What Keywords Are My Competitors Using? Proven Ways to Find Out

Have you ever wondered why your competitors always show up at the top of Google’s search results while your site has trouble moving up? The truth is that they aren’t always better at business; they are often better at keyword strategy. They know exactly what search terms bring in visitors, leads, and sales.

What good news? With the right method, you can often find those same keywords in just a few minutes. Using tools like SE Ranking, Google Keyword Planner, and Bing Keyword Planner, I’ll show you how to find your competitors’ keywords in this guide. You’ll also learn how to find low-competition keywords that will make you money, even the AdWords keywords that your competitors are bidding on.

This isn’t about blindly copying what your competitors do. It’s about figuring out what works for them and using that information to make your own site’s SEO strategy better.

What Are Keywords Used by Competitors?

Competitor keywords are the words and phrases that your competitors already rank for in organic search or go after with paid ads. In other words, they are the exact words that people type into Google to get to your competitors’ sites.

If you run a project management SaaS and your competitor shows up for “best task management app,” that phrase is one of their competitor keywords. By identifying it, you know that there is a demand for it and that it has been shown to get traffic.

But not all of the keywords that your competitors use are the same. Some keywords are very competitive and hard to rank for, while others are low-competition keywords that are still profitable and bring in qualified traffic. Being able to tell the difference is what gives you the edge.

Also Read: Performance Marketing vs. Traditional Ads

Why it’s important to find keywords that your competitors use

If you’re still guessing which keywords to go after, you’re already behind. Competitor keyword research gives you a map of your market based on data. Here’s why it matters:

It shows you opportunities you didn’t know about. You can find niche keywords that your competitors use to get traffic instead of going after the same obvious ones that everyone else is going after.

It makes your content strategy stronger. You can make better, more complete content that meets user intent by knowing what keywords your competitors rank for.

It makes it more likely to rank higher. Search engines trust sites that do well on a lot of relevant searches. When you optimize for keywords that your competitors are already using, you make your site more like what Google already likes.

It saves money. Instead of spending months trying to rank for random keywords, you put your efforts into areas where your competitors are already making money.

The important thing is not to copy your competitors’ words exactly, but to use their best strategies on your own site.

Step 1: Find out who your SEO competitors are

You need to know who your real competitors are before you can look at keywords. And here’s the thing: the people who show up in your search results aren’t always the same as the people who compete with your business.

For example, QuickBooks might be your direct business competitor if you sell accounting software. But if you search on Google, you might have to compete with blogs like Investopedia or review sites like G2. Those are the people who are competing with you in SEO.

Use Google to look for them by searching for your most important target keywords. Keep track of the domains that keep coming up. These are the sites you’ll look at to see what keywords they are using.

Step 2: How to Find Out What Keywords Your Competitors Are Using (SE Ranking)

SE Ranking is one of the easiest ways to find out what keywords your competitors are using.

To use the Competitive Research tool, type in the domain name of your competitor. In a matter of seconds, you’ll get a full list of the keywords that are bringing people to their site. This includes things like organic rankings, paid keywords, traffic volume, and even the URLs that go with each keyword.

The Keyword Gap Analysis tool is where the real power is. This tool shows you the keywords that your competitors rank for that you don’t. It does this by comparing your keyword list to theirs. These are great chances because they show you traffic you’re not getting right now.

For instance, when we looked at a CRM competitor, SE Ranking showed us terms like “CRM for freelancers” and “simple client management tool,” which we weren’t going after. Compared to generic “CRM software,” both had good search volumes and less competition. That idea gave us two new content ideas that could really work.

Not only are you asking, “What keywords are my competitors using?” when you do this exercise. You’re finding the ones that can have a direct impact on your site.

Also Read:What Are Social Bookmarking Sites?

Step 3: Use Google Tools to Find Your Competitors’ Keywords

Using the Google Keyword Planner

Google Keyword Planner is not just for people who want to buy ads. You can also use it to find out what keywords a competitor’s website is using.

Put a competitor’s domain into the “Discover New Keywords” tool. Keyword Planner will make a list of terms that are related to the content on their site. You will see search volume ranges, levels of competition, and suggested bid prices next to each keyword.

This method also shows you the AdWords keywords that your competitors are actively bidding on. If they are paying for certain terms, it is a clear sign that those keywords make money.

Looking at Google Ads Campaigns

You can go even further by looking at the keywords that your competitors use in Google Ads. If you’re running ads, tools like Auction Insights or third-party platforms can help you see how they bid. This helps you answer questions like, “How do I find keywords that my competitors use in Google Ads?” and What keywords do my competitors use in their paid campaigns?

The keywords they pay for and the keywords they get for free often show their most valuable terms.

Step 4: Find more chances with Bing Keyword Planner

Even though Google is the best search engine, you shouldn’t ignore Bing, especially if you’re looking for keywords with little competition.

Bing Keyword Planner is like Google’s tool, but it often shows terms with less competition. For instance, a keyword that gets 10,000 searches a month on Google might only get 1,000 on Bing. But if those searches have less competition, they are easier to win.

Adding Bing’s data to the mix gives you a bigger picture of the search landscape if you want to find profitable keywords with little competition.

Step 5: How to Find Keywords That Will Make You Money with Little Competition

The next step is to filter the keyword lists you got from your competitors to find the gems: high-value but low-competition keywords.

This is how it works:

You can use SE Ranking or Keyword Planner to sort keywords by how many people search for them and how hard they are to rank for.

Search for words that have a moderate amount of traffic (not too much or too little) and are easy to rank for.

Look at the SERP: Are the pages that rank highest weak, out of date, or missing the exact keyword? That’s your chance.

Instead of trying to rank for “CRM software,” which is very competitive, you could go after “best CRM for solo entrepreneurs.” It’s more specific, easier to rank for, and often has a better chance of converting.

Also Read: 150+ Free Forum Posting & Backlink Forums Sites to Boost SEO 

Step 6: Don’t just look at keywords; also look at backlinks and ads.

Keyword research is great, but you need to dig deeper to really understand how your competitors are doing things.

Backlinks: Look at your competitors’ backlinks to see what keywords are in their anchor texts. This tells you not only what keywords they rank for, but also how they are building their authority around those keywords.

Ads: Look over their ad copy and the keywords they are targeting. Paid campaigns often show which keywords competitors are willing to pay for because they are willing to spend money to win them.

This method also answers the question of how to find keywords that competitors use besides just looking at their rankings.

Things You Shouldn’t Do

A lot of companies fail at competitor keyword research because they make these mistakes:

• Copying competitor keywords without knowing what they mean.
• Chasing terms with a lot of traffic and a lot of competition.
• Not paying attention to keyword freshness (your competitors’ content might be out of date, which could give you an edge).
• Thinking of competitor research as a one-time project instead of something that needs to be done all the time.

If you don’t make these mistakes, you can use what your competitors do as a springboard instead of a crutch.

Also Read: Best Free Word Counter Tool 

Frequently Asked Questions

In conclusion

Finding competitor keywords isn’t about copying their ideas; it’s about getting a better picture. You can find profitable opportunities, low-competition gems, and even learn from your competitors’ AdWords strategy by looking at the keywords they use.

You can go from guessing to knowing with tools like SE Ranking, Google Keyword Planner, and Bing Keyword Planner. The sooner you start, the sooner you’ll be able to catch up to your competitors’ sites.