When people start a new website, they often focus on design, plugins, or writing content immediately. The problem is that many websites are built without understanding what already exists in the market. That usually leads to weak content, unclear positioning, or pages that never rank because larger sites already dominate the topic.
Competitor research helps you avoid building blindly.
In most WordPress sites I work on, competitor research is one of the first SEO tasks I recommend before creating major pages or writing blog content. It gives you a practical understanding of what type of content ranks, what visitors expect to see, and where opportunities still exist.
You do not need expensive enterprise SEO tools to do useful competitor research. A beginner can learn a lot simply by studying the right websites and understanding how they structure content.
Table of Contents
Quick Answer
Competitor research for a new website means analyzing other websites in your niche to understand their content, keywords, site structure, design choices, and SEO strategy.
The goal is not to copy competitors. The goal is to identify what already works, where gaps exist, and how to create a better or more focused website.
For most new WordPress websites, competitor research should include:
- Finding competing websites in your niche
- Reviewing their page structure
- Studying their blog topics
- Identifying important keywords
- Analyzing internal linking and navigation
- Looking for missing content opportunities
- Understanding search intent behind ranking pages
Why Competitor Research Matters
Without competitor research, it is easy to spend weeks creating pages nobody searches for or writing articles that already exist everywhere online.
Good competitor research helps you:
- Plan content more strategically
- Discover realistic keyword opportunities
- Improve website structure
- Understand user expectations
- Avoid weak or duplicate topics
- Find content gaps competitors missed
This is especially important for new websites because newer domains usually cannot compete immediately against large authority sites.
Instead, you often need to find narrower opportunities where you can provide clearer, more practical, or more focused content.
Step 1: Identify Your Real Competitors
Your business competitors and SEO competitors are not always the same thing.
For example, if you build local business websites, your SEO competitors may include tutorial blogs, agencies, YouTube creators, or software companies ranking for the same search terms.
Start by searching Google for topics you want your website to cover.
Examples:
- how to build a WordPress website
- WordPress SEO beginner guide
- WooCommerce setup tutorial
- website design tips
Pay attention to websites that repeatedly appear in search results.
Create a simple spreadsheet with:
- Website name
- Main topics covered
- Type of website
- Content quality
- Estimated authority
- Notes about strengths and weaknesses
In my experience, reviewing 5–10 good competitors is usually enough for a new website.
Step 2: Analyze Their Website Structure
A strong website structure often reveals how a site approaches SEO.
Look at:
- Main navigation menus
- Categories
- Cornerstone pages
- Internal linking
- URL structure
- Blog organization
For example, many successful WordPress tutorial websites organize content into clear categories like:
- WordPress Setup
- SEO
- Website Design
- Ecommerce
- Website Marketing
A structured content system helps both users and search engines understand the site.
When I review websites that struggle with SEO, weak structure is often one of the biggest problems. Pages become disconnected, categories overlap, and visitors cannot easily navigate related topics.
Step 3: Review Their Top Content
Next, identify which pages appear most valuable or visible.
You can do this by:
- Searching their brand name in Google
- Looking for pages with many backlinks
- Checking which articles appear frequently in search results
- Reviewing comment activity or social shares
- Using SEO tools like Ahrefs, Semrush, or Ubersuggest
Focus on understanding:
- Which topics generate traffic
- How detailed the articles are
- How the content is formatted
- Whether they use screenshots, videos, or examples
- How they structure headings
Do not copy article structures directly. Instead, look for patterns.
For example, you may notice that most ranking tutorials include:
- A quick answer near the top
- Step-by-step instructions
- Troubleshooting sections
- Internal links to related tutorials
- Practical examples
That tells you what users likely expect from the topic.
Step 4: Look for Content Gaps
This is where competitor research becomes useful.
A content gap is a topic competitors have ignored, covered poorly, or explained in an outdated way.
Common opportunities include:
- Beginner-friendly versions of technical topics
- More updated tutorials
- Simpler explanations
- Better screenshots
- More practical examples
- Localized or niche-specific content
For example, many SEO tutorials explain concepts but skip real implementation steps inside WordPress.
That creates opportunities for practical beginner-focused guides.
When I build content plans, I usually look for topics where competitors provide incomplete explanations or where their tutorials feel overly technical for beginners.
Step 5: Analyze Keywords Carefully
Do not focus only on high-volume keywords.
New websites often perform better by targeting:
- Long-tail keywords
- Specific problem-solving searches
- Lower-competition phrases
- Question-based searches
Examples:
Instead of targeting:
- WordPress SEO
You may target:
- how to set up WordPress SEO for a new website
- WordPress SEO checklist for beginners
- how to improve SEO on a small business website
These narrower searches are usually easier to rank for and often attract visitors with clearer intent.
Useful tools include:
- Google Search autocomplete
- Google “People Also Ask”
- Google Search Console
- Ahrefs
- Semrush
- Ubersuggest
- LowFruits
Step 6: Study Internal Linking
Internal linking is one area many websites handle poorly.
Look at how competitors connect related content.
For example:
- SEO articles linking to keyword research tutorials
- WooCommerce tutorials linking to payment setup guides
- Design articles linking to layout and typography tutorials
Strong internal linking improves:
- SEO crawling
- User navigation
- Topic relevance
- Session duration
On larger WordPress sites, internal linking becomes part of the overall content strategy rather than an afterthought.
Practical Tips From Real Website Builds
Competitor research works best when you stay focused on patterns instead of individual pages.
A few practical things I usually recommend:
Avoid comparing yourself to massive authority sites
Large websites with huge backlink profiles may not be realistic competitors initially.
Instead, study websites closer to your size or niche.
Review search intent carefully
Sometimes two articles target the same keyword but serve different audiences.
For example:
- beginners
- developers
- ecommerce stores
- local businesses
Understanding intent matters more than keyword volume alone.
Look for weak user experience
Many ranking pages still have poor readability, outdated screenshots, or confusing layouts.
This creates opportunities to build a cleaner and more practical version.
Save competitor examples
I usually keep screenshots or notes of:
- strong layouts
- useful navigation systems
- effective calls to action
- helpful content structures
This helps during future content planning.
Common Competitor Research Mistakes
Copying competitors directly
Competitor research should guide strategy, not create duplicate content.
Google rewards originality and usefulness.
Focusing only on keywords
Keywords matter, but search intent, structure, readability, and usefulness matter too.
Ignoring smaller competitors
Sometimes smaller niche websites reveal better opportunities than massive brands.
Overusing SEO tools without manual review
SEO tools are helpful, but manually reviewing websites often reveals usability and structure issues tools miss.
When to Use This vs Other SEO Research Methods
Competitor research works best alongside:
- keyword research
- Search Console analysis
- content audits
- analytics review
- audience research
For a brand-new website, competitor research is usually one of the earliest SEO tasks because you may not yet have enough traffic data of your own.
Once your website grows, your own analytics and Search Console data become more valuable for guiding future content decisions.
Conclusion
Competitor research helps you build a smarter website from the beginning instead of guessing what content or structure might work.
For most new WordPress websites, the goal is not to compete with the largest sites immediately. The goal is to understand what users expect, identify content gaps, and create clearer, more practical content around specific topics.
A few hours of proper competitor research can improve your website structure, SEO planning, keyword targeting, and overall content quality before you publish large amounts of content.
Etienne Basson works with website systems, SEO-driven site architecture, and technical implementation. He writes practical guides on building, structuring, and optimizing websites for long-term growth.