Competitor analysis is very important for SEO and marketing. But how you do it depends on how money you have how big your team is and how many competitors you are watching. Some businesses like to use tracking spreadsheets. Others always use Semrush or Ahrefs. Both ways work. The question is which one is best for you now.
What You Get From Manual Tracking
Manual competitor tracking means you visit your competitors sites, search results and social channels yourself. Then you write down what you find in a spreadsheet. It takes longer. It has some good points.
- You do not have to pay for any tools. You only spend your time.
- You get an understanding of what your competitors are doing. You notice the tone, positioning and design choices that automated reports do not show.
- You have control over what you track. You only track what is important to your business not everything a tool shows you.
For a business watching a few direct competitors this is often enough. If you spend one hour a week checking your competitors pricing pages, blog posts and ranking keywords you can find the same important information that a tool would give you. You just have to put in work.
What Semrush and Ahrefs Offer
Semrush and Ahrefs are worth the money because they automate things and can handle a lot of work. Of manually checking rankings you get:
- Historical keyword and ranking data that is updated every day or hour.
- Backlink profiles for any domain without you having to search the web yourself.
- Content gap analysis that shows you the keywords your competitors rank for but you do not.
- Traffic and market-share estimates for many competitors at once.
If you are tracking competitors or you need numbers to support your strategy these tools can save you a lot of time.
When Manual Tracking Is a Good Idea
- You are tracking a number of competitors less than five.
- You are just starting out. Want to test an idea before spending money on tools.
- Your business is local or very specific and tools do not have data anyway.
- You need to understand the context of what your competitorsre doing, like their messaging, design and customer reviews.
When to Use a Premium Tool
- You manage SEO for clients or a big website with many competitors.
- Your market is changing fast and old data can hurt your business.
- You need to track backlinks for sites, which is hard to do manually.
- The time you save is worth more than the cost of the tool. If manual tracking takes than four to six hours a week a tool might be cheaper.
Cost and Time Compared
| Factor Manual Tracking | Premium Tools like Semrush and Ahrefs |
|—|—|—|
| Monthly cost | $0 just your time | $99 to $399 per month |
| Weekly time for five to ten competitors | Two to six hours | Thirty to sixty minutes |
How often data is updated | You have to do it manually so it can be old | Updated every day or hour |
Backlink tracking | Very limited | You can track a lot of backlinks |
Best for | Small teams with few competitors | Big teams with many competitors |
A Simple Manual Tracking Template
For each competitor track these things every week or two:
- Pricing page. Any changes in what they offer.
- Three blog posts they published since you last checked.
- Homepage messaging. Their headline and what they offer.
- Estimated keyword focus. What you find when you search their site on Google.
- Notable. Mentions. What you find when you use a free tool to check.
A simple spreadsheet with these five columns updated every week can give you most of the information you need without spending any money.
Quick Guide to Making a Decision
- Are you tracking than five competitors, on a tight budget and just starting out? Do it manually.
- Are you tracking ten or more competitors need to know about backlinks and rankings and your team is busy? Use. Ahrefs.
- Are you somewhere in between? Start with tracking and switch to a tool when it starts taking too much of your time.
Neither way is better, than the other. They just solve problems at different times. The smart thing to do is choose the method that fits your situation not follow what is popular.
