The Trick SEOs Use to Spy on Traffic, Countries, and Backlinks from Any Website

Have you ever wondered how many visits your competitor's website receives?

What countries do your users come from?

What domains link to them?

Professional SEOs have been using a systematic method for years to obtain all that competitive intelligence, and the best part is that you don't need to spend hundreds of euros a month on premium tools to do it.

In this text we reveal exactly how that "trick" works and what tools to use step by step.

Why Spying on the Competition Isn't Cheating

Analyzing your competitors is simply market intelligence. Just as a physical store observes its neighbor's prices, in SEO you have every right (and the need) to understand what the competition is doing well in order to learn from it.

The goal is not to copy, but:

• Discover keywords they rank for that you don't.

• Identify backlink sources that you can replicate

• Understanding in which countries they are growing

• Identify content strategies that work in your niche

The Stack of Tools Used by SEOs

The key to the "trick" is combining several free or low-cost tools to get a complete overview. Here's the full stack:

1. Lookkle SEO Site Explorer — The Affordable All-in-One

Lookkle's SEO Site Explorer is the Swiss Army knife of competitive SEO without the exorbitant cost. Enter any domain—yours or a competitor's—and get a complete dashboard with:

• Estimated monthly traffic and historical trends

• Traffic distribution by country and device

• Traffic sources: organic, direct, social, referral

• Backlink profile: referring domains, anchor text, new or lost links

• Organic keywords for which the site ranks

• Top pages with the most traffic

• On-page SEO analysis: errors in titles, meta descriptions, speed, HTTPS security, robots.txt, and more

Unlike Ahrefs or SEMrush, Lookkle offers comprehensive analysis without the high costs or complex setups, making it ideal for freelancers, bloggers, or small businesses.

👉 Access the browser at: lookkle.com/tool/seo-site-explorer

2. Ahrefs Backlink Checker — For In-Depth Backlink Analysis

The free version of Ahrefs Backlink Checker lets you see the most important backlinks for any domain without a subscription. It's perfect for identifying which high-authority sites link to your competitors so you can then contact them.

3. SEMrush Free — Competitor Traffic and Keywords

SEMrush offers two free daily queries that show the estimated organic traffic, number of backlinks, and referring domains for any domain. Its domain checker displays the authority score, organic search traffic, and domains linking to the site.

4. Seobility Backlink Checker — No Registration

With Seobility's Backlink Checker, you can analyze the backlinks of any site for free and without registering. You get a backlink profile with the number of referring domains and the follow/nofollow link ratio—essential data for evaluating your competitors' link building strategies.

5. SimilarWeb Extension — A Quick Look

SimilarWeb's free Chrome extension instantly displays metrics for any website: bounce rate, pages per visit, average session duration, monthly visits, and global and country rankings. With one click, you get an initial diagnosis without leaving your browser.

6. SE Ranking Backlink Checker — Advanced Metrics

SE Ranking 's free tool analyzes each backlink using key parameters such as the destination URL, anchor text, Domain/Page Trust, and the link's nofollow/dofollow status. It's very useful for evaluating the true quality of backlinks, not just the quantity.

How to Do It Step by Step: The SEO Method

Step 1: Identify Your Real Competitors

Before analyzing anything, define who your direct competitors are in the SERPs. Search for your main keywords on Google and note the 3-5 domains that consistently appear.

Step 2: Analyze Traffic and Countries

Enter your competitor's domain into Lookkle or SimilarWeb. Search:

• How many estimated monthly visits does it receive?

• From which countries does most of the traffic originate?

• What percentage is organic traffic vs. social traffic vs. direct traffic?

• On what devices (mobile, desktop) do your users browse?

Step 3: Discover their Winning Keywords

In Lookkle's SEO Site Explorer, go to the Organic Keywords section. Filter by position (top 10) and estimated traffic volume. Pay special attention to keyword gaps: terms your competitors rank for but you don't. These are direct content opportunities.

Step 4: Spy on their backlinks

Here's one of the most valuable tricks. Using the backlinks section of Lookkle or Ahrefs Backlink Checker, get a list of domains linking to your competitor. Then:

1. Filter the domains with the highest authority

2. Identify the links that connect to several competitors but not to you ( Link Gap )

3. Contact those sites with a value proposition (guest post, mention, resource)

Step 5: Analyze your Pages with the Most Traffic

The Top Pages section  on Lookkle shows you which content generates the most organic traffic for your competitors. This tells you which formats (listicle, tutorial, comparison) and topics work in your niche. Don't copy the content—create something better (the skyscraper technique ).

Step 6: Study the Traffic History

Use the Trends/Historical tab  to see if your competitor's growth is recent or sustained, if they experienced drops due to algorithm updates, and how they recovered. This gives you crucial strategic context.

Comparison of Tools

The Real Trick: Combining Tools as a Stack

No single free tool has everything. The real secret of professional SEOs is combining them into a workflow.

1. Lookkle for a quick 360° view (traffic, countries, keywords, backlinks, on-page)

2. SimilarWeb Extension for an instant check in the browser

3. Ahrefs or Seobility to delve deeper into the backlink profile

4. Google Search Console to compare with your own actual data

With this stack you can perform professional competitive analysis spending between €0 and very little per month, compared to €100-€400/month for other websites or platforms in their full plans.

Mistakes You Should Avoid

• Analyze only once: SEO changes. Review your competitors every month.

• Obsessing over traffic volume: a competitor with less traffic but higher conversion rates can be more dangerous

• Ignoring countries: if your competitor grows in a market you haven't entered, it's an opportunity for expansion.

• Copying low-quality backlinks: not all of your competitor's links are worth replicating; filter by domain authority.

• Forgetting on-page analysis: Lookkle also audits technical errors on your own site that may be hindering your ranking.

Questions and Answers

Is it legal to analyze the traffic and backlinks of another website?
Yes, completely legal. Traffic estimation tools work with public data, search engine indexes, and aggregated data panels. They do not access the servers of the site being analyzed.

How accurate are the traffic estimates from these tools?
They are estimates, not exact data. Tools like Lookkle, SimilarWeb, and SEMrush use statistical models based on data from user panels, ISPs, and search crawls. They are very useful for comparing trends and orders of magnitude, although only the site owner has precise numbers with Google Analytics.

Can I see traffic by country for free?
Yes. The Lookkle Web Traffic Tool  shows the geographic distribution of traffic for any domain within your plan, and the free SimilarWeb extension also offers country-by-country rankings.

How many backlinks can I see with free tools?
It depends on the tool: Ahrefs Backlink Checker (free) shows the top 100 backlinks, Seobility offers an initial profile with referring domains and follow/nofollow ratios, and Lookkle includes the backlink profile within its SEO Site Explorer.

Can Lookkle be used to analyze websites in my niche even if they aren't my direct competitors?
Absolutely. You can analyze any domain, including industry leaders, reference sites, or websites from other geographic markets. It's useful for finding content ideas, backlink sources, and strategies you can adapt.

How often should I spy on the competition?
Professional SEOs recommend doing a full analysis every month and a quick weekly check of your main competitors, especially after Google algorithm updates.

Can Lookkle detect if a competitor is growing thanks to AI (ChatGPT)?
Yes. Lookkle includes traffic referred from Artificial Intelligence sources like ChatGPT in its traffic sources, allowing you to see if a domain is receiving visits from these new sources.

Do I need to be a technician to use these tools?
No. Lookkle's SEO Site Explorer is designed to offer comprehensive traffic and SEO analysis without advanced technical knowledge, presenting data visually and in an easy-to-interpret way.