How to Build a Content Plan With Competitor Analysis

Competitor Identification and Categorization Framework

Competitor analysis begins with identifying the right competitors. Direct competitors offer the same product or service; indirect competitors are different industry players vying for the same audience's attention. For content purposes, a third category must be added: content competitors. These are sites that rank for the same keywords and produce content on the same topics but sell entirely different products. A SaaS company's content competitor could be a media outlet blogging in the same space.

Semrush's Organic Competitors report lists the sites with the highest keyword overlap in search results. Similarweb reveals competitors' traffic sources and channel distribution. At Hareki Studio we build an analysis set of thirteen competitors for each client — five direct, three indirect, and five content competitors. This comprehensive approach uncovers not just intra-industry opportunities but cross-industry content openings as well.

Content Inventory Audit and Comparative Assessment

Pulling a competitor's content inventory is the first step toward understanding what they publish and how often. Crawling a competitor's site with Screaming Frog collects all URLs, titles, and meta descriptions. Exporting this data to a spreadsheet lets you classify content by type, calculate publishing frequency, and identify thematic focus areas.

A comparative assessment can be structured around five criteria: content depth, visual richness, freshness, engagement rate, and organic ranking performance. Scoring each competitor on these five dimensions gives you an objective view of your own position. The Ahrefs Content Explorer tool lists the most-shared and most-linked content on any given topic. This data helps you determine the quality threshold in your industry and build a strategy to exceed it.

Content Gap Analysis and Opportunity Map

Content gap analysis identifies topics your competitors cover but you have not addressed yet. The Ahrefs Content Gap feature lists keywords where multiple competitors rank but your site does not appear. This list directly shapes the priority order of your content plan. Gaps with high search volume and low difficulty scores are low-effort, high-return opportunities.

An opportunity map places these gaps into a strategic framework. With search volume on the vertical axis and production difficulty on the horizontal axis, four quadrants emerge: high volume / low difficulty (act now), high volume / high difficulty (long-term investment), low volume / low difficulty (quick wins), and low volume / high difficulty (skip for now). At Hareki Studio we build this matrix for every client and feed the first three months of the content plan from the "act now" quadrant.

Differentiation Strategies and Developing a Unique Angle

The ultimate goal of competitor analysis is not imitation but differentiation. Covering a topic more comprehensively, more recently, or from a more original angle is the primary path. The secondary path is format differentiation: if competitors produce text-heavy content, you can stand out by offering interactive tools, calculators, or video walkthroughs.

Developing a unique angle requires leveraging your brand's distinctive assets. Proprietary customer data, in-house expert perspectives, and your own case studies are differentiators that competitors cannot replicate. Thought leadership content — original industry theses, predictions, and frameworks — transforms your brand from a content source into an authority. These pieces naturally attract more backlinks and social shares.

Turning Analysis Data Into a Quarterly Content Plan

Translating all collected data into a strategic plan is the most critical phase of the analysis process. Priority topics from the opportunity map, format differentiation decisions, and brand-voice-aligned unique angles come together to form the foundation of a quarterly content plan. Four core topics per month and the formats in which they will be produced are defined.

The plan must be supported by flexibility margins. Competitors' new content moves, industry developments, and algorithm updates may require revisions. For this reason, month one should be planned in detail, month two at a semi-detailed level, and month three at a framework level. A monthly competitor monitoring report — automatable through Semrush or Ahrefs alerts — ensures the plan stays current.