See a Competitor’s Website Traffic and Where It Comes From

Ten minutes tells you where a competitor’s customers actually come from, so you know which channel to study next.

10–15 minutes

Verified by Hassan Rawther ·

Hassan Rawther is the Founder, Unlearn Academy. Written by the Unlearn Academy team.

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The short answer

To see a competitor’s website traffic, enter their domain in Similarweb’s free website analysis. It estimates monthly visits, top countries, engagement and the split between search, direct, social, referral, email and display ads. Treat the numbers as estimates, and use them to see which channels matter most to that competitor.

Before you start

By the end of this SOP

A short audit of a competitor’s traffic volume, top countries and main channels.

Time
10–15 minutes
You’ll need
Nothing. The free Similarweb website analysis is enough to start.
Who does this
The person responsible for digital marketing or SEO.
About this SOP: why it matters, where and when

Why it matters: Before copying a competitor’s SEO or ads, check which channel is really working for them.

Where: On similarweb.com.

When: When you start working on a business, then every 3 months.

Stage 1

Pull the traffic overview

Similarweb doesn’t see the competitor’s real analytics. It models traffic from panel data, so the numbers are estimates.

  1. 1

    Go to similarweb.com and enter the competitor’s domain.

  2. 2

    Note total visits for the last month and the trend over recent months. Big jumps or drops are worth asking about.

  3. 3

    Note the top countries and their share of traffic.

  4. 4

    Note the marketing channel split:

    • Direct: typed URLs, bookmarks, links from apps like WhatsApp.
    • Organic and paid search: Google, Bing.
    • Social: Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn.
    • Referral: links from other websites.
    • Email and Display: newsletters and ad networks.

    Note

    Small sites (under roughly 5,000 visits a month) often show “not enough data”. That itself tells you they get little traffic.

Stage 2

Write the 10-minute audit

  1. 1

    Top 3 channels and their share, e.g. Search 52%, Direct 30%, Social 12%.

  2. 2

    Traffic volume and trend, e.g. “~40K visits last month, up from 25K in three months”.

  3. 3

    Top 3 countries, and engagement (visit duration, pages per visit).

  4. 4

    One-line conclusion: which channel to study next.

    • Search is big → do the keyword audit (SOP 092).
    • Social is big → check their Meta ads in the Ad Library.
    • Paid search is big → check their Google ads (SOP 088).

Agency playbook

Doing this for a paying client

What a senior checks before calling the job done. Numbers are starting rules; compare them with the account’s own history.

What good looks like

  • You compare 3 or more competitors and the client’s own site in the same tool, same date range and same country.
  • You calibrate first: compare the tool’s estimate for the client’s site with real GA4 data, and note how far off it is.
  • Findings say direction, like “search-led” or “growing fast”, not exact visitor numbers.
  • Every finding ends with one action, one owner and a date.

Mistakes we see on real accounts

  • Telling the client “they get 40,312 visits” as fact. If the competitor shares real numbers later, your credibility drops.
  • Reading “not enough data” as zero traffic. Small Kerala businesses can still win most of their leads from Google Maps and WhatsApp.
  • Mixing tools or date ranges in one comparison. The gaps you report are often just differences between tools.
  • Copying a competitor with high Direct traffic. That usually means brand demand and word of mouth, which ads alone won’t buy.

Agency checklist before you call it done

  • Save dated screenshots, labelled with the tool name, to the client folder under Research → Competitors.
  • Note the date range, country and device scope (desktop, mobile or both) next to every number.
  • Write the source beside each figure in the sheet, e.g. “Similarweb, Sep 2026, estimate”.
  • Use only public data. Never ask for a competitor’s logins, and never send fake enquiries to test them.
  • Have a senior review the summary before it goes to the client.
  • Put the 3-month re-run in the team calendar.

Handover message to the client

Hi [Client name], here is our competitor traffic summary for [competitor names]. These are tool estimates, so we focus on trends, not exact numbers. Our recommendation: [one action]. Can we discuss it on [date]?

Senior tip

For competitors too small for Similarweb, compare their brand names in Google Trends for Kerala. Then check the Google Ads Transparency Center and Meta Ad Library to see which channels they pay for.

Practice & check

Now do it for real

Reading is not doing. Open your own account and complete this task before you move on.

Practice task (5 min)

Run this for two competitors of a local business you know (e.g. two coaching centres in Kochi). Which one depends more on search?

Prove it

1. How accurate are Similarweb traffic numbers?
2. A competitor gets 60% of traffic from search. What should you study next?

Two questions. Get both right and this SOP is done.

Common questions

Is Similarweb free?

Yes, the basic website analysis is free with limited data. Paid plans add longer history, keyword details and more countries.

Can I see exactly how many visitors a competitor gets?

No. Only the site owner sees real numbers in their analytics. Tools like Similarweb and Ahrefs give estimates.

Done. That’s a real skill, not a certificate.

Next: SOP 092 — Find a Competitor’s SEO Keywords and Top Pages →

Want to do this on real client budgets, with a mentor checking your work? That’s Level 2 at Unlearn. See the Digital Marketing track