competitor-research
kostja94/marketing-skills
Analyze competitor SEO, content, backlinks, and positioning to identify gaps and opportunities.
What is competitor-research?
This skill guides systematic competitor research across keywords, content structure, backlinks, and pricing. Use it when planning content, auditing articles, building links, or evaluating your market position against competitors.
- Identify keyword and topic gaps—topics competitors rank for that you don't
- Analyze competitor content structure, word count, and H2 organization to set length and format targets
- Compare backlink profiles to find link gaps and outreach opportunities
- Benchmark SEO metrics and organic traffic against competitors
- Evaluate competitor pricing and positioning for differentiation strategy
How to install competitor-research
npx skills add https://github.com/kostja94/marketing-skills --skill competitor-researchHow to use competitor-research
- 1.Identify 2–3 main competitors or use web search to find top-ranking pages for your target keyword
- 2.Fetch competitor articles using web search or mcp_web_fetch to obtain their full content
- 3.Analyze each competitor's word count, H2 structure, keyword placement, and format (lists, tables, FAQ, etc.)
- 4.Compare findings: note which topics competitors cover that you don't, and which keywords appear in their content but not yours
- 5.Output a report with competitor URLs, structure comparison, content gaps, recommended length target, and keyword opportunities
Use cases
- Planning a new article: fetch top-ranking competitor pages, analyze their structure and keywords, set your content length and outline
- Auditing existing content: compare your article against 2–3 competitors ranking for the same keyword, identify missing sections or keywords
- Building a link strategy: find sites linking to competitors but not you, then create content those sites might link to
- Evaluating market position: analyze competitor value propositions, pricing, and messaging to refine your own positioning
- Creating an alternatives page: research competitor features, messaging, and positioning to frame your comparison fairly
- SEO specialists and content marketers planning or auditing content
- Product marketers evaluating competitive positioning and differentiation
- Content strategists building topic maps and content roadmaps
- Link builders identifying outreach targets and content gaps
- Marketing teams benchmarking performance and market position
competitor-research FAQ
Use web search for your target keyword to find the top 10 ranking pages. Those are your de facto competitors. Analyze 2–3 of the top results.
No. Use competitor structure as a reference baseline, then improve it: add missing sections, go deeper on key topics, or use a better format (e.g., interactive tools vs static lists).
Use Ahrefs or Semrush's Link Intersect feature to compare your backlink profile against competitors. The report shows sites linking to them but not you—those are outreach targets.
keyword-research discovers new keywords and search intent. competitor-research analyzes what competitors rank for and how they structure content—it's reverse engineering for content planning.
Yes. Analyze competitor pricing, positioning, and value props to understand where you sit in the market. For deeper pricing strategy, see the pricing-strategy skill.
Full instructions (SKILL.md)
Source of truth, from kostja94/marketing-skills.
name: competitor-research description: When the user wants to analyze competitors for SEO, content, backlinks, or positioning. Also use when the user mentions "competitor analysis," "competitor research," "competitor keywords," "competitor backlinks," "link gap," "content gap," "competitor content," "competitive analysis," or "competitor comparison." For content roadmap, use content-strategy. metadata: version: 1.2.1
SEO Content: Competitor Research
Guides competitor research for SEO, content, backlinks, and positioning. Use when planning content, auditing articles, building links, or evaluating market position.
When invoking: On first use, if helpful, open with 1–2 sentences on what this skill covers and why it matters, then provide the main output. On subsequent use or when the user asks to skip, go directly to the main output.
Research Types
| Type | Purpose | Output |
|---|---|---|
| Keyword/topic | Topics competitors rank for; gaps | Keyword opportunities; content ideas |
| Content | Structure, length, gaps vs top rankers | Length target; H2 structure; content gaps |
| Backlink | Link profile; sites linking to competitors | Link gap; outreach targets |
| Pricing | Competitor pricing, positioning | Pricing context; differentiation |
| SEO metrics | Organic traffic, rankings vs competitors | Benchmark; opportunity areas |
Competitor Keyword / Topic Analysis
| Method | Practice |
|---|---|
| Reverse engineering | Analyze competitor titles, H1, URL; identify topics they rank for |
| SERP overlap | Keywords with overlapping top-ranking pages → same cluster; #4–10 = opportunity |
| site: operator | site:competitor.com to see indexed pages |
| Tool | Ahrefs, Semrush—competitor keyword overlap, gap analysis |
Output: Keyword opportunities; topics competitors cover that you don't.
Competitor Content Analysis
| Element | Check |
|---|---|
| Word count | Top 10 average; length target for your content |
| H2 structure | Topics covered; structure to adopt |
| Content gaps | What top rankers cover that you miss |
| Keyword placement | Primary keyword in title, H1, first 100 words |
| Format | Lists, tables, FAQ; match or improve |
Use when: Auditing or creating articles; see article-page-generator for Research Phase integration.
Competitor Article Fetch Workflow (for Article Analysis)
When analyzing or auditing a single article, use this lightweight workflow to obtain competitor articles:
- Obtain URLs: From the user, relevant Contextus competitor or content modules, or web search for
"[target keyword]"to find top-ranking pages - Fetch content: Use mcp_web_fetch or WebSearch to fetch 2–3 top-ranking pages
- Analyze: Word count, H2 structure, keyword placement, content gaps, CTA, schema
- Output: Competitor URLs, brief structure comparison, content gaps, length target, keyword opportunities
Output format: Competitor URLs; word count and H2 structure per URL; content gaps vs your article; recommended length target; keyword opportunities (terms top rankers use that your article misses).
Competitor Backlink Analysis
| Action | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Compare profiles | Your backlinks vs competitors |
| Link gap | Sites linking to competitors but not you |
| Opportunity | Outreach to those sites; content they might link to |
Tools: Ahrefs, Semrush—Link Intersect, competitor backlink reports. See backlink-analysis.
Competitor Pricing
| Use | Practice |
|---|---|
| Positioning | Where you sit vs competitors |
| Differentiation | Value prop when price differs |
| Alternatives pages | Who to include; how to position |
See pricing-strategy, alternatives-page-generator.
Data Sources
| Source | Use |
|---|---|
| SimilarWeb | Traffic, engagement, traffic sources by domain |
| Ahrefs | Competitor domains, backlinks, DR |
| SEMrush | Organic competitors, traffic share |
| GA | Referral traffic, acquisition by source |
| PostHog | Competitor feature usage (if tracked) |
Report Workflow
- Parse — Read Excel/CSV, infer domain, visits, traffic sources, etc. from headers
- Enrich — Web search, visit competitor sites; read root
contextus.mdif present - Build — Structure data for report
- Generate — Output report in chosen format
Output Format
- Competitors identified
- Research type (keyword, content, backlink, pricing)
- Findings (gaps, opportunities, benchmarks)
- Recommendations (content to create, links to pursue, positioning)
Report Structure Reference
| Section | Content |
|---|---|
| Executive Summary | Key findings (top 3), top 3 recommendations |
| Competitor Overview | Competitor, category, market position, key strength |
| Product Comparison | Feature/capability vs Us vs Competitors |
| SWOT Analysis | Our strengths/weaknesses/opportunities/threats; competitor deep dives |
| Marketing & Messaging | Value prop, target audience, key channels |
| Gaps & Opportunities | Gap, opportunity, priority |
| Prioritized Recommendations | Recommendation, impact, effort, owner |
Related Skills
- keyword-research: Competitor reverse; keyword discovery
- article-page-generator: Competitor article analysis in Research Phase
- content-strategy: Competitor analysis for topic mapping
- content-optimization: Competitor length and structure as reference
- backlink-analysis: Competitor backlink comparison; link gap
- seo-monitoring: Competitive comparison; organic vs competitors
- alternatives-page-generator: Competitor selection; comparison framing
- migration-page-generator: Competitor migration paths
- pricing-strategy: Competitor pricing context
- affiliate-marketing: Find affiliates promoting competitors
- directories: Competitor info for directory submissions
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