Using Ahrefs for competitive research helps you understand what your competitors are doing well and where they might be falling short.

Type your competitor’s URL into Ahrefs’ Site Explorer to initiate a deep dive.

You’ll gain instant access to their link graph, traffic metrics, and highest-ranking content.

Look at the Referring Domains report to see which websites are linking to them.

Backlinks from trusted, high-DR sites often indicate successful link-building or content marketing tactics.

Use the Organic Keywords report to map out the search terms driving their traffic.

Prioritize keywords with high traffic potential but minimal competition to maximize ROI.

Add these to your own content calendar.

Pay attention to the positions of their top pages.

When a competitor holds a top-three spot for 横浜市のSEO対策会社 a keyword you want, dissect their content’s word count, outline, and comprehensiveness.

Their success often stems from deeper, more exhaustive coverage of the subject.

Run a Content Gap analysis between your domain and up to five competitors.

You’ll uncover shared blind spots—keywords all players are neglecting.

There could be high-value topics they rank for that you simply haven’t explored yet.

Create better, more comprehensive content around those gaps to capture their audience.

Use the Backlink Gap tool to see which domains link to rivals—but not you.

Find out which sites link to them but not to you.

Contact those domains with superior, relevant content to secure similar referrals.

Don’t replicate—elevate. Offer a more authoritative, useful, or engaging resource.

Set up alerts to track competitor activity in real time.

Create custom alerts for your top competitors to be instantly notified of their content drops or link spikes.

This keeps you agile and allows you to respond quickly to market shifts.

Don’t forget to analyze their paid ads using the Paid Keywords report.

Even if you’re focusing on organic traffic, seeing their ad copy gives you insight into messaging, offers, and audience targeting that could influence your SEO content strategy.

Monitor their Domain Rating (DR) trends closely.

An increasing DR signals growing backlink strength and trust.

A falling DR could indicate algorithmic penalties or broken links—use it as a chance to surge ahead.

Using Ahrefs for competitor intel isn’t about replication.

It’s a process of insight, adjustment, and innovation.

Turn competitor data into a roadmap for creating content that’s not just competitive—but dominant