5 free tools to spy on your competitors
Anaita walks through five tools you can use to monitor competitors without copying them, including Google Alerts, Social Searcher, Semrush, Facebook Ads Library, and Similar Web. Each tool reveals different data, from media mentions to ad creative to traffic sources.
The lessons
Set up Google Alerts on competitor names to catch every article mention automatically.
Use Social Searcher to track competitor social mentions from the past week or month.
Check Semrush Traffic Analytics for a competitor's keywords, audience ranking, and top pages.
Search Facebook Ads Library by competitor name to see every current meta ad they're running.
Use Similar Web to see a competitor's audience demographics and where their traffic and revenue come from.
Questions people ask
How can I keep an eye on competitors without copying them?
Anaita recommends five tools: Google Alerts for media mentions, Social Searcher for social mentions, Semrush for traffic and keyword data, Facebook Ads Library for current ad creative, and Similar Web for audience demographics and traffic sources. Each gives a different layer of insight into what competitors are doing.
Transcript
I know we don't need to be copying our competitors, but if you just want to see what they're doing, here are my top 5 ways to spy on your competitors. Number one is setting up Google Alerts. In Google Alerts, type in your competitors name and create the alert. It will send you a notification every time they mention in an article.
The second way to spy is to go to Social Searcher, type in the competitor name and it will show you every social mention they've had in the last week or month. The next tool is Semrush. Head to Traffic Analytics and type in the competitor name. It's going to show you their audience ranking, keywords, the traffic journey, and even their top website pages.
Of course, one of the best spy tools in the world is Facebook Ads Library. In the Ads library, filter by country and select all ads and type in their name. It's going to show you all of their current meta ads and headline text. Number 5 is now one of my favorites.
It's called Similar Web. This gives you a very specific breakdown of their audience demographic. It will also show you similar competitors, and best of all, it will show you where their traffic and revenue comes from.
