{"id":118350,"date":"2024-01-31T17:00:16","date_gmt":"2024-01-31T17:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/corp\/?p=118350"},"modified":"2025-07-08T07:40:39","modified_gmt":"2025-07-08T07:40:39","slug":"youtube-competitive-analysis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/marketing\/content-marketing\/youtube-competitive-analysis\/","title":{"rendered":"The Essential Guide to YouTube Competitor Analysis"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you didn\u2019t already know, YouTube is kind of a big deal<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the second most visited website in the world<\/strong><\/a>, the second biggest search engine (check out the latest top YouTube searches<\/a>) and the most searched term on Google<\/a> year after year.<\/p>\n

When 55%<\/a> of customers say they have a preference for video content from brands they follow, it\u2019s fair to say that video marketing is an absolutely vital strategy for marketers<\/p>\n

And, when over 1 billion hours<\/a> of videos are watched <\/strong>every day<\/em><\/strong>, YouTube has become a fierce battleground for the attention of millions worldwide.<\/p>\n

The key to winning in such a competitive YouTube arena? Knowing your competition inside out.<\/p>\n

In this guide, we talk through how to conduct a thorough YouTube competitive analysis to reveal your closest competitors\u2019 YouTube strategies<\/a>, get more views on YouTube<\/a>, uncover gaps and opportunities, and find the insights you need to improve your channel\u2019s visibility and reach.<\/p>\n

What is YouTube competitor analysis?<\/h2>\n

YouTube competitor analysis is the process of examining the strategies, strengths, weaknesses and opportunities of your closest YouTube rivals.<\/p>\n

You deep dive into their video content, assess their audience and engagement levels, analyze their target keywords and review their video marketing and SEO strategies<\/a>.<\/p>\n

All in an effort to dig out what works (and doesn\u2019t work) in your small corner of a vast YouTube world.<\/p>\n

Why is YouTube competitors’ analysis so important?<\/h2>\n

Did we mention that YouTube is one of the most influential platforms in the world? It really is the place to be for marketers wanting to tap into a broad and engaged audience.<\/p>\n

But, competition is as significant as the platform itself. Your rivals are likely to try and steal your YouTube traffic and eat into your share of audience attention at every turn.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why it\u2019s so important to undertake regular competitive analysis<\/a> to learn from your competitors\u2019 wins and losses, keep abreast of new trends and changing preferences, and understand the opportunities and threats within your niche. Luckily we\u2019ve got the competitive analysis tools<\/a> to help.<\/p>\n

10 benefits of YouTube competitor analysis<\/h2>\n

YouTube Competitive analysis helps you:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Evaluate and contextualize your video marketing performance<\/li>\n
  2. Collect ideas and inspiration to boost your video strategies<\/li>\n
  3. Learn from your competitors\u2019 most successful tactics<\/li>\n
  4. Spot gaps and find opportunities that your competitors have missed<\/li>\n
  5. Enhance your SEO strategies by analyzing their keywords, titles and descriptions<\/li>\n
  6. Benchmark video quality and engagement levels<\/li>\n
  7. Get a sense of what resonates with your shared target audience\u00a0<\/a><\/li>\n
  8. Understand your audience\u2019s interests and preferences on a deeper level<\/li>\n
  9. Identify new trends<\/a> in video, as well as within your industry<\/li>\n
  10. \u00a0Set achievable goals for your video marketing campaigns<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    How to analyze your YouTube competitors<\/h2>\n

    1) Identify your closest YouTube rivals<\/h3>\n

    This is the easy bit. Simply head to the YouTube search bar to find channels similar to yours.<\/p>\n

    Enter in your target keywords, or any related to your niche, and see which channels and influencers<\/a> appear high up in the search results. Zone in on the ones with a similar number of subscribers and views – these are your closest YouTube competitors.<\/p>\n

    Even if you don\u2019t yet have a YouTube channel, understanding who you\u2019ll be up against is an important part of your initial research.<\/p>\n

    2) Reveal your competitors\u2019 audience<\/h3>\n

    Before you peel back the layers of their YouTube strategies, take some time to get a general sense of their reach and performance outside of the platform.<\/p>\n

    Start off by gathering intel about your competitors\u2019 target audience.<\/p>\n

    Use Similarweb\u2019s Audience Overlap Feature to discover everything you need to know about those who regularly consume their content.<\/p>\n

    Simply type in your website and up to 4 competitors to see how their audience data compares with yours. Firstly, gauge the extent of your audience overlap:<\/p>\n

    \"YouTube<\/p>\n

    Then, dive into the analysis of their audience demographics to identify which genders and age groups your competitors’ content resonates with most:<\/p>\n

    \"YouTube<\/p>\n

    Dig a little deeper to see your competitors\u2019 engagement metrics by gender and age:<\/p>\n

    \"YouTube<\/p>\n

    This insight helps you understand your shared target audience on a deeper level so you start making engaging and targeted videos that hook in the right demographic<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    3) Analyze your competitors\u2019 overall performance<\/h3>\n

    Continue your analysis by delving into their overall website performance<\/a> to assess their traffic trends, cross-platform presence, and engagement levels.<\/p>\n

    Similarweb\u2019s Website Performance overview<\/a> gives you all the data you need for a high-level analysis. Type in a competitor\u2019s website and see their visits, engagement metrics<\/a> and marketing channel distribution:<\/p>\n

    \"Website<\/p>\n

    \"Marketing<\/p>\n

    Our comprehensive overview even lets you zero in on social traffic distribution. As seen below, you can compare how much social traffic you and your competitors are getting from YouTube specifically (and other social platforms):<\/p>\n

    \"Social<\/p>\n

    While <\/em>netflix.com<\/em> dominates almost everywhere else, it appears that <\/em>disneyplus.com<\/em> has a clear lead when it comes to YouTube traffic<\/a>. You can head straight to their YouTube channel to discover why (but we\u2019ll get to that properly later on.)<\/em><\/p>\n

    4) Dive into some keyword analysis<\/h3>\n

    It\u2019s keyword research<\/a> time! Deep dive into your competitors\u2019 top keywords to get more insight into the kind of content your target audience wants to consume.<\/p>\n

    Looking at your competitors\u2019 traffic-driving keywords will shine a light on the interests, pain points, common questions, topics, themes and trends you should be targeting in your YouTube content and attributes.<\/p>\n

    Step 1 – Competitive keyword research<\/a><\/p>\n

    Find your competitors\u2019 top keywords using Similarweb\u2019s Keyword Analysis tool<\/a>:<\/p>\n

    \"Keyword<\/p>\n

    Our <\/em>keyword research tool<\/em><\/a> helps you qualify relevant keywords for your own strategy by looking at the search volume, <\/em>search intent<\/em><\/a> and <\/em>SERP features<\/em><\/a>. These metrics will help you gauge whether the keywords will work for your specific business and audience niche.<\/em><\/p>\n

    Step 2 – Keyword inspiration<\/p>\n

    With the list of keywords you\u2019ve found, head over to Similarweb\u2019s YouTube Keyword generator<\/a> to find a goldmine of similar keywords to add to your target list. This will form the backbone of your YouTube keyword research<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    Say, for example, virtual reality is a big trend in your industry, this is an example of the related keywords you could choose from:<\/p>\n

    \"YouTube<\/p>\n

    Geared specifically to keyword performance on YouTube, you can see the <\/em>search volume<\/em><\/a>, volume trend and average number of clicks each keyword had over the selected time period.<\/em><\/p>\n

    5) Analyze their YouTube channel and content<\/h3>\n

    The next step is to explore every nook and cranny of your competitors\u2019 YouTube channel<\/p>\n

    Here\u2019s a step-by-step to ensure you cover all bases:<\/p>\n

    1) Analyze their video content<\/h4>\n

    Examine the number of videos, the type of video content<\/a> they post (tutorials, vlogs, reviews etc.), and how often they are posting (daily, weekly, monthly) to spot patterns in their posting schedule.<\/p>\n

    \"MrBeast<\/p>\n

    Then, categorize their videos into themes or topics to better understand their key focus areas and start piecing together their overall video marketing strategy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    2) Review how their channel is organized<\/h4>\n

    Get a general feel for the layout of their channel. Observe how easy it is to navigate, how they categorize their videos, whether they have created playlists (and what themes they follow), and if they have any featured videos.<\/p>\n

    3) Assess their audience engagement<\/h4>\n

    Gauge how their videos are being received by their audience. Zone in on their video views, like-to-dislike ratios and scan over the comments section to get a sense of viewer feedback.<\/p>\n

    \"MrBeast<\/p>\n

    Identify their most and least successful videos so you know what does and doesn\u2019t appeal to your shared target audience.<\/p>\n

    4) Analyze audience interaction<\/h4>\n

    You\u2019ve seen how the audience reacts to them, but how do they respond? Assess the interactions they have with users in the comments section. Do they reply back to comments, or encourage viewer engagement with leading questions or calls-to-action?<\/p>\n

    5) Examine their SEO tactics<\/h4>\n

    Look at how well their channel is optimized for SEO. Check out their video titles, descriptions and tags<\/a> to see what keywords and key phrases are they using – are they relevant and catchy? Do they include any links or CTAs in their descriptions?<\/p>\n

    6) Evaluate the quality of their videos<\/h4>\n

    Critique their video and audio quality (resolution and clarity), editing style (transitions, graphics and effects etc.) and overall presentation (storyboarding and structure.) See how their use of imagery and color align with their brand aesthetic.<\/p>\n

    7) Review their collaborations and sponsorships<\/h4>\n

    Sift through their videos to see if they collaborate with any other brands, YouTube creators or celebrities to help endorse their products or services. This will give you a good idea of their network and reach.<\/p>\n

    6) Identify content gaps<\/h3>\n

    Now that you\u2019ve spent time analyzing your competitors\u2019 YouTube channels, the next step of our competitive analysis is undertaking some content and keyword gap analysis<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    It\u2019s likely their videos have already sparked new content ideas and highlighted a few gaps here and there. But to ensure you\u2019re capitalizing on both their successes and missed opportunities you should leave no stone unturned.<\/p>\n

    Head to Similarweb\u2019s Keyword Gap tool<\/a>, enter in your website and up to 4 competitors to see the keywords they are successfully targeting (and you\u2019re not). Filter by \u2018Video Search\u2019 and remove branded keywords for the most relevant results possible:<\/p>\n

    \"Keyword<\/p>\n

    \"Top<\/p>\n

    See how much traffic each keyword drives, the competitive <\/em>traffic share<\/em><\/a> between you and your competitors, and the search volume, intent and <\/em>difficulty<\/em><\/a> of each keyword to evaluate the most relevant ones to target in your YouTube videos and copy.<\/em><\/p>\n

    Build a new YouTube strategy<\/h2>\n

    By now you should have a wealth of competitive data to leverage in your new and improved video marketing strategy ⚡️<\/p>\n

    Here\u2019s a quick and easy 3-step action plan:<\/p>\n

    1) Make new video content<\/h3>\n

    Gather together any new ideas and content gaps discovered during your analysis to begin crafting new, better-than-ever video content.<\/p>\n

    Thanks to your competitive analysis, you can incorporate:<\/p>\n