Tag Archive for: Analytics

Want to know why some plumbing businesses dominate Google’s first page while others struggle to get noticed?

It’s not luck.

These plumbing companies all focus on the same core SEO strategies.

Take Deer Valley Plumbing Contractors, for instance.

They appear in Google’s 3-Pack when prospective customers in their area search for “plumbing company” and other related keywords.

And they have notably more reviews than the competition.

Their site also ranks for 3K keywords.

This helps Deer Valley Plumbing Contractors drive 2.7K organic visits to their website each month.

Traffic that would cost an estimated $44.7K per month in Google Ads.

The best part?

With SEO for plumbers, your business can achieve similar—or better—results.

In this guide, you’ll learn SEO fundamentals that’ll help your site rank higher, from local search to link-building.

But first, let’s start with a quick overview of what exactly plumbing SEO is.

What Is Plumbing SEO?

Plumbing SEO is a set of practices that increase a plumbing company’s website’s visibility in search engines like Google.

SEO for plumbers includes:

• On-page optimization: Optimizing your service pages for key terms like “water heater repair” or “emergency plumber” by using strategic headers, meta descriptions, and location-based keywords that match how local customers actually search
• Technical SEO: Making sure your plumbing website loads quickly on mobile devices, has intuitive navigation, including clear contact information, and works smoothly for emergency calls
• Local SEO: Optimizing your Google Business Profile, service area pages, and local citations to show up in “near me” searches and Google Maps when homeowners need a plumber in your area
• Content marketing: Creating helpful guides, FAQs, and service pages that answer common plumbing questions like “Why is my water heater leaking?” or “How to unclog a drain” to attract local homeowners searching for solutions
• Link building: Building credibility and authority by getting featured in local business directories, home service websites, and plumbing supplier sites

What Are the Benefits of SEO for Plumbers?

SEO has many benefits for plumbers—especially if you’re at the top of the search engine results pages (SERPs).

This includes attracting more qualified leads, building authority, and increasing revenue—all without spending a dime on advertising.

Think about how people search for plumbers today.

When a homeowner’s water heater fails at midnight, or their kitchen sink backs up before a dinner party, they immediately grab their phone and search Google.

SEO increases your chances of showing up in these searches, helping you get more ready-to-hire leads.

And you have plenty of opportunities—246,000 people search for “plumbers near me” in the U.S. every month.

But that’s far from the only search term getting traffic.

Countless people search for standard and urgent plumbing-related terms monthly:

• Emergency plumber: 27,100 monthly searches
• Plumbing companies near me: 27,000 monthly searches
• Best plumbers near me: 9,900 monthly searches
• 24 hour plumber: 4,400 monthly searches

When your website ranks at the top of Google for these terms, you’re essentially setting up a 24/7 lead generation system.

6 Essential Plumber SEO Strategies

Ready to outrank your competitors and capture more high-value plumbing leads?

These six SEO strategies work together to boost your search visibility. And convert website visitors into paying customers.

1. Keyword Research

The first step of any plumber SEO campaign is keyword research.

This involves identifying relevant keywords based on key metrics like search intent, volume, and keyword difficulty. And conducting research into your competitors’ keyword strategies.

Understand Keyword Metrics

A tool like Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool is helpful for conducting keyword research.

Enter a seed keyword like “plumbing company” into the Keyword Magic Tool.

You’ll see a list of keyword ideas and some important information about each term.

This includes “Intent.”

Search intent is the reason behind a user’s search—it tells you why they searched and what they were hoping to find.

There are four types of search intent.

Including:

• Informational: These are searches where people want to learn something, like “how to fix a clogged toilet.” This type of content works best as detailed guides and tutorials.
• Navigational: When searchers are looking for a specific plumbing business or page like “Jerry’s Plumbing Company” or “Plumbing Pros hours of operation”
• Commercial: The person wants to know more about a product or business, such as “best plumbers in Austin” and “sink repair.” Use these in product comparison articles, testimonials, and service pages.
• Transactional: The person is ready to hire and might search “hire a plumber” or “call a plumber.” Use strategic calls to action (CTA) and keywords like “hire” and “book now” on your site.

For example, “plumbing company” has commercial intent.

This means the user’s goal for this search is to research plumbing company options, read reviews, and view services, making it a good term to target on a service page.

But if someone searches “how to fix a leaky faucet,” (which has informational intent), they expect to find detailed DIY instructions with photos or videos.

See the difference?

Next, let’s look at two other crucial metrics:

• Volume: The number of monthly searches for a keyword
• Keyword Difficulty (KD): A rating showing how hard it is to rank for that keyword from zero to 100

While you’ll likely have broad keywords on most pages, if you have a newer site (or one that lacks authority), you’ll also want to target terms that’ll be easier to rank for in the SERPs.

Local keywords often have this perfect combination—moderate search volume with lower competition in specific service areas.

For example, “plumbing companies in phoenix, arizona” gets 70 searches per month and has a low keyword difficulty score of 27.

You might use this term on a location page to target local customers.

Continue researching keywords to target on each page of your site—making sure to adjust your focus for each page’s specific purpose:

• Service pages should target specific plumbing solutions: Water heater repair, drain cleaning, radiator installation
• Location pages need geographic terms: Local plumbing company, plumber in [city], 24/7 plumbers in [city]
• About pages should emphasize trust and credentials: Licensed plumber, family-owned plumbing, plumbing company hours
• Resource pages should answer common questions and concerns: How to fix a leaky faucet, signs you need repiping, water heater maintenance tips

Answer User Questions

Your target audience likely has a lot of questions about plumbing problems and hiring a plumber.

These questions make great topics for FAQ pages and blog posts.

Here’s how to find them using the Keyword Magic Tool:

Search for a broad keyword like “drain repair” and apply the “Questions” filter.

The tool will return options like:

• How to repair tub drain: 320 volume; 29 KD
• How to repair shower drain: 210 volume; 30 KD
• How to repair a leaking shower drain: 170 volume; 23 KD

All of the above topics have informational intent, which means they’d work well as step-by-step tutorials on your blog.

Plus, answering these questions with high-quality content will help you establish expertise.

As you review the questions, pay attention to volume and KD scores—the lower the KD, the easier it’ll be for you to rank for each term.

Research Competitor Keywords

You don’t have to start from scratch when finding keywords—analyze what’s already working for your successful competitors.

A tool like Semrush’s Keyword Gap can help you with this.

First, enter your URL and up to four competitors’ URLs. Hit “Compare.”

Now, you’ll see an overview of your site’s keyword performance compared to your competitors.

Including how many ranking keywords you and each of your rivals have.

As you review the reports, pay special attention to three key opportunities:

• Missing: Keywords your competitors rank for but you don’t
• Weak: Keywords where competitors outrank you
• Untapped: Keywords where at least one competitor ranks

These are opportunities to target these keywords on existing pages.

And create new content to knock your competitors off the SERPs.

If they have a blog post on how to clear a clogged drain, create a better version with step-by-step photos and videos.

If they list services, include pricing guides and customer case studies.

Aim to outrank them with higher-quality content that diverts traffic away from their site to yours.

2. Local SEO

Local SEO is vital for plumbers.

Why?

Because when someone conducts a search with local intent, such as “plumber near me” or “plumber in [city],” Google shows three local businesses at the top of the page.

This is the 3-Pack I mentioned earlier in the article—and it’s prime real estate for plumbers.

Let’s make sure your business shows up there.

Claim and Optimize Your Google Business Profile

Start by claiming your free Google Business Profile (GBP). If you’re not sure how to do this, follow Google’s tutorial.

Add your business name, address, and phone number (NAP) to your profile.

Double-check that you’ve entered everything correctly.

Accurate NAPs show Google your business is trustworthy, which helps increase your chances of ranking in the Map Pack.

Next, create a keyword-rich business description that includes important terms for your business.

This will be the services you offer and any standout features like “local plumbing business” or “emergency plumbing repair.”

For example, Maloney Plumbing and Drain Services included key terms like “plumbing repair” and “drain clearing” in their company overview.

They also referenced the location they serve: “Phoenix.”

Add as many relevant service categories as possible—from sewer cleaning to garbage disposal installation.

The photos section isn’t just about showing you exist.

Your images should build trust and show potential customers exactly what to expect:

• Uniformed technicians (shows professionalism)
• Branded trucks (proves you’re established)
• Actual repair work (demonstrates expertise)
• Team in action (builds credibility)

Finally, post updates.

This shows searchers and Google that you’re an active business with up-to-date information.

But it also lets you share vital details, communicate with customers, and highlight promotions and events.

With your GBP filled out, it’s time to focus on earning positive reviews—lots of them.

Collect and Manage Online Reviews

Reviews matter more than you may realize.

Seventy-one percent of consumers will not consider using a business if it has an average review rating below three stars.

Google also states that one of the three ranking factors for local search is “prominence,” which is defined by how popular a business is online and offline.

(Prominence includes review count and average review rating.)

So, how do you get more positive reviews?

You ask for them.

Most importantly, you make it easy for past clients to leave reviews.

For example, Total Service Plumbing created a dedicated review page on their website that links to each of their location’s Google Business Profiles.

Smart.

While having a page on your website is helpful, you’ll want to take a multi-pronged approach to collecting reviews.

For example:

• Send a follow-up text right after completing a service
• Include a review link in your invoice emails
• Create QR codes on your business cards and service vehicles
• Train your technicians to ask satisfied customers for reviews

Build Local Citations

A local citation is any mention of your business on the internet.

This includes your basic contact details, like your NAP.

Think Yelp, Angi, and Porch.com.

The key? Keep your information consistent everywhere.

Consistent business information tells search engines your business is legitimate and trustworthy.

But manually searching and verifying your citations is not a productive use of your time (or your team’s).

Use a tool like Semrush’s Listing Management tool to automate this process.

Listing Management automatically checks for issues like missing phone numbers and incorrect addresses and updates them for you.

This makes it easy to maintain updated and accurate listings across multiple directories and keep your local SEO on point.

3. On-Page SEO

On-page SEO is the practice of improving webpage elements so your website ranks higher in SERPs and earns more relevant traffic.

Here’s how to optimize your plumbing site.

Use Your Target Keyword in the Right Places

Every webpage has specific spots where keywords make the biggest impact.

This includes the following elements:

• Title tag: This is the title that shows up in search results. Limit this to 50-60 characters and include the target keyword as close to the front as possible.
• Meta description: This is the summary that appears under the title tag in search results. Include the target keyword and keep it under 155 characters.

You’ll also want to add your target keyword to the H1 (aka the headline) of each page.

For example, plumbing company Benjamin Franklin uses the keyword “Residential Leak Detection Services” on its H1 for one of its service pages.

H1s tell Google and readers what your page is about.

Use subheads (H2, H3, H4) to organize your content. Include keyword variations in them naturally.

For example, Benjamin Franklin uses “The Types of Plumbing Leaks We Repair” as an H2 and has “Common Signs of Plumbing Leaks” underneath as an H3.

You’ll also want to add descriptive alt text to your images.

This helps Google understand what your images show and ensures your site is accessible for those using screen readers.

For example, alt text for this image could be: “Professional plumber in uniform inspecting under-sink plumbing while showing digital tablet to homeowner in kitchen.”

Implement Schema Markup

Schema markup is code that helps search engines understand your content better.

It’s a ‌common practice to put this code on all webpages, especially service and location pages.

When done right, it can make your listing stand out with rich snippets that include:

• Your business logo
• Star ratings
• Service prices
• Availability hours

Like this plumbing company that shows up when searching for “clogged drain repair in San Diego.”

The listing features a 4.8 star rating and shows the business has over 8K votes, helping to instill confidence in searchers.

Use Google’s free Schema markup generator tool.

Select “Local Businesses” for the data type.

Enter the URL of the webpage and click “Start Tagging.”

This takes you to the webpage where you highlight or tag the content needed for the code.

Once you’re done tagging the page, click “Create HTML.”

Copy the script block and paste it to the head section of your webpage’s HTML.

Too technical for you?

Hire a developer or tech-savvy friend to help you with this step.

It’s worth the hassle, as it can help your plumbing business stand out in the SERPs.

Analyze Current Pages for On-Page SEO Opportunities

As you add more pages to your site and blog, you’ll want to make sure you’ve properly implemented on-page optimization.

Semrush’s On Page SEO Checker can help you with this—it automates the process, so you don’t have to check each page manually.

Enter your URL and click “Get ideas.”

Click the “View all pages & ideas” to view the full list of pages it found to optimize.

Click the blue “Ideas” button for any page to view the suggestions.

For example, you’ll see recommendations like avoiding keyword stuffing in content, creating more informative contentm, and providing more relevant meta descriptions.

It’ll also give you tips on how to score featured snippets for certain keywords.

Make the necessary changes to help give your site a boost in the SERPs.

4. Content Marketing

Creating helpful, high-quality content for your audience is a big part of SEO.

It can also drive long-term results and steady organic traffic over time.

Let’s look at how you can use content marketing to attract leads and instill confidence in prospective customers.

Answer Questions in Your Blog Posts

People who have a clogged toilet might not want to hire a plumber right away.

They might first try to fix the problem themselves—this is when they try to find answers online.

As a plumber, you’re in the best position to teach them how to unclog a toilet.

Like Benjamin Franklin did on its blog:

With step-by-step instructions, Benjamin Franklin gives its target customers the information they need to handle the job themselves.

But they also include hiring a pro as an option to encourage those who don’t want to DIY to give them a call.

Nice.

Sounds simple enough, right?

Well, you’ll be competing in the SERPs with countless other plumbers who are targeting the same keywords for the same topics.

So, how do you stand out?

By following Google’s quality guidelines for content: experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (E-E-A-T).

Here’s how:

• Prove your expertise. Include an author bio at the end of your content and highlight your experience as a plumber, including any certifications, years of experience, education, and more
• Include step-by-step photos and videos: Guide your readers through each step with high-quality photos and videos that show you know your stuff
• Add expert insights and quotes: Share firsthand tips that showcase your experience and include quotes from SMEs on your team to infuse your content with more authority and trust

Create Location and Service Pages

Location and service pages are exactly what they sound like.

They’re dedicated webpages for every service and location of your business.

If you have 10 different plumbing services, you need to create 10 separate pages describing each service.

For example, Jimmy Joe’s Plumbing has a separate page for everything from backflow prevention to home remodeling plumbing.

If you have multiple locations, you’ll also want to create dedicated pages for each one.

Like John the Plumber did in Florida.

Its site has pages for each location with city-specific content on each one.

Include Semantic Keywords in Your Content

Semantic keywords are keywords that are related to your target keywords.

It’s important to add semantic keywords to your content because it helps Google understand the context of your content.

You can use keyword research tools to find related keywords based on a seed keyword.

But you can also type a word in Google and view the People Also Ask section.

For example, typing in “heater installation” reveals semantic and question keywords you can target in content.

5. Technical SEO

Technical SEO is the process of improving your website’s technical aspects.

In other words, it needs to be fast, mobile-friendly, and secure.

But if you’re not a technical person, don’t worry.

I’ll teach you how to run an audit and check your site’s speed with user-friendly tools.

Run an SEO Audit

An audit can identify issues with your site, particularly page errors that affect your site’s performance and health.

For instance, broken links and pages can damage your website’s ranking and authority.

Tools like Ahrefs and Semrush offer free website audit tools.

For example, Semrush’s Site Audit tool lets you audit up to 100 pages per month on Semrush’s free plan.

Enter your website’s URL and click “Start Audit.”

You’ll get an email when the report is ready.

The tool will provide an overview of your site’s performance.

This includes everything from a site health score to categorizing site issues by severity: Errors (high), Warnings (medium), and Notices (low).

Click on the “Issues” tab to learn how you can improve your site’s pages.

Some common errors you might see include:

• Keyword cannibalization: When multiple pages have the same or similar target keywords and the same search intent
• Keyword stuffing: When target keywords are used excessively on the page
• Thin content: The content doesn’t have any (or little) value to readers and doesn’t meet search intent

Improve Loading Speed

If it takes your site longer than three seconds to load, 53% of visitors will abandon it, according to Google Consumer Insights.

So, if you have a slow site, it could be causing you to lose valuable plumbing leads.

Use a free web speed analysis tool like GTMetrix to check your site’s loading speed.

Enter your website’s URL and click “Test Now.”

After the analysis, you’ll get a grade, which tells you how well your site is performing, along with an overview of Core Web Vitals metrics.

Core Web Vitals measure the speed, interactivity, and visual stability of your site.

Scroll to the “Top Issues” section to learn what your site’s errors are and how to fix them.

Prioritizing technical SEO helps ensure your site delivers the fast and intuitive experience users expect.

6. Link Building

Link building is the process of getting other sites to link to a page on your website.

These links, called backlinks, play a big role in your site’s search ranking.

Here’s how to build your backlink profile, starting with a little competitor research.

Spy on Your Competitors’ Backlink Profiles

Use Semrush’s Backlink Analytics tool to learn valuable information about your competitors’ backlink profiles.

This includes the total number of referring domains and backlinks they receive and their authority score.

View the “Referring Domains” report to see who is linking to your competitors.

(So you can try to get them to link to you, too.)

Some referring domains might be directories you can add your business information to, and others may be sites you can try to guest post on.

Find and Reach Out to High-Quality Link Prospects for Guest Posting

Think about plumbing-related content that a website within your industry might be interested in.

Some examples of websites that might feature plumbers include:

• Home improvement blogs
• Real estate blogs
• Home insurance blogs

Here’s an example of a guest blog from Precision Air & Plumbing for a home insurance website.

Finding websites that publish plumbing-related content can take time.

One way to speed things up is to use a tool like Semrush’s Link Building Tool.

Enter your URL and click “Start Link Building.”

Add your keywords, like “plumber in chicago” and “emergency plumber chicago” and click “Keywords” on the bottom.

This brings you to the next page, where you can add competitors.

Click “Start Link Building.”

Click “View prospects” on the pop-up.

Sort the list by highest AS (Authority Score).

This shows you the most reputable websites on this list.

Use your judgment to choose websites that are likely to accept guest posts.

Click on the icon to open the link to see plumbing-related content that’s published on the prospect’s website.

In this example, we clicked on wikiHow’s link and learned that the co-author is a professional plumber.

This points out an opportunity to reach out to major sites and offer your expert input for articles.

This can be a great way to build backlinks for your site while highlighting you as an industry expert.

Make a list of prospects and pitch topics that match what the sites publish and are relevant to your target audience.

While not all sites will provide backlinks, it’s still a valuable way to get your name—and your plumbing business’s name—some positive press mentions online.

Keep Track of Your Best Links

When it comes to backlinks, focus on quality over quantity.

This is why it’s a good idea to check for low-quality backlinks.

Low-quality links can come from:

• Sites or content that are unrelated to your industry
• Sites with low domain authority
• Sites with low-traffic
• Sites with spam content

These links may hurt your site’s ranking.

Check for toxic backlinks with Semrush’s Backlink Audit tool.

In the Overview tab, click on the number in red (your total toxic backlinks) under the Overall Toxicity Score.

This shows you all of your site’s toxic backlinks and their source pages.

Hover over each of the links to see the reason why the link was labeled as toxic.

If you determine the link needs to go, try reaching out to the website owners and requesting to have the link removed.

If you can’t get these links removed, you can disavow them as a last resort.

Disavowing links tells Google not to take these links into account when determining rankings for your pages.

Google advises to disavow links only when:

• You have a lot of spammy or low-quality links to your site
• Your site has received a Google penalty because of the link

Read Google’s guidelines on disavowing links before attempting this step.

If disavowing is the right move, the Backlink Audit tool can help you with this process.

Click the blue icon featuring a circle with a slash (“Move to Disavow list”) to move URLs to a disavow list.

Go to the “Disavow” tab.

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On the next page, you’ll see the links you’ve added to the tab. Click the “Export to TXT” button.

Go to the Google Disavow Tool and upload the .txt file.

Once done, Google will no longer consider these links when ranking your site or pages.

Get More Customers with Plumber SEO

SEO isn’t a quick fix.

But it’s one of the most effective ways to get new plumbing customers.

With a bit of research and help from tools like Semrush, you can flood your business with high-quality leads (without spending a fortune on ads).

I’m talking crushing your local competition in Google Maps, ranking #1 for emergency plumbing keywords, and turning your website into a 24/7 lead generation machine.

Ready to rank higher for local keywords?

Check out the top local SEO tools for plumbers that will help you dominate the SERPs.

The post SEO for Plumbers: How to Rank Higher & Get More Customers appeared first on Backlinko.

Read more at Read More

Finding competitor keywords is essential to building your SEO strategy.

Why?

Because they show what’s working for others, highlight opportunities, and uncover gaps in your approach.

At Backlinko, we’ve spied on Ahrefs, Moz, and Semrush’s keywords for years—and found many opportunities.

For instance, Ahrefs gets an estimated 2.5k monthly organic visits from the keyword “website authority checker.”

But this is only part of the story.

The page targets over 1.7k keywords and drives an estimated 30k monthly organic visits.

Clearly, A LOT of people are interested.

So we published a free tool with a supporting blog post on the same topic. Now this page ranks for 1,000 queries and gets over 13k clicks a month from Google.

That’s the power of finding competitor keywords.

In this guide, you’ll learn:

• What competitor keywords are and how they fit into an SEO strategy
• How to find and analyze these keywords, step-by-step
• Where to integrate them into your content and SEO plans

The Power of Using Competitor’s Keywords for SEO

When you find competitors’ keywords, you uncover what content they’re ranking for.

But it’s more than just ranking for a specific keyword.

Think bigger: You’re getting a snapshot of your competitors’ SEO strategy.

Competitor keywords reveal opportunities to boost your SEO in three ways.

First, spotting patterns in your competitor’s keyword strategy and capitalize on gaps.

Say a competitor is going after terms like “best vegan protein powder.” But they might be ignoring budget-conscious customers.

That’s your chance to swoop in and target keywords like “affordable vegan protein powder.”

The goal?

Position yourself to win over the segments they’re missing. Whether it’s budget-friendly options, niche markets, or untapped audiences.

Second, understanding their focus.

Whether they’re targeting broad, high-traffic terms or niche, long-tail keywords.

Say a competitor is focused on targeting top-funnel keywords like “online course platforms.”

Here, you can take a different route.

Why not target bottom-funnel queries like “how to create an online course for free?”

It will help you reach an audience ready to buy.

Third, building a content plan based on your strategy.

Finding competitors’ keywords gives you ideas for a content calendar.

Use them to plan your next topics, decide on content formats. And, finally, create content that meets your audience’s needs better than anyone else.

Now, you’ll learn techniques to find competitors’ keywords.

Step 1: Identify Your SEO Competitors

If you want to find competitors’ keywords, focus on SEO competitors.

These are websites competing with you for similar keywords and rankings.

They may not even be direct business competitors.

Start with a manual search and analysis.

Imagine your business is in the crypto space.

Think of relevant keywords that your potential customers might use.

Like “best crypto platforms 2024.”

Search the keyword on Google.

Take note of the websites that rank for this keyword.

In our example: Investopedia, Alchemy, and NerdWallet.

These are your content competitors.

Next, check the “People also ask” box.

It’s a good tool for finding additional keywords and content ideas.

Now, let’s explore another method for finding competitors.

First, create a free Semrush account and follow these steps:

Head to the Organic Research tool.

Add your URL and hit “Search.”

Then, scroll down to “Main Organic Competitors.”

Click the “View all 35.3K competitors” button to show your rivals.

Now, locate the “Com. Level” column.

You’ll see a percentage showing keyword alignment with your competitor.

For Backlinko, Ahrefs has a 35% competitive overlap, and Moz has 25% overlap.

Both are close content competitors.

Now that you’ve identified your competitors, it’s time to analyze their keywords.

Step 2: Find Competitor Keywords Using Tools

By examining the keywords your competitors rank for, you can uncover opportunities to improve your SEO strategy.

This step will help you find the exact terms your competitors are targeting and how you can potentially outrank them.

We’ll continue with our Backlinko example.

Since we identified Moz as a competitor, let’s enter its URL into the Organic Research tool.

Click “Search.”

In the “Overview” section, you’ll immediately see key data such as the total keywords Moz ranks for, their traffic volume, and the estimated cost of that traffic.

Click the “Positions” tab to view a detailed list.

Here, you’ll find important data:

• “Keyword positions” for each term
• “Intent” showing the user’s goal behind searched query
• “Traffic” generated from these keywords
• “Keyword volume” (searches per month)
• “Keyword difficulty (KD%)” telling you how competitive each keyword is

You can use this information to identify high-value keywords your competitor is targeting and analyze their performance.

How?

Look for keywords with high search volume but lower keyword difficulty.

Use filters to narrow your search and focus on the most promising keywords:

• Set the position filter to “Top 10”: Focus on keywords where your competitors rank high but you don’t
• Adjust the volume filter to “101-1,000 searches per month”: Target keywords with moderate volume so you actually drive organic traffic to your website
• Set keyword difficulty (KD%) to “Possible”: Target keywords where you can rank without having to go all-in on building external backlinks

These filters help you pinpoint keywords that offer a good balance of traffic potential and achievable competition.

For example, a keyword like “seo terms” gets 1K searches per month. And has a KD% of 46.

Not bad.

Create better content and optimize it to close gaps and outrank your competition.

Step 3: Expand Your Keyword List Through Research

Nuanced research helps you better target and prioritize audience-focused keywords.

In the end, it helps you expand your keyword database in ways that align with your overall strategy.

Let’s explore more advanced techniques to find competitors’ keywords.

Customer Feedback Analysis

Customer feedback is one of the most underrated sources of keyword inspiration.

Customers often use natural terms not found in keyword tools.

By diving into reviews, you can discover keywords that reflect real customer needs.

Let’s say you’re competing with a project management tool like Monday.

Analyze customer reviews on platforms like G2, Trustpilot, or even Google Reviews for local businesses.

They might reveal phrases like “Monday.com prevents copying and pasting data without exporting.”

These kinds of comments give you direct insight into the pain points users are facing with competitors’ products.

And they’re a perfect example of long-tail keywords that you can tackle.

For instance, paste “project management software with data import/export” into Google search to see how saturated the space is.

Here, GetApp’s software comparison page ranks organically in the top spot.

Monday’s competitor, Asana, is also present.

This indicates that content creators see value in addressing this specific pain point for users.

If you’re selling project management software with data import and export features, you could create a blog post or comparison page.

These pieces help attract frustrated users seeking better alternatives.

Private Communities

Your competitor’s private communities like Facebook Groups, Slack channels and Discord servers are gold mines for keyword ideas.

Simply watch what people talk about. You’ll discover:

• Questions they ask (that aren’t being answered)
• Problems they face (that you could solve)
• Terms they use naturally (not marketing speak)

For example, let’s say you’re competing with Nike Training Club.

Join a few fitness Facebook groups where their users hang out.

You might spot people asking about:

• “Best bodyweight exercises for beginners”
• “Home workout equipment”
• “Affordable fitness gear”

These terms could be perfect keywords that a competitor isn’t targeting yet.

Here’s what to do next:

Head to Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool.

Enter your target keyword into the search bar.

Then, hit “Search.”

We’ll use “home workout equipment” as an example.

This generates us a list of relevant keywords.

Next, we’ll set some filters to refine the list.

Adjust the “Volume” filter to 101–1,000, and for “Keyword Difficulty,” choose “Possible.”

This will help you identify high-value terms that have decent traffic potential but aren’t overly competitive.

For example, these keywords stand out as prime content opportunities:

• “compact home gym equipment” (320 searches/month)
• “essential home gym equipment” (320 searches/month)
• “affordable home gym equipment” (260 searches/month)

Why?

They have a solid search volume per month. At the same time, they’re not too competitive.

It means you have chances to rank relatively high on the search engine results page (SERP).

Google Search Operators

Google search operators are a powerful tool to find competitor content and gaps in your strategy.

By using specific search queries, you can reveal the topics your competitors are covering and how well they’re doing it.

Start by typing site:competitor.com followed by a keyword or phrase related to your niche.

In our example, we’ll use the niche of organic beauty products.

Let’s say one of our organic competitors is Our Oily House.

We searched: site:https://www.ouroilyhouse.com/ “natural face moisturizer“

This gives us a list of pages on that competitor’s site that mention or target this keyword.

But we don’t stop there.

Now, we’ll look for patterns.

Are they creating topic clusters around natural skincare?

Or organic ingredients?

Or maybe DIY beauty tips?

Examining their content reveals pillar topics and related subtopics they rank for.

For example, we’ll jump back to the Keyword Overview and check “skincare kits.”

It has transactional intent, it gets 1,300 monthly average searches, and the “Keyword Difficulty” is 27.

Great!

Step 4: Evaluate Your Competitors’ Keywords

You know how to find competitors’ keywords.

The next step is to evaluate them.

Analyze competitor keywords to see how intent-based terms target different funnel stages.

Let’s take a keyword like “best online course platforms.”

Now, check the search intent.

It’s “Commercial.”

Meaning users want to investigate and compare brands or services.

This implies a content format that should be a comparison post.

Or a landing page evaluating various platform’s capabilities.

Second, look for keyword relevance.

Focus on competitor keywords that align with your business goals.

These have high keyword relevance.

If your platform offers course creation tools, focus on keywords like “best course software” or “create a membership site.”

For example, broad terms like “passive income from online courses” won’t be useful.

Third, search for volume and difficulty.

Ideally, you’re looking for keywords with high search volume and moderate to low keyword difficulty.

Let’s head back to the Keyword Magic Tool.

We’ll use Teachable as our example.

Enter “best online course platform.”

And add the website URL for personalized results.

Now, hit “Search.”

You’ll see a list of related keywords.

Take a look at the intent, search volume, and personal keyword difficulty (PKD%).

Also, see the position in the SERP.

For example, “best online course platforms” has 480 monthly searches with a PKD% of 0.

Another strong keyword is “best platform to sell online courses,” with 170 searches and a PKD% of 0.

Both are prime targets.

They also have commercial intent.

Meaning searchers are closer to making a purchase decision.

Targeting these can help improve your rankings and capture more organic traffic from competitors.

Step 5: Prioritize Your Competitors’ Keywords List

Now that you’ve analyzed the competitor keywords, the next step is to integrate them into your strategy.

First, compare the competitor keywords with the ones you’re already targeting.

But what exactly are you looking for?

• Are there any high-volume keywords you’re not targeting yet?
• Are there terms they’re ranking for where you could compete?
• Are there areas where you’re already ranking, but could improve?

This will ensure you’re not leaving valuable opportunities on the table.

Earlier, we used the example of vegan supplements.

Here’s a spreadsheet with keyword data for this niche, showing volume, difficulty, and value.

Later, we’ll show you how to create this spreadsheet (and provide a template.)

The more keywords you have in your database, the better.

This gives you plenty of options to choose what to write about.

(After all, the better keywords you choose, the faster you can grow your organic traffic and bring more leads.)

Now, go to Keyword Overview, and add all your keywords.

Then, click “Analyze.”

Scroll down and press “Export.”

Choose between XLXS, CSV or CSV semicolon.

To prioritize your keywords well, use a simple scoring framework.

We’ll use Google Sheets—we’ve exported our data in CSV format.

Go there and press “Import.”

An “Import file” window will open.

Switch to the tab “Upload,” and choose your exported file.

Then, click “Browse,” and choose your exported file.

Then, click “Import data.”

Now, you have your raw data.

What interests you is Volume (column C) and Keyword Difficulty (column E).

Click over to the “Framework” tab and check VLOOKUP formulas.

In our case it’s:

• =VLOOKUP(A2, Data_import!$A$1:$G$16, 3, FALSE) to get Search Volume
• =VLOOKUP(A2, Data_import!$A$1:$G$16, 5, FALSE) to get Ranking Difficulty

At this point, you should have Search Volume and Ranking Difficulty columns and scores for these two (they’re automatic.)

First, let’s talk about Ranking Difficulty.

This tells you how tough it’ll be to rank for a keyword:

• Under 30: Low competition (easy to rank for), score = 1
• 30-60: Medium competition, score = 2
• Over 60: High competition, score = 3

Next, we’ve got Business Value.

This is a manual assessment (you have to insert numbers between 1 and 3 yourself) of how well the keyword aligns with your product or service.

• 3 (High value): If your product fits well into content targeting that keyword
• 2 (Medium value): If your product fits, but not perfectly
• 1 (Low value): If the keyword is barely relevant

Lastly, consider Search Volume.

• Over 800 searches/month: High volume, score = 3
• 500-800 searches/month: Medium volume, score = 2
• Under 500 searches/month: Low volume, score = 1

Once you score all your keywords on these three factors, formulas in the sheet gives you the final score.

This helps you prioritize what to target.

Focus on keywords with high volume, low difficulty, and strong business value.

Here’s how:

• High search volume (over 800 searches per month) means more potential traffic
• Low ranking difficulty (anything under 30) means it’s easier to break into the rankings
• Strong business value means it’s a perfect fit for what you offer, so it’s worth your time to go after it

For example a keyword “vegan protein powder.”

It has high search volume, low ranking difficulty, and business value.

Which means it’s going to be a top priority.

Meanwhile, something like “affordable vegan protein powder” has lower search volume and tougher competition.

So, it might fall to the bottom of the list.

This way, you’re focusing on keywords that’ll actually move the needle.

But remember:

In the end, any framework is just a framework.

Consider market trends, customer feedback, and lifetime value, too.

Now it’s time to create a content plan.

Step 6: Turn Competitor Keywords into Content

Once you’ve integrated competitor keywords into your strategy, it’s time to plan your content around them.

Say you’re a fast-growing brand that can’t compete with big players that rank high for high-volume and high-difficulty keywords.

But you have authority in one field.

And you found loads of decent-volume but low-competition keywords.

So, your strategy should focus on this untapped area.

Suppose your framework lists “vegan vitamins” as a high-priority keyword.

It has commercial intent.

And you know your customers often ask about it.

First, review the types of pages that currently rank for this keyword.

Then, create a landing page that lists all the vegan vitamins.

Ensure it provides more value and depth than competing pages.

Apply this workflow to each of your high-priority keywords for maximum impact.

Get a Strategic Start for Using Your Competitors’ Keywords

Competitor keywords provide valuable insights for a focused SEO strategy.

The most important thing is to approach this task through a strategic lens.

To help you set the right priorities, download our keyword prioritization framework.

Use it to create an at-a-glance reference of your keywords and related data.

Then, put those insights to use to build a better SEO strategy and ultimately outrank your rivals.

The post How to Find Competitors’ Keywords to Boost Your SEO appeared first on Backlinko.

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