Before You Try to Rank, Study Who Already Does
Would you enter a boxing ring without watching your opponent's fights?
Of course not.
Yet people try to rank for keywords without studying who currently owns page one.
rolls eyes
What to Analyse on the SERP
Domain Authority of Ranking Sites
Are the top results massive authority sites (DA 80+)? Or are there smaller sites cracking through?
If you see sites with similar authority to yours on page one, that's a green light. You can compete.
Content Type and Quality
Read every result on page one. Yes, all of them.
How deep is the content? How well is it structured? Are there images, videos, tables?
Now ask: can I genuinely create something better? Our writing for SEO guide helps you create content that's both search-friendly and genuinely useful.
SERP Features
What features appear?
Each feature is an opportunity — or a threat. Featured snippets can be targeted directly. Shopping results mean Google sees this as a commercial query.
Backlink Profiles
Use a tool to check how many backlinks the top results have.
If #1 has 500 backlinks and #10 has 3, there's a clear authority gradient. You need to figure out where you can realistically slot in. Understanding how backlinks work is critical for this analysis.
Content Freshness
When were the top results published or last updated?
Old content with old dates is a signal. Google might be ready for something fresh.
The 20-Minute SERP Analysis
You can do this entire analysis in 20 minutes per keyword. It saves you months of wasted effort creating content for keywords you can't win. Moz covers SERP analysis as part of their keyword research framework.
After 500+ campaigns, this is non-negotiable in our process.
Build It Into Your Workflow
SEO Checkup includes SERP analysis in the checklist. 113 tasks. Free. No credit card. 30 seconds.