How to Analyze Competitor SEO Crawls

Competitor SEO crawls help you understand how your competitors' websites perform and where you can improve. They reveal technical setups, content strategies, and performance gaps that you can leverage to boost your own SEO efforts. Here's a quick summary:

• What are SEO crawls? Automated scans that analyze website structure, meta data, internal links, and more.

• Why analyze competitors? Learn what works for them, benchmark your site, and prioritize improvements.

• Key goals:

  • Evaluate technical SEO (site speed, architecture, etc.)

  • Find content gaps

  • Analyze performance metrics (indexability, link distribution)

Tools to Use:

• Screaming Frog SEO Spider: Advanced crawling with JavaScript support.

• Ahrefs Site Audit: Focused on competitive analysis and link audits.

• SEMrush Site Audit: Large-scale crawling with clear visualizations.

How to Start:

1. Choose competitors ranking well for your keywords.

2. Set up crawls with proper depth, speed, and data collection rules.

3. Analyze results to find technical and content gaps.

4. Prioritize fixes based on impact, ease, and cost.

Quick Comparison of Free vs. Paid Tools:

Follow these steps to uncover opportunities and refine your SEO strategy.

How to Use Screaming Frog SEO Spider for Competitor Analysis

SEO Crawl Tools Selection

Popular SEO Crawl Tools

Finding the right SEO crawl tool depends on your specific analysis needs. Here are three widely-used options to consider:

• Screaming Frog SEO Spider
  

  This desktop-based crawler supports JavaScript rendering and custom data extraction. While the free version has limits, the premium version unlocks full-scale analysis capabilities.

• Ahrefs Site Audit
  

  Known for its focus on competitive analysis, this tool offers detailed link audits, content gap insights, and overall site health checks.

• SEMrush Site Audit
  

  Provides large-scale crawling with real-time monitoring. It also offers clear visualizations of your site’s structure, helping pinpoint performance issues effectively.

Free vs. Paid Tool Comparison

Here’s a quick comparison between free and paid SEO crawl tools:

Must-Have Tool Features

When choosing an SEO crawl tool, focus on features that align with your goals, especially for competitor analysis. Here are some key capabilities to look for:

• Technical Analysis Features

  • Support for JavaScript rendering

  • XML sitemap validation

  • Interpretation of robots.txt

  • Mobile responsiveness checks

  • Page speed evaluation

• Content Analysis Capabilities

  • Extraction of meta data

  • Detection of duplicate content

  • Assessment of internal linking

  • Validation of schema markup

  • Identification of content gaps

• Reporting and Integration

  • Custom report creation

  • Data visualization tools

  • API integration options

  • Historical data tracking

• User-Friendly Design

  • Easy-to-navigate interface

  • Customizable crawling settings

  • Bulk export capabilities

  • Project management tools

  • Multi-user collaboration features

Free tools can be a good starting point for small-scale projects. However, if you need advanced features and want to save time, investing in a paid tool is often worth it. Once you've chosen the right tool, you’re ready to set up your crawl analysis.

Crawl Setup Steps

Selecting Target Competitors

Pick competitors whose SEO strategies and market presence align closely with yours. Focus on these factors:

• Market overlap: Competitors offering similar products or services

• Search visibility: Those ranking well for your target keywords

• Website size: Sites of a comparable scale for meaningful analysis

• Geographic targeting: Businesses operating in the same regions

Stick to analyzing 3-5 competitors to keep your efforts focused. Once you've identified them, move on to setting up your crawl.

Basic Crawl Settings

Set up your crawl to gather accurate and actionable data:

• Crawl Depth:

  • Go at least 5 levels deep

  • Turn on JavaScript rendering

  • Adjust user agent settings

• URL Parameters:

  • Include relevant subdomains

  • Limit crawl speed to avoid server strain

  • Define patterns for URLs to exclude

• Data Collection:

  • Extract meta data like titles and descriptions

  • Apply custom extraction rules for specific elements

  • Monitor response codes to capture page statuses

Here’s a quick guide to recommended crawl settings:

Common Setup Errors

Double-check these areas before running a full crawl to avoid mistakes:

• Configuration Issues:

  • Crawl depth set too shallow

  • Neglecting mobile user agent settings

  • Misconfigured URL parameters

• Data Collection Problems:

  • JavaScript rendering turned off

  • Missing custom extraction rules or canonical URL settings

• Resource Management:

  • Not enough memory allocated

  • Crawl speed set too high

  • Timeout settings too short

Run a small test crawl on part of a competitor's site first. This helps confirm your settings are correct and lets you fine-tune before diving into a full analysis.

Data Analysis Methods

Technical SEO Metrics

When analyzing competitor crawl data, pay close attention to these technical metrics:

Use these benchmarks to compare your site with competitors, especially those outranking you.

Once you've defined your technical benchmarks, dive into how competitors organize and optimize their content.

Content Analysis

Break down competitor content into these key areas:

On-Page Elements

• Title tag usage and optimization

• Meta description strategies

• Header tag structure

• Image optimization techniques

• Schema markup implementation

Content Structure

• Page-specific content length

• Frequency of content updates

• Internal linking patterns

• Keyword placement and density

• Structural hierarchy and segmentation

Use tools to spot common optimization strategies, then compare these findings with your site to pinpoint where you're falling short.

Performance Gaps

Identify gaps in your technical and content performance by comparing your site to competitors:

Technical Gaps

• Differences in server response times

• Core Web Vitals performance issues

• Mobile optimization shortcomings

• Inefficient site architecture

Content Gaps

• Topics your site doesn't cover

• Variations in content depth

• Differences in media usage

• Lack of diverse content formats

Focus on improvements that offer the best balance of impact, ease of implementation, and ROI. Regularly track metrics (monthly is ideal) to measure progress and refine your strategy as the competitive landscape evolves. Address gaps that directly influence your search visibility and overall performance.

Implementation Plan

Setting Priorities

Start by building a prioritization matrix using three weighted factors: impact (40%), ease (35%), and cost (25%). Focus on the opportunities that score the highest. Give priority to technical fixes that improve crawlability and indexation, and direct content updates toward high-traffic, revenue-driving pages.

Creating Task Lists

Break down SEO improvements into clear, actionable tasks. Group these tasks into categories for better organization:

Technical Tasks

• Outline necessary URL structure changes

• List specific meta tag updates

• Detail schema markup adjustments

• Plan internal linking improvements

Content Tasks

• Identify pages needing more content

• Plan keyword placement refinements

• Create a schedule for content updates

• Highlight image optimization needs

Assign each task to a team member, set deadlines, and map out dependencies using project management tools. Once tasks are assigned, track progress systematically to ensure they achieve the desired outcomes.

Progress Monitoring

Put a tracking system in place for monitoring SEO improvements. Tools like Metrics Watch can simplify this by integrating with key SEO platforms and sending automated reports directly to your inbox.

Align your monitoring schedule with your implementation timeline:

Use custom dashboards to track essential metrics such as:

• Keyword ranking improvements

• Organic traffic growth

• Core Web Vitals performance

• Crawl budget usage

• Conversion rate changes

For agencies managing several clients, Metrics Watch's Pro plan ($100/month) supports up to 25 reports at once and includes white-label features for professional reporting to stakeholders.

Conclusion

Summary Points

Analyzing your competitors' SEO strategies can uncover both technical and content-related gaps that may be holding back your search rankings. A thorough crawl analysis helps pinpoint areas for improvement and highlights opportunities to refine your approach.

Here’s what stands out:

• Techniques competitors use to optimize their technical SEO

• Content structure and depth that attract more organic traffic

• Benchmarks for key performance metrics

• Areas where competitors are underperforming

These takeaways can shape your SEO strategy. By studying competitor site structures, content tactics, and technical setups, you can craft targeted strategies to fill market gaps. Use this information as a starting point for deeper analysis.

Getting Started

1. Choose Your Competitors

Identify 2-3 competitors who rank higher than you. Focus on those with a comparable market presence and website scope to ensure meaningful insights.

2. Define Your Metrics

Keep track of metrics in these three main areas:

3. Plan Your Next Steps

Follow a structured 90-day approach:

• Weeks 1-2: Set up tools and complete initial crawls

• Weeks 3-4: Analyze data and identify gaps

• Weeks 5-8: Implement critical fixes and improvements

• Weeks 9-12: Monitor results and fine-tune based on metrics

This roadmap will help you prioritize tasks and make measurable progress.

Related posts

• How to analyze seo performance trends

• Competitor Backlink Analysis Steps

• Competitor SEO Audit Checklist: Key Steps

• Core Web Vitals: Compare Competitor Scores