Competitive analysis is all about playing content sleuth, uncovering what your rivals are up to and spotting opportunities for your own business. Building on my recent content exploration of the Jimmy Fund, I spent the past week investigating some of their top competitors. Here, I’ll take you through my findings while explaining the process of competitive analysis in content strategy.

How Does a Competitive Analysis Work?

1. Identify Competitors

Asana describes competitive analysis as “identifying your direct and indirect competitors using research to reveal their strengths and weaknesses in relation to your own” (How to Create a Competitive Analysis, 2024). For my own analysis, I researched the following organizations:

• Direct Competitor: Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C)
• Indirect Competitor: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (St. Jude)
• Aspiring Competitor: American Cancer Society (ACS)

2. Analyze Content

With your competitors selected, it’s time to analyze their content strategy. Start by assessing the types, topics, and frequency of their content. Do they use a mix of mediums, or do they stick to just one? Do they use focused themes, or is their approach broader? As Christine White puts it in her HubSpot article, What is a Competitive Analysis – and How Do You Conduct One, “what are your competitors doing right to drive their growth?” (2024).

Here’s a list of key points to evaluate during this stage:

• Types: Blog posts, videos, infographics, reports, case studies, podcasts, white papers
• Topics: Main themes, industry focus, keywords
• Frequency: Posting schedule, consistency

Next, examine the quality of their content. Ask yourself: Is it visually appealing or is it lacking? Are they providing comprehensive information, or can they be vague at times? What tone do they use, and is it structured for readability?

• Quality: Depth of information, writing style, visual appeal, uniqueness

This is the information I gathered on SU2C, St. Jude, and ACS:

Once you have a clear picture of your competitor’s content strategy, the next step is to see if it’s actually working for them.

3. Analyze SEO Strategy

It’s time to dig into the data.

At this point, you’ll want to break out some SEO tools to uncover performance metrics such as keyword rankings, on-page optimization, and backlink profiles. For my project, I used Semrush and Moz to generate comparison charts that helped identify differentiators between competitor content strategies. Knowing what’s effective for industry rivals will help you figure out what they did to reach that success.

This is a keyword ranking distribution, keyword overlap, and backlink analysis that illustrates ACS’s superiority in SEO strategy:

4. Finding Content Gaps & Opportunities

With your research in hand, single out the gaps in your competitors’ content. Use this knowledge to pinpoint areas where your own content can stand out. The unique value you can glean here will give your content the edge it needs to thrive.

Here are the gaps and opportunities I found for my analysis:

Your Turn!

Competitive analysis may sound like a lot of work, but it’s one of the best ways to understand your rivals and find ways to make your content shine. 

Now that you know the steps, it’s your turn to break out the magnifying glass. With a little detective work, you’ll be at the top of your industry’s content game in no time.

Read my full competitive analysis for the Jimmy Fund below: