Entity competitor analysis is the key to unlocking higher rankings and staying ahead of competitors. By understanding Google’s Knowledge Graph and entity relationships, you can strategically optimize content for increased topical authority and relevance beyond keyword-centric pages.
Entity-based competitor analysis isn’t about mimicking existing content. It’s about identifying strategic gaps where you can establish topical authority, future-proofing your site against algorithm updates that increasingly favor deep subject matter expertise.
This article will:
The result? A roadmap of the entities Google uses to understand your space, plus insights into where your site stands against the competition.
Before diving into the reasons for entity analysis, let’s clarify an important idea: modern search engines “think” in terms of entities.
Entities are the building blocks of how search engines understand the world. Using entities in your content provides clues to help search engines accurately interpret your website and connect it to the right searches.
Search engines have come a long way from focusing solely on matching individual keywords within a query.
Think of it like this: In the past, if you searched for “jaguar,” a search engine would primarily look for websites containing that exact word. The result could be a mix of pages about the animal, the car company or other less relevant uses of the term. Understanding the user’s true intent was difficult.
With entity thinking, Google builds a vast knowledge base – it’s like a giant encyclopedia of real-world things, concepts and the relationships between them.
Google analyzes a search query like “jaguar” and considers related entities like “habitat,” “predators” or “speed.” This helps it figure out the context and show the most relevant results, even if a website doesn’t overuse the keyword “jaguar.”
Let’s say a user searches for “healthy recipes with chicken.” Google doesn’t just look for that exact phrase. It can recognize related entities like “vegetables,” “low-carb” or “slow-cooker.” This means more pages are now eligible to rank for a given search, even if they don’t use the exact search terms.
This change in entities favors large guides that are informative and touch on many entities associated with a subject. Sites incorporating these broader entities are more likely to match the user’s needs, even if they never use the original search term word-for-word.
Dig deeper: Entities, topics, keywords: Clarifying core semantic SEO concepts
Additionally, entity analysis helps you optimize your internal linking in a way that resonates with search engines that “think in entities.”
While traditional linking might connect pages using basic keywords, entity linking goes deeper. It allows you to connect pages based on the underlying concepts and their relationships.
This strengthens the relevance of each page to search engines, helping them understand the full scope of information you offer.
Imagine it as building a web of knowledge, not just a scattered collection of keywords. Using the same entities makes it much easier for Google to grasp your website’s focus quickly.
The key takeaway is this:
Search engines strive to think like we do. Keywords are still important, but demonstrating a nuanced understanding of the entities and relationships within your niche sets your content apart and signals to Google that you’re a reliable source of information.
The easier it is for Google to understand your content (disambiguate) and the better it matches what Google sees as important in your niche, the higher your content will rank.
Now let’s get into why it is worth your time to analyze your competitors’ entities.
Entity analysis offers several key advantages for your SEO strategy. It helps you expand your reach, understand context and uncover hidden opportunities that a solely keyword-focused approach might miss.
Here’s how it differs from a traditional keyword analysis:
That said, entity competitor analysis isn’t a supplement to traditional competitor research, but it can serve as a step to organize the types of keywords that competitors go after.
Here’s where it fits within your larger SEO strategy:
Your entity audit provides laser-sharp insights into where your content could be falling short compared to competitors and how to take action. Here’s what your report specifically uncovers:
The key advantage: This hyper-focused entity analysis allows you to identify the topics you need to cover and gives you a roadmap for creating content that resonates with search intent and user expectations within your niche.
Disambiguation: Many words have multiple meanings (consider “Python” as a programming language vs. a snake). Entities, especially when linked to Knowledge Graph data, eliminate this ambiguity.
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See terms.
There’s no need to be intimidated by Python code or the Colab environment – getting started with this tool is surprisingly easy.
Remember, we’re not just chasing a list of entities; we’re building a strategic roadmap for your website’s success.
Step 1: Crawl your website(s)
tag.
tag.Step 2: Ensure correct column headers
url_col
(e.g., “Address”): This is the title of your column for the URL. title_col
(e.g., “Title 1”): This is the column title for your pages’ title tags.desc_col
(e.g., “Meta Description 1”): This is the column title for your pages’ meta descriptions.url_limit="200"
: You will be limited by the number of API calls you can make in your Text Razor account to 500 per day. Step 3: Access the shared Colab notebook
Step 4: Make a copy
Step 5: Replace api_key with your TextRazor API key
Step 6: Upload your data file
Step 7: Run the code
Output
Your analysis has provided powerful data: a visual breakdown of shared and unique entities, plus detailed spreadsheets. Now, let’s turn this into a strategic roadmap for your website.
Let’s say your entity analysis reveals terms like:
These immediately suggest broader content categories:
Additionally, if other entities point to specific industries, consider crafting content demonstrating your expertise.
Dig deeper: An SEO guide to understanding E-E-A-T
Here’s an example:
Note: Always ensure your title tags still read naturally and entice users to click.
This competitor audit reveals high-level thematic gaps, but true entity analysis power lies in its granularity.
It has limitations, especially because the highest salient entities are not always represented in the title tag, URL and meta description.
By analyzing entities at the individual page level, you can:
You can delve even deeper into competitor analysis by using TextRazor to analyze each of their webpages and store the results in embeddings. This lets you find a complete list of entities and pages unique to them.
While this is a thorough approach, a simpler method like the above often provides enough insight. The exhaustive route can be more expensive and may sometimes lead to less clarity instead of more.
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