a clear action plan, a competitive analysis template becomes your roadmap to search engine success.