Competitor website audit, side by side
Run the same full audit on your website and a competitor's at the same moment, then compare the scores category by category. See where they are ahead, open either full report, and fix the gaps that matter.
What it checks
Everything the competitor comparison looks at
Overall score and wins
Compares the overall score out of 100 for both sites and counts how many categories each one wins.
Performance
Compares the mobile performance score, based on Google PageSpeed Insights. Each full report shows the Lighthouse metrics and Core Web Vitals behind it.
SEO
Compares on-page and technical SEO scores, built from checks such as titles, meta descriptions, headings, canonicals, robots.txt, sitemaps and structured data.
Security
Compares SSL, HTTPS redirects, security headers, cookie flags and exposed files such as .env and .git.
Email authentication
Compares SPF, DKIM, DMARC, MX and MTA-STS setup on both domains.
DNS
Compares nameserver redundancy, CAA records and DNSSEC.
How it works
Three steps, about a minute.
-
1
Enter two URLs
Add your site and the competitor you want to compare against.
-
2
We audit both
Each site gets the full audit across every category, run at the same time with the same settings.
-
3
Compare and act
Review the side-by-side scores, open either full report for the checks behind them, and prioritise the areas where you fall behind.
What a competitor website audit shows you
A competitor website audit runs the same checks on your site and a rival's, so you can see where their website is technically better than yours. In MakeItFlow, both audits start at the same moment with the same settings, including a mobile performance test, so neither site is favoured by testing at a different time or on a different device. The comparison table puts the overall score and the scores for performance, SEO, security, DNS and email side by side, marks the winner of each row and counts how many categories each site wins. From there you can open either site's full report to see every individual check and its fix. This is a technical comparison of how each site is built and configured; it does not estimate a competitor's traffic, rankings or backlinks.
What to check in a competitive website audit
Start with speed, because it affects every visitor: compare the mobile performance score, then Largest Contentful Paint, Total Blocking Time and Cumulative Layout Shift in each full report. Next, compare technical SEO basics: whether key pages are indexable, have unique titles and meta descriptions, a single clear H1, a correct canonical tag, a valid robots.txt and sitemap, and structured data. Then check security: a valid SSL certificate, HTTPS redirects, security headers such as HSTS and Content-Security-Policy, secure cookie flags and no exposed configuration files. Email authentication is often where a competitor quietly wins or loses trust, so compare SPF, DKIM and DMARC, plus MX and MTA-STS. Finally, compare DNS resilience: more than one nameserver, CAA records and DNSSEC. Our comparison covers all of these. Content quality, keyword coverage, backlinks and pricing are worth comparing too, but they need other tools and your own judgement.
Turning a competitor comparison into an action plan
Start with the categories where the gap is largest, then look at the specific checks behind it in the full reports. If a competitor loads faster on mobile, compare their Core Web Vitals with yours and work through your top speed opportunities. If their SEO score is higher, check titles, meta descriptions, headings and structured data. Security and email gaps are often the quickest to close, because they are mostly configuration changes. Once you have made improvements, run the comparison again to confirm the gap has narrowed. Agencies often use the comparison in pitches and reviews, because a direct comparison with a known rival tends to be more persuasive than a score on its own.
Why it matters
Know where you stand
Replace guesswork with a direct, category-by-category comparison against a real rival.
Prioritise with context
Fixes that close a gap with a competitor are often the most persuasive to act on.
Useful in pitches
Agencies can show prospects how their site compares with a local rival.
Who it is for
Small business owners
See how your site stacks up against the businesses you compete with locally.
Agencies
Build a compelling case in pitches and quarterly reviews.
Marketing teams
Benchmark technical quality against key competitors.
Try the free tools
Learn more
-
Competitor SEO Analysis: How to Check and Compare Rivals' SEOSEO · 14 min read
-
Site Audit Report: What It Is, How to Read It and What to FixGuides · 9 min read
-
What Is a Website Audit? What It Covers and How Often to Run OneGuides · 8 min read
-
Website Audits for Agencies: Win, Onboard and Keep ClientsGuides · 8 min read
Competitor comparison is available on the Pro and Agency plans. See pricing for details.
No. It compares the technical audit results for each site. It does not estimate traffic, track rankings or analyse backlinks.
The audit makes ordinary web and DNS requests, similar to a visitor, and does not notify the site owner.
Each comparison covers your site and one competitor. You can run separate comparisons for other competitors.
Yes. A comparison runs two full audits, one for each site, so it counts as two scans against your plan's limit.
Free website audit
See how your site scores, free
Speed, SEO, DNS, email (SPF/DKIM/DMARC) and security in one scan, with a prioritised fix list.