If terms like "backlink profile" or "sitemap crawl" make your eyes glaze over, this page is for you. Everything described on the framework page can be done the same way, just explained here with less shorthand and more context for why each step matters.
Step one: search like a curious visitor, not a marketer
Open Google and type site: followed by a competitor's domain, no space, like site:example.com. This shows only pages Google has indexed from that one site. Add a topic in quotes afterward to narrow it down further. That's it. No software, no signup. Just a more precise version of a search you already know how to do.
Keep a simple spreadsheet open while you do this. One column for the page title, one for what it seems to be about, one for your own notes. It feels slow at first. After doing it for three or four competitors, patterns start to appear almost on their own.
Step two: find their sitemap, and just read it
Every established website has a file that lists its own pages for search engines. You can usually find it by typing the site's address followed by /sitemap.xml. It will look like a wall of technical text at first, but the important part is simple: a long list of web addresses. Scan those addresses. Do they cluster around certain folders, like /blog/ or /pricing/? That clustering tells you what the site's owners think is important enough to organize around.
Step three: check who links to them, with a free tool
Several backlink-checking websites let you type in a domain and see a short free sample of other sites linking to it, no account needed for the basic version. This won't show everything, but it's usually enough to notice whether a competitor's links come mostly from press coverage, from partner sites, or from a mix of smaller mentions. That distinction matters more than the raw count.
Step four: resist the urge to copy anything directly
This is the part that trips people up most. You'll notice a competitor doing something that seems to work, and the instinct is to do the exact same thing. Don't. What worked for them is tied to their audience, their history, and their existing reputation. Ask instead: why did this work for them, and what would the equivalent look like for your own readers? Sometimes the answer is nothing like what they did.
Step five: look for the topic nobody has covered well
Once you've looked at a handful of competitors, list out the subtopics in your industry that matter to your audience. Check each one off against what you found. The topics left unchecked, especially the ones that take real effort to explain properly, are usually worth your time more than trying to out-rank someone on a subject they've already covered four different ways.
You are not trying to build a competitive intelligence department. You are trying to spend one afternoon a quarter understanding your own market a little better.
Guide summary
None of this requires technical skill beyond copying a web address into a browser and typing into a spreadsheet cell. This guide is educational and does not constitute marketing or legal advice for any specific business.