Competitor analysis template: table and example

Competitors can receive more search traffic even with similar product offerings, prices, and page content. The reason often lies in the site structure, search query coverage, content quality, or link profile. To understand the differences, it's necessary to collect comparable data and determine which solutions are truly worth considering.

A competitor analysis spreadsheet is helpful for this. It allows you to compare websites based on SEO, pricing, content, and commercial factors, and then compile a list of necessary improvements.

We've prepared an Excel competitor analysis template with sample entries, formulas, and separate sheets for different research areas. Below, we'll discuss how to select websites for comparison, where to obtain data, which metrics to consider, and how to compile the final report.

Competitor Analysis Template: Download a Ready-Made Spreadsheet

For competitive analysis, it's more convenient to use Excel or Google Sheets. You can store a list of websites, technical audit results, keywords, prices, and recommendations in a single workbook. When re-checking, simply update the metrics, preserving the previous values for comparison.

Download a competitor analysis template in Excel

The file contains 11 tabs with hypothetical examples, change calculation formulas, and a priority table. It can be edited in Microsoft Excel or uploaded to Google Drive and opened in Google Sheets.

How to use a table in Excel and Google Sheets?

After downloading, open the workbook and study the instructions tab. Then, fill out your competitor list, specify your promotion region, and select the keyword groups by which you'll compare websites.

Next, enter data from search results, SEO services, and manual verification. For each group of metrics, use the same criteria: period, device, region, and information source. Otherwise, differences may arise due to measurement methodology.

To work in Google Sheets, follow these steps:

1. Upload the Excel file to Google Drive and open it with Google Sheets.
2. If necessary, save the document as a separate Google Sheet.
3. Check formulas, number formats, and calculation results.
4. Grant access to colleagues with appropriate viewing or editing rights.
5. Once completed, please keep a copy of the report with the verification date.

Google Sheets is convenient when several people are working on an analysis. For example, an SEO specialist collects semantic keywords, a developer checks technical specifications, and a marketer compares commercial offers.

If you use automatic imports or scripts, test them on a small sample first. Formulas and external connection settings may differ between Excel and Google Sheets.

What does a completed competitor analysis template look like?

Let's say an online electronics store is comparing its own website with three competitors. The specialist collects data on search traffic, the number of queries in the top 10, pages, and referring domains.

Once the table is filled in, it becomes clear which indicators differ most significantly. However, the numbers themselves don't explain the reasons: a competitor may have different categories, a wider product range, or significantly more informational materials.

Therefore, comments and preliminary recommendations are added next to the metrics. For example, if a competitor is gaining visibility for a category not found on our site, we need to research the demand and the feasibility of creating a corresponding page.

The completed template must include:

• Baseline indicators. Values obtained from the specified tools, with date and source of verification.
• Differences between sites. Indicators by which your own project is significantly behind or ahead of selected competitors.
• Reasons for additional verification. Hypotheses about the influence of structure, content, links and technical condition.
• Recommendations. Specific changes that need to be evaluated before implementation.

This format maintains the connection between the identified problem and the proposed action. After a few months, the study can be repeated and the changes that have occurred as a result of the work performed can be assessed.

What's included in a competitive analysis template?

The template is divided into thematic sheets to avoid the need for specialists to combine dozens of disparate indicators into a single table. Each section answers a specific question: who is being compared, what data was obtained, how the sites differ, and what needs to be done after the analysis.

The data on the sample sheets is fictitious. They illustrate the process but do not reflect the performance of real companies.

When working on your own project, it's best to keep the original file unchanged and create a separate copy for each new study. This will make it easier to return to the original data and check your calculations.

What is a competitor analysis table and why is it needed?

A competitor analysis spreadsheet is a document that compiles comparable characteristics of several companies, products, or websites. In SEO, it is used to study search results, semantics, page structure, content, links, and the technical condition of resources.

The format depends on the purpose of the research. For an online store, it's useful to compare categories, product range, and prices, while for a service provider, it's useful to compare landing pages, promotion geography, inquiry forms, and proof of expertise.

What tasks does a competitor comparison table solve?

A competitor comparison table helps you spot differences that might be difficult to spot when browsing websites one by one. For example, several companies may offer the same service in search results, but one may be visible for dozens of city-specific queries, while another is represented only by a general page.

In the table, these characteristics can be compared with the business's geography, URL structure, and landing page content. This helps identify which areas require further analysis.

The main objectives of competitive comparison:

• Find search queries that your competitors are gaining visibility for, but your own website is not.
• Identify in-demand categories, services, and thematic sections that are not included in the current structure.
• Compare content completeness, navigation, commercial elements, and visitor engagement methods.
• Study link profiles and identify thematic sites suitable for further placement.
• Prepare a coherent change plan with priorities and responsibilities.

The table also helps track research history. If, six months later, a competitor adds new sections or significantly changes content, past data will allow you to see these changes.

However, the presence of a certain element in a top-ranking search result does not necessarily prove its impact on rankings. Findings should be verified across multiple sites and compared with search intent.

How is SEO analysis different from marketing competitive analysis?

Marketing analysis examines a company's market position: product range, pricing, target audience, brand positioning, sales methods, and competitive advantages. SEO analysis focuses on how websites are presented in organic search results and which pages respond to user search queries.

Some metrics overlap. For example, product range influences the number of potential sales pages, while delivery terms can determine the usefulness of a product page for a customer.

For comprehensive research, it's useful to use both approaches. For example, keyword analysis can reveal a service in demand, while market research can help determine whether it makes sense to add it to the company's offering.

Therefore, a competitive analysis table typically contains both search metrics and commercial characteristics. The depth of each section depends on the project's objectives.

How to select competitor websites for comparative analysis?

The first stage of research is to create a list of websites for comparison. A mistake at this stage can distort the entire subsequent analysis: the specialist will waste time on resources that serve a different audience or answer completely different queries.

You can start with five to ten relevant websites. If your niche is broad, it's worth creating separate lists for different areas, such as commercial pages, an informational blog, and local search results.

Searching for competitors in Google using keywords

First, select the primary search queries for which you plan to promote your website. For an online store, this could be product category names, for a medical center, the services and specialties of doctors, and for a construction company, the types of work.

Check search results in your target region and language. Results for the same query may differ in Kyiv and Dnipro, so it's important to consider geography before compiling your list.

When reviewing the results, pay attention to the page type:

• Commercial service pages where the user can learn about the terms and conditions and submit an inquiry.
• Product categories with assortment, filters, sorting, and purchase options.
• Informational articles with instructions, explanations, comparisons and practical examples.
• Catalogs and aggregators that collect offers from several companies.
• Local pages with information about a specific city, branch, or service area.

Don't mix all of these types in a single comparison table without additional notes. Google may display fundamentally different result formats for different search intents.

Record which websites appear regularly in search results. If a domain appears for several priority search queries, it makes sense to include it in the main sample.

Finding SEO competitors using Serpstat, Ahrefs, and Semrush

Manual search is supplemented with competitive analytics tools. Serpstat, Ahrefs, and Semrush help identify sites with overlapping keywords, study estimated visibility, and compare organic search queries.

Typically, the work begins with an analysis of your own domain. Then, the specialist reviews a list of similar sites, checks their thematic relevance, and selects those that truly compete for the desired search demand.

You can't rely solely on the number of common search queries. A large information portal may share hundreds of keywords with a commercial site, but its traffic model is significantly different.

It's useful to compare competitors at the URL level. For example, for an online store category, you should examine pages in similar categories rather than overall domain traffic.

Results from different services may vary due to database composition, calculation methods, and update frequency. For quantitative comparisons, it's best to use a single source and record the export date.

How to create a competitive list?

A competitor list is an initial list of companies and websites selected for research. It helps control the sample and explain why a particular resource is included in the analysis.

The table should include the domain, region, language, competitor type, and business lines. Separately indicate the priority, detection source, and last check date.

The data in the table is hypothetical.

If a project operates in multiple languages, it's useful to create separate groups for each language version. Russian, Ukrainian, and English pages may compete with different websites.

After compiling your list, check that the selected competitors meet the research objective. This control will reduce the number of irrelevant comparisons in the subsequent stages.

What metrics should be included in the SEO analysis table for competitors' websites?

The set of metrics depends on the project's size and promotional objectives. For a small corporate website, it's sufficient to examine priority queries, service pages, content, links, and key technical characteristics. An online store with thousands of URLs will require a more detailed research structure.

It's advisable to separate data into quantitative and qualitative. The number of pages or referring domains can be expressed numerically, while ease of navigation or the completeness of a query response should be assessed using established criteria.

Organic visibility, rankings, and search traffic

Start with your competitors' search visibility. This helps you assess how widely a website is represented for queries from a specific SEO service's database. However, different tools calculate this metric using their own methodology.

The next metric is rankings for priority keywords. These should be compared based on region, language, device, and review date. It's a good idea to save previous rankings to analyze trends.

You can add to the table:

• Estimated organic traffic for the month based on the selected service.
• Number of keywords in TOP-3, TOP-10 and TOP-20.
• Visibility of the domain and individual thematic sections.
• Pages that rank for the most relevant queries.
• Change of positions and visibility relative to the previous check.

Pay special attention to pages that address multiple thematic groups. Their structure can provide clues as to which queries users and search engines perceive as related in meaning.

Actual clicks, impressions, and CTR from Google Search Console are available to the verified resource owner and users with granted permissions. Therefore, third-party traffic data should be marked as estimates.

Analysis of the semantic core of competitors

A competitor's semantic core helps understand the queries for which their pages appear in search results. The analysis collects keywords, positions, associated URLs, and approximate search volume.

Queries are then grouped by topic. For example, in an online store, you might highlight product categories, specifications, brands, model comparisons, and pre-purchase information.

The table should include not only the query but also the page that ranks for it. This helps you see how thoroughly your competitor breaks down the topic and what groups they combine on a single page.

Common, Unique, and Missing Keywords

When comparing semantic queries, it's convenient to divide them into three groups. Common queries are present in the search visibility of several websites, unique queries are found only on one of the selected competitors, and missing queries are found on other websites but not in the analyzed sample of your own project.

To detect such differences, use Keyword Gap or similar reports from SEO platforms. After exporting, queries must be manually verified, as not every identified keyword matches the company's offering.

Let's say a competitor ranks for queries about delivery to a specific city. Before creating a similar page, you need to ensure that the company actually serves that region and can provide visitors with useful local information.

Based on the analysis, a list of potential pages and queries for refining existing content is generated. For each decision, it is advisable to specify the intended intent and priority.

Grouping queries by search intent

Search intent indicates what problem the user is trying to solve with a query. Some visitors are looking for a definition or instructions, while others are comparing offers, checking prices, or ready to place an order.

Typically, queries are categorized as informational, commercial, transactional, and local. However, in practice, the intent is often mixed, so the final decision is made after reviewing the search results.

For example, the queries “competitor analysis template” and “competitor analysis spreadsheet download” suggest retrieving a ready-made file. A sample spreadsheet, descriptions of the tabs, and the download option are helpful for these queries.

The query “how to conduct a competitor analysis” requires a detailed explanation of the methodology. These needs can be combined on a single page if the material provides a ready-made template and demonstrates its use.

Grouping helps avoid creating multiple pages with nearly identical content. When in doubt, compare search results for selected queries and evaluate the degree of overlap between suitable page types.

Analysis of structure and landing pages

A website's structure shows how a company organizes its products, services, and informational materials into sections. When analyzing competitors, it's important to examine categories, subcategories, product pages, service pages, blog, and local landing pages.

It's helpful to create a URL tree and highlight sections that aren't present on your own resource. For large sites, crawlers, including Screaming Frog SEO Spider, make this task easier.

Internal linking is also checked separately. Links between related materials help users navigate to the desired information and provide search engines with additional ways to discover pages.

However, you shouldn't completely copy your competitor's structure. First, make sure the additional sections align with the actual services, product range, and search demand.

If several competitors have separate pages for a specific cluster, it's worth taking a closer look at that particular segment of the search results. This is grounds for verification, but not an automatic recommendation to create a new URL.

Comparing content and meta tags

It's best to test content differences on similar pages. To do this, select your own landing page and several search results with similar search intent.

The table records headings, main semantic blocks, the presence of tables, FAQs, images, commercial information, and internal links. It's also useful to include update dates and author information.

Title, Description, H1, H2 and H3

The title and description help present the page's content in search results, although Google can generate the snippet's title and description independently. When analyzing, pay attention to the relevance of the wording, its uniqueness, and its correspondence to the actual content.

H1 typically represents the main topic of the page, while H2 and H3 expand on specific topics. Check the hierarchy for consistency, the meaning of headings, and the completeness of the topic covered.

For a competitive table, it's enough to retain the main headings and highlight any significant differences. For example, a competitor may detail the cost of a service, delivery timeframes, and cooperation procedures, while your own website lacks this information.

There's no need to automatically add every headline you find from competitors. Priority should be given to questions that help the user make a decision or understand the topic.

Volume, completeness and usefulness of content

Character count is useful for preliminary comparison, but it doesn't say anything about the quality of the explanation. A long article may repeat the same information, while a short sales page may provide all the necessary information.

Therefore, along with the volume, specific elements are assessed: step-by-step instructions, calculation examples, comparisons, conditions, photographs, diagrams, answers to questions, and information about experts.

For informational materials, it's a good idea to check whether the reader can complete the steps themselves. If the article promises a ready-made template, the link to the file should work, and the file itself should contain clear fields.

For commercial pages, the most important information is what influences the choice of supplier: cost, components, terms, restrictions, warranties, and methods of contact.

The final conclusion should indicate what information is missing from your own website. Simply saying “the competitor has more text” without analyzing the content doesn't provide sufficient grounds for improvement.

Technical SEO of competitors

Technical testing is performed using a browser, crawlers, and available page analysis services. It's impossible to obtain all the internal data for someone else's website, so it's important to distinguish between discovered issues and assumptions.

Key areas of inspection include:

• HTTP response codes, redirect chains, and availability of important pages.
• Indexing directives, robots.txt, meta robots and canonical.
• The sitemap.xml structure and internal links to the main sections.
• Hreflang for multilingual websites and language version matching.
• Mobile adaptation, page loading, and Core Web Vitals metrics.
• Schema.org structured data and matching markup to visible content.

Google uses LCP, INP, and CLS metrics to evaluate user experience. Good benchmarks include an LCP of up to 2.5 seconds, an INP of up to 200 milliseconds, and a CLS of no more than 0.1.

These thresholds are given in Google Search Central documentation. When comparing, it's important to distinguish between PageSpeed Insights lab measurements and real-user field data.

A technical error discovered on a competitor's site doesn't necessarily explain their position. An audit is conducted to identify differences and assess potential limitations of one's own project.

Comparison of external links and donor domains

Link analysis reveals which sites link to competitors and which materials attract external mentions. Ahrefs, Serpstat, Semrush, and other available sources are used for this research.

The table includes the number of referring domains, thematic relevance, geography, anchor text, and link profile dynamics. Publications that may be of interest to your own promotion strategy are separately recorded.

DR metrics and other authority scores are metrics provided by third-party services. Google does not use them as an official, universal assessment of a website's quality.

When comparing donors, it's helpful to consider the site's topic, the quality of the content, the language, the regional audience, and the link placement method. A large number of links from irrelevant sources does not indicate a strong link strategy.

As a result of this analysis, you can create a list of suitable thematic resources for further study. Don't buy links just because you found them from a competitor.

Commercial factors and website usability

Commercial analysis demonstrates how easy it is for visitors to navigate a company's offerings. On service pages, they review terms of cooperation, pricing, contact methods, inquiry forms, and verification of specialists' expertise.

For online stores, filters, sorting, product specifications, availability, delivery, and payment methods are additionally assessed. All these elements must be considered within the specific niche.

A comparison table can include photos, reviews with verified origin, company information, warranties, and return policies. The presence of these features alone does not guarantee increased organic traffic.

When analyzing the mobile version, check whether the menu, product selection, and form filling are easy to navigate. Sometimes a technically sound page may still be inconvenient for the real user.

The review should result in a list of specific improvements related to user needs. For example, adding a clear pricing table or displaying delivery terms before placing an order.

Competitor Comparison Table: Example of Completion

Let's consider a hypothetical online electronics store that compares its SEO metrics with three competitors. All data is provided for illustrative purposes and does not represent actual domains.

For example, estimated organic traffic, the number of keywords in the top 10, the number of landing pages, and referring domains are used. Page speed and responsiveness are also taken into account.

An example of a comparative table of SEO metrics

The table conveniently organizes websites into columns or rows. The first option is suitable for a small number of competitors, while the second is easier to expand with regular monitoring.

Below is an example of a comparison using the same units of measurement. In a real report, you should include the source, verification date, and conditions for obtaining each indicator.

All figures are hypothetical.

Based on this data, we can formulate working hypotheses. For example, Competitor C is represented by a larger number of queries, has a wider range of pages, and performs better based on the given load metrics.

However, the table doesn't establish a cause-and-effect relationship. The next step is to determine which specific pages and search clusters are driving the observed difference.

How to determine the advantages and disadvantages of each site?

To begin, identify the metrics where the differences are most noticeable. In the example given, your own website is inferior to your competitors in terms of the number of queries in the top 10 and the number of landing pages.

This is a good time to check your semantic coverage and section structure. Perhaps your competitors offer additional categories or informational materials that address popular queries.

Then evaluate the technical data. An LCP value of 3.6 seconds on your own website requires checking the reasons for the loading time, especially if similar competitors' pages are performing better.

Lead SEO specialist — Gennady

When I conduct SEO competitor analysis, I first compare pages that respond to the same queries. Differences in the number of keywords or external links by themselves don't explain much.

If a competitor has three times as many pages, I check which sections give them search visibility and which queries we're missing. There's no point in creating the same number of URLs without testing demand.

The most useful part of my competitive report is the actionable column. It identifies which page needs improvement, which section needs to be created, where a technical issue needs to be fixed, and the data I used to make the decision.

How to evaluate competitors by points?

For general comparison, a simple rating system from one to five can be used. This is suitable for qualitative characteristics that cannot be directly compared with a single numerical metric.

For example, the ease of mobile navigation, the comprehensiveness of commercial information, and the quality of filters can be assessed using predefined criteria. The scale should be consistent across all websites.

If criteria have different meanings for a business, weights can be used. For example, for an online store, ease of product selection may carry more weight than the presence of an informational blog.

The final score is useful for internal comparison, but does not represent Google's official assessment. The report must indicate who conducted the assessment and which features correspond to each level of the scale.

Competitor Price Analysis Table: Example and Template

Price comparison helps you determine the position of your offering relative to the market. This is especially useful in online stores, service industries, and industries where buyers regularly compare prices between multiple companies.

However, it's best to compare comparable offers. The difference between a basic and enhanced plan, two product packages, or services with different terms and conditions can be more significant than the price tag itself.

What data should be included in the competitor pricing table?

To begin, select similar products or services and specify the characteristics that affect the price. If you're dealing with physical goods, check the model, packaging, warranty, and delivery terms.

For services, the scope of work, deadlines, restrictions, payment period, and any additional expenses are additionally specified. For example, monthly SEO support for two companies may include a different number of tasks.

Main table fields:

• Company name and link to the specific offer page.
• A product or service with its characteristics and configuration.
• Price, currency, available discounts and conditions for their application.
• Shipping costs or additional payments.
• Total comparable offer price.
• Date of review and note about possible limitations.

After completing the form, compare offers that truly meet the buyer's needs. If the terms differ significantly, it's best to create separate groups or add an explanatory column.

A competitor price analysis template can be maintained on a separate tab in the shared workbook. This approach is convenient when commercial metrics need to be compared with a website's SEO data.

How to calculate the average price of competitors?

The average price is calculated by dividing the sum of the prices of comparable offers by their number. Let's say three competitors are selling the same product for 1190, 1210, and 1270 UAH.

In this case, the calculation looks like this:

Average price = (1190 + 1210 + 1270) / 3 = 1223.33 UAH.

If the own price is 1200 UAH, it is approximately 1.91% lower than the average value of competitors.

In Excel, the AVERAGE function is used for the calculation, and MEDIAN is used for the median price. The median is especially useful when offers contain values that differ significantly from the majority.

It's advisable to supplement the arithmetic mean with the minimum and maximum prices. This will help you understand the range of offers and avoid making decisions based solely on a single final figure.

Also, compare the total cost to the buyer. An item with a low starting price may end up costing more after shipping and mandatory fees are added.

How to find out your competitor's average order value?

The average order value shows how much a customer spends on average per order. This metric is used to evaluate sales, develop product offerings, and analyze customer behavior.

It's usually impossible to determine a competitor's exact average order value from their public price list. While the website displays prices for individual products or services, it lacks comprehensive information on actual orders, purchase volume, and total revenue.

What data is needed to calculate the average order value?

For accurate calculations, two indicators are needed for the same period: revenue from orders and the number of completed orders. It's also important to define the rules for accounting for canceled purchases, returns, taxes, and shipping in advance.

The formula looks like this:

Average order value = Revenue / Number of orders.

For example, an online store generated UAH 900,000 in revenue from 600 orders in a month. Its average order value for the period in question was UAH 1,500.

In competitive analysis, such data can only be used if a reliable source is available. The price of the most popular product, the average catalog price, and the average order value are all different metrics.

If actual sales are unknown, the corresponding field in the table should be left blank or an estimated value should be indicated separately.

How to estimate the average order value if you don't have access to sales data?

A preliminary estimate can be constructed based on the product range, expected basket composition, and available information on shopping scenarios. However, the results will depend on the assumptions made.

Let's assume a customer typically purchases a core item for 1,200 UAH and an accessory for 300 UAH. In this hypothetical scenario, the cart value would be 1,500 UAH.

However, without data on accessory purchase frequency, it's impossible to say that the store's average order value is equal to this amount. It's possible that most customers purchase only the main item, while others order multiple items at once.

For a more conservative estimate, you can prepare several scenarios: purchasing a single item, purchasing with accessories, and ordering more. The assumptions on which each calculation is based should be indicated next to each scenario.

The resulting figures should not be presented as confirmed financial results for a competitor. They are suitable for internal planning and testing commercial hypotheses.

Example of a competitor price monitoring table

When monitoring regularly, it's helpful to keep track of previous and current prices. This helps you see who's raised prices, which companies are running discounts, and how often their offers change.

The table below shows a hypothetical example of comparing the cost of one product on two dates.

This example is hypothetical. All prices are fictitious.

The percentage change is calculated using the formula:

Price change, % = (New price − Old price) / Old price × 100%.

In Excel, simply enter the formula for the first row, then copy it to the remaining products. The resulting cells can be formatted as percentages.

If you need the total cost including shipping, add the appropriate column. This way, competitor price monitoring will take into account the buyer's costs, not just the product price on the product card.

How to create a competitor map?

A competitor map shows how companies rank based on two selected characteristics. It's used to compare price points, product offerings, product range, service level, and other attributes.

To build such a scheme, uniform evaluation criteria are necessary. If one company scores highly for a wide product range, while another scores highly for user-friendly design, the results cannot be directly compared.

What parameters should I choose for my competitor map?

The choice of axes depends on the purpose of the study. For example, for a service market, you might compare price and the breadth of the offering, while for online stores, you might compare product range and the average price segment.

For SEO research, it is acceptable to use search visibility and the number of topic areas if the indicators are obtained in a comparable way.

Possible combinations of characteristics:

• Price and completeness of service. Helps compare the cost of offers with the actual scope of work.
• Range and price segment. Shows the differences between specialty and large stores.
• Search visibility and topic coverage. Helps identify sites with a broad or limited SEO presence.
• Convenience of ordering and completeness of information. Used to compare commercial landing pages.

For subjective criteria, a scale should be developed and the attributes of each score described. For example, the completeness of a service can be assessed based on a pre-selected list of tasks.

This approach makes the map more understandable for colleagues and the client. When re-evaluating, estimates can be updated according to the same rules.

An example of a competitor map for SEO and marketing

Let's say a company wants to compare its services with those of three competitors. Two characteristics are selected for the study: relative price level and the comprehensiveness of the service package.

Ratings are given on a five-point scale. The higher the price rating, the more expensive the offer, and the higher the comprehensiveness rating, the more services specified in the criteria are included in the package.

All scores are hypothetical.

For clarity, the results can be placed on a map with four sectors:

To accurately position companies in Excel, it is better to use a scatter plot, where one axis corresponds to price and the other to the completeness of the service.

The companies' positions on the map help formulate questions for further research. For example, why does a more expensive offer include fewer services and what benefits does the company use to justify its price?

Where can I download a competitor map template?

The prepared Excel workbook has a separate “Map” tab. It contains hypothetical scores for several companies, which can be replaced with indicators from your own market.

Download an Excel template with a table and data for a competitor map.

To create a chart, select the company names and two numeric columns, then select the scatter plot. Use price values for the horizontal axis and offer completeness for the vertical axis.

In Google Sheets, you can create a similar chart using the insert menu. After creating it, check the axis labels and ensure each point corresponds to the selected company.

The completed map is especially useful in presentations and final competitive reports. However, it's best to accompany the conclusions with a table of baseline indicators and a description of the assessment methodology.

How to organize continuous monitoring of competitors in a table?

The competitive landscape is constantly changing: companies add products, publish new articles, adjust pricing, and redesign landing pages. Therefore, the results of a one-time study require updating over time.

For regular monitoring, it's more convenient to use a separate competitor monitoring table. It stores previous values, current metrics, the date of change, and expert comments.

What SEO metrics should you monitor regularly?

The composition of the metrics depends on the promotion goals and available resources. Typically, it's sufficient to start with priority queries, visibility of key sections, and changes on significant competitor pages.

It's not necessary to repeat a full technical audit of multiple websites every day. For most projects, it's more beneficial to separate quick monitoring from periodic in-depth checks.

For example, rankings for the most important commercial queries can be checked according to a set schedule. Structural changes, new pages, and link profiles can be assessed less frequently unless there's a reason for unscheduled research.

The monitoring table must contain:

• Date and period of verification with indication of the source of information.
• A website, section, or specific landing page.
• Previous and current value of the selected indicator.
• Absolute or percentage change, if such calculation is appropriate.
• Comment on the possible reason for the change.
• Decision on the need for additional verification.

When analyzing performance, consider seasonality, algorithm updates, changes in demand, and data availability. An increase or decrease in one indicator isn't always related to a competitor's actions.

For the most important observations, it's helpful to save supporting URLs and screenshots. This will help you revisit the situation if the page changes later.

How to create a competitor price monitoring template?

For price monitoring, a table in which each row corresponds to a specific product, company, and inspection date is convenient. This format allows you to build a price history without constantly deleting previous values.

Along with the price, it's important to include information about the promotion, product configuration, and availability. Otherwise, a temporary discount or change in specifications can easily be mistaken for a simple price reduction.

If products have unique part numbers, it's best to use them for comparison. Names on websites may differ, especially when a single model is available in multiple configurations.

After accumulating data, you can plot a price chart for a month or quarter. This will show which companies are holding their value and which regularly hold promotions.

The frequency of verification should be taken into account separately. For rapidly changing product categories, it may be higher than for services with individual pricing.

How to automate updating the competitive table?

With a large number of sites, manual updates become labor-intensive. Some operations can be automated using CSV export, SEO platform APIs, Google Sheets, and data processing scripts.

For example, a specialist exports rankings for selected queries, imports them into a table, and compares them with the previous period. Formulas calculate changes, and filters help highlight the most significant deviations.

Price monitoring automation must be designed taking into account data availability, website usage rules, and the technical limitations of the sources. It should not be assumed that every resource allows mass data collection.

Even with automatic updates, selective manual control is necessary. The service can change the export format, the page structure, and the product name or packaging.

Therefore, automation must preserve the source and date of data acquisition. If indicators stop updating, this must be immediately reflected in the report, rather than replacing old values with new assumptions.

Competitor Report: Example of Final Conclusions

After collecting data, it's important to identify which differences are important for further promotion. A convenient competitor report includes a brief description of the research, key findings, and a list of proposed changes.

The report doesn't require a detailed recap of each site's content. It's more important for the reader to see confirmed observations, reasons for further investigation, and specific objectives.

How to prepare a final SEO report?

It's best to begin the final document with the purpose of the study and the sample composition. Indicate which websites were analyzed, why they were chosen, and the period over which the data was collected.

The next section should contain a brief comparison of key metrics. For larger projects, this can be presented as a summary table or a small dashboard.

Recommended report structure:

1. The purpose of the study and the list of selected competitors.
2. Data sources, dates and limitations of the methodology.
3. Comparison of search visibility and keywords.
4. Analysis of structure, content and commercial elements.
5. Technical indicators and link audit results.
6. Key differences and supporting examples.
7. Recommendations, priorities and those responsible for implementation.

It's best to store detailed exports in an appendix or in separate Excel tabs. This way, the main report will remain legible, and a specialist can verify the original data if necessary.

Don't include dozens of graphs just for the sake of presentation. Each graph should answer a specific question, such as showing changes in visibility or differences in subject coverage.

How to prioritize SEO work?

After competitive research, more potential tasks typically emerge than the team can handle simultaneously. Therefore, recommendations need to be prioritized.

When evaluating, consider the expected impact on organic search, implementation costs, labor costs, and confidence in the initial data. It's also helpful to check dependencies: sometimes a content task can't be completed until a technical issue is resolved.

For example, fixing an erroneous noindex on an important page may require urgent attention. Developing a new information section usually requires more time-consuming planning.

For a simplified comparison, you can use an expected impact rating from one to five and a complexity rating in the same range. Then calculate the impact-to-complexity ratio.

However, a numerical score should not replace professional judgment. If a task involves a critical indexing error, it cannot be automatically postponed simply because of the high labor costs.

It's advisable to include a responsible person, deadline, and verification criteria in the final plan. This will allow us to evaluate not only the implementation but also subsequent changes in metrics.

An example of a recommendation table after competitor analysis

Let's say an online store's research reveals three potential issues: competitors have additional topic-specific pages, their sales sections contain more detailed comparisons, and the store's own website is experiencing increased loading times.

These observations can be translated into actionable tasks for the content manager and developer. Each recommendation must be supported by evidence, otherwise it will be difficult to validate the decision.

The example is hypothetical.

After implementation, it's necessary to record the date of the change and re-check the relevant metric. Assessing the SEO results may take time, especially if new pages are indexed or their search rankings change.

The report should include actual results, not pre-determined values. This helps adjust the strategy based on observations, not expectations.

What mistakes are made when compiling a competitor table?

One of the most common mistakes is comparing websites with different purposes and audiences. For example, a financial offer aggregator and a single bank's website may overlap in search results, but their structure, product range, and user interaction methods differ.

Another issue concerns the quality of the underlying data. If indicators are collected over different periods or obtained from inconsistent sources, the resulting figures may appear convincing but lead to incorrect conclusions.

When preparing a competitive report, there are several situations to avoid:

• Comparison of disparate pages. An article, a product card, and a commercial service may respond to different search needs.
• No verification date. Without it, it is impossible to determine how relevant positions, prices and technical indicators are.
• Using estimated traffic as actual traffic. Services predict competitors' traffic, but do not automatically receive their internal analytics.
• Copying the structure of the search results leader. Additional pages should be created after checking demand and business opportunities.
• Substitution of the average order value with the average price of the product. These indicators are calculated using different data and describe different sales characteristics.
• Excessive number of metrics. A large table without conclusions makes decision making difficult and requires constant maintenance.
• Lack of priorities. Recommendations without deadlines, responsibilities and supporting data often remain unimplemented.

It's also a mistake to view every difference between your own website and your competitor's as a weakness. Sometimes a certain feature is only needed by a large catalog, while a small company only needs a few well-designed pages.

After analysis, the practical value of each recommendation must be verified. If a change is not related to real demand, a user problem, or a technical limitation, it can be excluded from the plan.

When is it worth ordering a professional SEO competitor analysis?

Self-service analysis is suitable for small websites, specific product categories, and initial market exploration. A ready-made template will help you gather key metrics and understand which competitor pages deserve attention.

A more in-depth study is required when a site operates in multiple regions, contains a large number of pages, or faces strong competition. Additional challenges arise when promoting in multiple languages, changing the site structure, and experiencing a significant decline in organic visibility.

What does Seo-Gen's competitor analysis include?

At Seo-Gen, we begin our competitive analysis by examining search results for priority query groups. This helps us create a relevant sample and identify the pages against which our client's website should be compared.

We then examine the semantics, section structure, content, meta tags, technical features, internal linking, and external links. For commercial projects, we additionally analyze the terms, pricing, product range, and trust factors.

Based on the research results, we prepare a comparison table and a prioritized list of recommendations. We translate important tasks into clear technical specifications for the developer, copywriter, or webmaster.

This report can be used to develop an SEO strategy, expand the site structure, and plan content development. The scope of the study depends on the niche, the size of the resource, and the promotional objectives.

If you need a detailed analysis with recommendations for implementation, you can contact Seo-Gen to discuss the project's objectives.

A competitor analysis spreadsheet helps you gather search metrics, site structure, content characteristics, pricing, and technical data in one place. The most useful results come from comparing similar pages and examining the reasons for any differences.

Start with a few relevant competitors, fill out the main tabs, and create a list of specific SEO tasks. As the project develops, the table can be expanded and used for regular monitoring.

Download a competitor analysis template in Excel

If you need a detailed competitive report with semantic and technical analysis and promotion recommendations, contact Seo-Gen. We'll prepare a study tailored to your niche, priority queries, and website objectives.