Are your competitors quietly siphoning away your best leads, while your website sits on the sidelines? For ambitious B2B SaaS brands, the difference between a site that converts and one that collects dust often comes down to one thing: how well you understand the competition.

If your website isn’t turning traffic into demos or real sales conversations, you’re not alone. The median conversion rate for SaaS websites is just 3% and most companies fall short of even that benchmark. 

Most SaaS brands invest heavily in product features and marketing but overlook the power of competitor research when it comes to their site. The result? Missed opportunities, messaging that blends in, and a pipeline that never quite hits its stride.

This guide cuts through the noise. You’ll learn exactly how to dissect your rivals’ websites, spot what’s working, and use those insights to build a conversion-led site that puts your SaaS brand in the driver’s seat. No fluff, just actionable steps to help you outsmart the competition and win more business.

TL;DR

• Website competitor research helps you identify what’s working for your rivals and discover gaps to exploit for better performance.
• Tools like SEMrush, Ahrefs, and Similarweb allow you to analyze traffic, keyword gaps, content strategies, and backlinks.
• Focus on refining your messaging, filling content gaps, improving user experience, and strengthening SEO to outsmart your competition.
• Regular competitor audits ensure you stay ahead of industry changes and continuously optimize your website for higher conversions.

What Is Website Competitor Research and Why Does It Matter?

Website competitor research is about understanding exactly what your rivals are doing online: what’s working, what's falling flat, and where there are gaps you can exploit. This isn’t about copying. It’s about using real data to make smarter decisions so your website isn’t just another face in the crowd.

Here’s what effective website competitor research helps you uncover:

• Which messaging and offers are actually converting visitors into leads or customers?
• Content gaps in your competitors’ sites that you can fill to attract more attention.
• Design and trust signals that build credibility and keep visitors engaged.
• Clear benchmarks for performance, so you know where you stand and what to improve.

A strong first impression matters: 75% of users admit they judge a company’s credibility based on its website design. If your site isn’t measuring up to the competition, you’re losing trust and business before a conversation even starts.

Many SaaS brands struggle to translate research into actionable website improvements. This is where a specialized partner like Beetle Beetle can help by translating competitor insights into clear, conversion-focused website strategies tailored to your market.

Armed with a clear understanding of why competitor research is essential, let’s walk through a structured, actionable approach to gain valuable insights from your competitors.

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Step-by-Step Guide to Website Competitor Research

Quick Summary 

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A detailed, methodical approach to competitor research gives you the clarity and data 

you need to outperform others in your space. Here’s how to do it, step by step, using insights from the most trusted industry tools and sources:

Step 1. Identify Your Real Online Competitors

Understanding who you’re really up against online is crucial. Your actual competitors are the websites ranking for your target keywords, not just the companies you know from your industry. This step ensures your research is focused on those capturing your audience’s attention.

• Search Engine Results: Start by entering your core keywords into Google and noting the domains that consistently appear in the top organic results. These are your direct online competitors even if they’re not your traditional business rivals.
• Use SEO Tools: Platforms like SEMrush, Ahrefs, Moz Pro, and Similarweb allow you to input your domain and instantly see a list of competing domains based on keyword overlap and shared audience.
• Review Paid Competitors: Tools like SpyFu and SE Ranking can reveal which companies are bidding on your target keywords in paid search, exposing additional competitors you may not have considered.

Step 2. Analyze Website Performance and Traffic

Knowing how much traffic your competitors receive and where it comes from helps you benchmark your site and spot new opportunities.

• Traffic Volume and Sources: Use SEMrush, Similarweb, or Ahrefs to estimate your competitors’ total traffic, top traffic sources (organic, direct, referral, paid, social), and traffic trends over time.
• Top Pages: Identify which pages attract the most visitors. This shows what topics, products, or resources are driving engagement.
• Engagement Metrics: Where available, review bounce rate, average session duration, and pages per visit to gauge how well competitors retain and engage their visitors.

Step 3. Evaluate Content Strategy and SEO

A competitor’s content approach reveals what topics, formats, and keywords are working in your space. This helps you find gaps and set a higher standard for your site.

• Content Inventory: Use Ahrefs’ Site Explorer or SEMrush’s Organic Research to see which blog posts, landing pages, or resources are ranking and bringing in traffic.
• Content Quality: Assess the depth, recency, and originality of their content. Are they publishing in-depth guides, case studies, or just surface-level posts?
• Content Gaps: Tools like Ahrefs’ Content Gap and SEMrush’s Keyword Gap reveal keywords and topics your competitors rank for that you don’t and vice versa. This helps you find high-potential opportunities.
• SEO Optimization: Check for keyword targeting, meta tags, structured data, and internal linking strategies.

Step 4. Conduct Keyword Gap and Opportunity Analysis

This step shows you exactly which keywords are driving results for your competitors but not for you, so you can target them strategically.

• Keyword Overlap: Use SEMrush, Ahrefs, or Moz Pro to compare your keyword rankings with competitors. Focus on high-intent and high-volume keywords they rank for, but you don’t.
• Long-Tail Keywords: Identify long-tail keywords and questions that drive traffic to their sites but aren’t yet targeted on yours.
• SERP Features: See if competitors are winning featured snippets, “People Also Ask” boxes, or other search features for your target queries.

Step 5. Assess Backlink Profiles

Backlinks are a major ranking factor. Analyzing your competitors’ backlink strategies helps you find new link-building opportunities and boost your authority.

• Backlink Quantity and Quality: Use Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Moz to analyze the number and authority of backlinks pointing to competitor sites.
• Top Referring Domains: Identify the most valuable domains linking to your competitors. These are prime targets for your outreach.
• Link Building Tactics: Look for patterns: are they earning links through guest posts, partnerships, digital PR, or resource pages?

Step 6. Review User Experience, Design, and Technology

A website’s structure, design, and tech stack can make or break conversions. Studying these elements helps you spot ways to improve your own user experience.

• Site Structure & Navigation: Analyze how competitors organize their menus, landing pages, and conversion paths. Is their site easy to navigate?
• CTAs and Conversion Elements: Take note of the placement, language, and design of calls-to-action. Are they using pop-ups, sticky banners, or chatbots to drive conversions?
• Mobile and Speed: Test competitors’ sites for mobile responsiveness and load times using Google PageSpeed Insights or similar tools.
• Tech Stack: Use BuiltWith or Wappalyzer to uncover what CMS, plugins, analytics, or marketing tools competitors are using.

Step 7. Analyze Paid Search and Advertising Strategies

Understanding your competitors’ paid strategies helps you identify where they’re investing and how you can compete or differentiate yourself.

• Paid Keywords: Tools like SEMrush, SpyFu, and SE Ranking can show which keywords competitors are targeting with Google Ads and how much they’re spending.
• Ad Copy and Landing Pages: Review the messaging, offers, and landing page experiences used in their paid campaigns.
• Historical Trends: Some tools enable you to view how competitors’ ad strategies have evolved over time, revealing seasonal trends or shifts in targeting.

Step 8. Monitor Social Media and Brand Sentiment

Social presence and reputation can influence website traffic and trust. Monitoring these channels reveals what content and messaging resonate with your shared audience.

• Social Presence: Track which platforms competitors use, posting frequency, and engagement rates.
• Top-Performing Content: Identify which posts or campaigns are generating the most buzz.
• Brand Reputation: Utilize sentiment analysis features in tools like SEMrush or Sprout Social to assess public perception and identify PR opportunities or risks.

By following this comprehensive, tool-driven process, you’ll uncover not just what your competitors are doing but why it’s working and where your greatest opportunities lie. This insight is the foundation for building a website strategy that doesn’t just keep up but consistently outperforms the competition.

Now that we’ve examined how your competitors perform socially, let’s explore the best tools to help you conduct all of these research steps efficiently.

Which Tools Are Right for You?

When it comes to website competitor research, not all tools are created equal. To get the most out of your competitor analysis, it’s important to choose tools that align with the specific insights you're seeking. Here's how to match tools with your needs:

Best for Deep SEO Insights

If you want to get into the nitty-gritty of what your competitors are doing to rank well, SEMrush and Ahrefs are your go-to platforms. Both tools excel in keyword research, content gap analysis, and backlink auditing. You can see exactly which keywords competitors are ranking for, the content driving their traffic, and the backlinks they’ve secured giving you the data you need to strengthen your own SEO strategy.

Key Features

• SEMrush: Provides detailed keyword gap analysis and backlink audits.
• Ahrefs: Offers robust site explorer tools and real-time data for keyword rankings and link-building opportunities.

Best for Market and Traffic Intelligence

When it comes to understanding broader market trends and traffic sources, Similarweb is an invaluable tool. It allows you to estimate how much traffic your competitors are getting, where that traffic is coming from, and which channels are performing best. This is essential for identifying new growth opportunities and understanding the bigger picture of your competitors’ performance.

Key Features

• Traffic and engagement metrics for a comprehensive view of your competitor’s reach.
• In-depth referral traffic analysis to identify new audience sources.

Best for Paid Search and Advertising Strategies

For businesses focusing on pay-per-click (PPC) strategies, tools like SpyFu and SE Ranking will give you deep insights into which keywords your competitors are bidding on. These tools also help you analyze their ad copy, landing pages, and overall advertising strategies, allowing you to craft more compelling and cost-effective campaigns.

Key Features

• SpyFu: Tracks historical data on competitors' paid search strategies.
• SE Ranking: Offers robust PPC competitor research and insights into their ad copy and performance.

Best for Social Media and Brand Monitoring

Social media plays a big role in how your competitors engage with their audiences, and tools like Sprout Social and Rival IQ help you track their social presence and performance. These platforms give you insight into which content and campaigns resonate most with their audience, allowing you to adjust your social strategy to better compete.

Key Features

• Sprout Social: Provides sentiment analysis and engagement tracking for competitor content.
• Rival IQ: Helps you benchmark your social performance against your competitors and track trending topics.

Best for Understanding Competitors' Technology Stack

To understand the tech behind your competitors' websites, tools like BuiltWith and Wappalyzer will tell you what CMS, analytics tools, plugins, and other technologies they are using. This can reveal technical advantages they have, such as integrations with key platforms or performance-boosting plugins, which could inform your own tech decisions.

Key Features

• BuiltWith: Shows the technologies powering competitor websites, from CMS to analytics.
• Wappalyzer: Identifies web technologies, providing insights into the platforms and frameworks they use.

By combining these platforms, you can build a comprehensive, multi-faceted competitor analysis that supports every aspect of your website’s growth strategy.

Once you’ve chosen the right tools for your research, the next step is turning all these insights into actionable strategies that will give your website a competitive edge.

Turning Insights Into Action: How to Apply Competitor Research to Your Website

Collecting competitor data is only valuable if you use it to drive real improvements. This section explains how to systematically translate your research into practical website enhancements, ensuring your efforts lead to measurable gains in traffic, engagement, and conversions.

1. Refine Your Website’s Messaging and Positioning

Clear, differentiated messaging helps your brand stand out and directly address your audience’s needs, making you more memorable than generic competitors.

• Review competitor headlines, value propositions, and product/service descriptions. Identify overused claims and industry jargon.
• Highlight your unique strengths and address customer pain points that competitors overlook.
• Update your website copy to be more specific, benefit-driven, and tailored to your ideal customer.

2. Fill Content and Keyword Gaps

Targeting missed opportunities lets you capture new audiences and improve your search rankings.

• Use keyword gap analysis tools (e.g., SEMrush, Ahrefs) to discover high-value keywords and topics your competitors rank for but you don’t.
• Create new content or update existing pages to address these gaps, focusing on quality, depth, and user intent.
• Develop resources (guides, case studies, videos) that go deeper or offer a unique perspective compared to your competitors.

3. Optimize User Experience and Site Structure

A seamless, intuitive website keeps visitors engaged and increases the likelihood of conversions.

• Analyze competitor site navigation, layout, and calls-to-action (CTAs) for best practices.
• Implement clear CTAs, intuitive menus, and mobile-friendly design.
• Test different layouts and conversion paths, using A/B testing to validate improvements.

4. Strengthen Your SEO and Technical Performance

Technical SEO improvements boost your search visibility and site reliability, making it easier for users and search engines to navigate your site.

• Compare your site’s speed, mobile responsiveness, and Core Web Vitals against competitors using tools like Google PageSpeed Insights.
• Optimize meta titles, descriptions, and structured data based on competitor best practices.
• Address any technical weaknesses found during your audit, such as broken links or slow-loading pages.

5. Build a Stronger Backlink Profile

High-quality backlinks improve your authority and rankings, making your site more competitive in search results.

• Use Ahrefs or Moz to identify domains linking to your competitors but not to you.
• Reach out with valuable content or collaboration proposals to earn similar backlinks.
• Create link-worthy assets (original research, infographics) to attract attention from authoritative sites.

6. Enhance Social Media and External Presence

A strong social presence increases brand awareness and drives referral traffic to your site.

• Track competitor activity, engagement rates, and top-performing content across social platforms.
• Identify gaps in their strategy (e.g., platforms they’re neglecting, content types they’re not using).
• Develop a tailored social media plan to boost your brand’s visibility and audience engagement.

7. Monitor, Measure, and Iterate

Competitor strategies and market trends evolve, so continuous monitoring ensures you stay ahead.

• Set up regular tracking with competitor analysis tools to monitor changes in their strategies.
• Compare your website’s performance against competitors on key metrics (traffic, rankings, conversions).
• Adjust your strategy as needed based on new insights and shifting market conditions.

If you’re looking for expert guidance to bridge the gap between research and execution, Beetle Beetle brings deep SaaS experience to every stage of your website revamp. Their team helps you prioritize high-impact changes and ensures your site not only matches but surpasses your competition.

While applying insights is critical, avoiding common pitfalls is equally important. Let’s explore the mistakes you should steer clear of to ensure your efforts are effective.

Common Mistakes to Avoid in Website Competitor Research

Even with the best tools and intentions, it’s easy to fall into traps that limit the value of your competitor's research. Recognizing these pitfalls ensures your efforts lead to meaningful, actionable insights instead of wasted time or misguided strategies.

1. Focusing Only on Direct Competitors: Don’t limit your analysis to companies offering identical products or services. Many indirect competitors such as content publishers, directories, or large aggregators may be capturing your audience’s attention and search traffic.

2. Relying on a Single Tool or Data Source: No single platform provides a complete picture. Cross-check findings using multiple tools (e.g., SEMrush, Ahrefs, Similarweb) to ensure accuracy and uncover insights you might otherwise miss.

3. Copying Instead of Differentiating: The goal isn’t to mimic your competitors but to find gaps and opportunities where you can stand out. Blindly copying content, messaging, or design can dilute your brand and fail to address your unique audience needs.

4. Ignoring User Experience and Technical SEO: Don’t just focus on keywords and content. Overlooking site speed, mobile usability, and clear navigation can undermine your efforts even if you have the right topics and backlinks.

5. Neglecting Continuous Monitoring: Competitor strategies and market trends evolve quickly. Treat competitor research as an ongoing process, not a one-time audit, to stay ahead and adapt to changes.

6. Overlooking Actionability: Gathering data without a plan to act on it leads to analysis paralysis. Always tie your findings back to specific website improvements or experiments.

Bring Your SaaS Website Ahead with Beetle Beetle

Competitor research isn’t just a box to tick, it’s the difference between a website that blends in and one that consistently attracts, engages, and converts your ideal SaaS customers. By identifying the right competitors, using trusted research tools, and acting on your findings, you create a website that adapts as your market changes and your audience’s needs evolve.

Beetle Beetle is dedicated to helping B2B SaaS brands turn these insights into clear, measurable growth. Our approach is practical and focused: we uncover real opportunities, refine your messaging, fill critical content gaps, and optimize every aspect of your site for better results. With ongoing support and a commitment to what actually works, we make sure your website isn’t just keeping up but setting the pace.

If you’re ready to transform competitor research into your next growth driver, connect with Beetle Beetle. 

Let’s build the kind of SaaS website your competitors end up researching.

FAQs

1. How do I identify my main online competitors?
Start by searching your primary keywords in Google and noting the top-ranking websites. Use competitor analysis tools to discover both direct and indirect competitors in your industry.

2. What is a keyword gap analysis?
A keyword gap analysis compares the keywords your website ranks for with those of your competitors, helping you find valuable keywords you may be missing.

3. How can competitor research improve my website content?
By evaluating competitors’ top-performing pages and content formats, you can identify content gaps, discover new topics, and create more valuable resources for your audience.

4. What are common mistakes to avoid in website competitor research?
Avoid focusing only on direct competitors, relying on a single tool, and ignoring user experience or technical SEO factors. Regularly update your research to stay ahead of market changes.

5. How often should I conduct website competitor research?
It’s best to review competitor data regularly, quarterly or after major industry changes to ensure your strategies remain effective and up to date.

6. Can I do competitor research without paid tools?
Yes, to an extent. Google SERPs, manual content analysis, and free versions of tools like Ubersuggest or Moz offer basic insights. But for depth like keyword gaps or backlink intel premium tools give you a clearer edge.

7. How do I avoid copying my competitors’ strategy?
Focus on why their approach works, not just what they do. Look at audience engagement, content depth, and UX decisions. Use this to build something sharper and more aligned with your brand voice.