Competitor Traffic Comparator

Seeing your traffic next to a rival on one screen

You land on this page when you want to know how your site’s visits stack up against others in your space. Competitor Traffic Comparator puts your domain and up to two competitor domains into a single view. At the top, you see text fields for “Your site,” “Competitor 1,” and “Competitor 2 (optional),” along with dropdowns for “Country” and “Period.” Under those, a “Compare traffic” button runs the check.

Once you hit compare, the center of the page fills with three metric cards for each site. They show “Estimated monthly visits,” “Traffic trend index,” and “Average visit duration.” Just below, a multi-line chart titled “Traffic trend over time” plots each domain in a different color across the selected period. A legend under the chart labels each line by domain, making it clear which curve is yours.

Scrolling down, you see two more sections. On the left is a stacked bar chart labeled “Traffic by channel,” breaking visits into Direct, Search, Referral, and Social for each site. On the right sits a table titled “Top pages for your site,” with columns for “URL,” “Traffic share,” and “Channel.” This mix of visuals helps you answer not only who has more traffic, but also where that traffic seems to come from.

Using Competitor Traffic Comparator end to end

1. Enter sites and choose a period
   Type your domain into the “Your site” field, then add at least one rival into “Competitor 1.” If you want a second comparison, fill “Competitor 2 (optional)” as well. Pick a “Country” and choose a “Period” such as “Last 3 months,” which updates the label above the chart area.

2. Run the comparison
   Click the “Compare traffic” button in the center. The button shows a short loading state, then the metric cards appear in a row, grouped by site. Each card is tagged with the domain name, so you can match values to the right site.

3. Study the trend chart
   Look at the “Traffic trend over time” chart that appears below the cards. Each domain now has its own colored line spanning the period you chose. Hovering over a point on the chart reveals a tooltip with the date and estimated visits for each site at that time.

4. Review channels and top pages
   Scroll to the “Traffic by channel” bars and the “Top pages for your site” table. The bars show how each site’s visits split across Direct, Search, Referral, and Social. The table lists your own pages with their “Traffic share” and main “Channel,” highlighting where your current strength lies.

How this comparison view cuts research effort

Less time swapping between different tabs and reports

Without this page, you might open several tools and screenshots to compare one rival at a time. Here, your site and competitors share the same metric cards and trend chart. That single shared frame removes the guesswork of matching different date ranges or definitions across reports.

Clearer context for search performance reports

Search tools often show your clicks in isolation, which can feel abstract. The “Traffic by channel” section adds context by showing how much of each site’s total visits seem to come from Search versus Direct or Referral. Combined with resources like Google Search Central, this helps you see if search is a weak point or already a strength.

Fewer debates based on gut feeling

Teams sometimes argue about who “dominates” based on brand perception alone. On this page, the “Estimated monthly visits” card and the “Traffic trend over time” chart ground that talk in visible numbers. Even if estimates are not perfect, everyone looks at the same lines and direction instead of vague impressions.

Making sense of the graphs and numbers shown

After running a comparison, start with the “Estimated monthly visits” cards. Each domain gets its own card with a single large number and the period label below. That value reflects the most recent month inside the range you picked in “Period.” So if “Last 6 months” is selected, the card uses the last of those six months, not an average. Keeping that in mind helps you avoid reading it as a multi-month total.

Next, look at the “Traffic trend index” on the neighboring card. This number does not show visits directly; it shows how the site has moved across the selected period. A value above 100 means the site is up relative to the start of the period, while below 100 means it is down. When you see a site with lower “Estimated monthly visits” but a rising trend index, it hints that they are growing faster than a larger rival.

The “Average visit duration” card provides extra depth. It shows how long, on average, a visit appears to last during the selected period. If one site has lower visits but a much higher visit duration, that may suggest a more engaged audience. On the chart, this will not change the height of the traffic line, but it should shape how you think about the quality of those visits.

The “Traffic trend over time” chart is where direction really shows. The horizontal axis lists dates within your chosen period, while the vertical axis shows estimated visits. Each line matches a domain from the legend under the chart. If two lines cross, you can see exactly when one site began to pull ahead of another. Hovering at the crossing point reveals visit estimates for each site at that date, which is useful for pinning down turning points.

Below, the “Traffic by channel” stacked bars give a quick profile of how each domain seems to attract visitors. Each bar represents one site, split into colored segments marked Direct, Search, Referral, and Social. A bar with a large Search section signals strong presence in search results, while a large Direct section might reflect brand strength or heavy email work. When your own bar looks very different from a leading rival, that gap hints at channels you might explore or de-emphasize.

The “Top pages for your site” table keeps the focus on where your own visits appear to land. The “URL” column lists your key pages, “Traffic share” shows the percentage of your total visits reaching each one, and “Channel” highlights the main source. If one page holds a large share and its channel is mostly Search, that page will likely also show up in your search performance reports. This link between the Comparator table and your own analytics helps you choose where to focus next work.

One easy misunderstanding is to treat “Estimated monthly visits” as exact. The page does not claim to measure every hit; it presents consistent estimates across the domains you entered. That means you should avoid worrying about small differences in numbers between similar sites. The trend of each line and the relative gaps between sites are more useful than minor changes month to month.

Another point to note is how “Country” reshapes the entire view. When you change the country from “Global” to a specific region, all metric cards, lines, and bars refresh to reflect that choice. A site that looks weak globally might be strong in a niche region once you focus the view. Remember to check the country label near the top of the page before quoting any numbers to others.

Over time, you may notice that your own line in the “Traffic trend over time” chart reacts to campaigns or content releases. A big spike after a launch will show as a sharp peak in your color. Comparing those spikes to competitor lines can show whether you temporarily pulled ahead or still ran below a rival even at your best month. Using the Competitor Traffic Comparator this way turns a simple chart into a running context backdrop for all your traffic moves.

Where this comparison tool stops

The tool does not connect to your analytics account or let you click through into raw logs. It will not show conversion rates, revenue, or user-level behavior; everything on screen stays at visit level. There is no export of underlying daily data beyond what you see in the charts and cards. It also does not suggest tactics or content ideas; you still decide how to act on the comparison.

Tips from using this view in real reviews

Before comparing, agree on one “Country” and “Period” with your team and leave those fixed across several sessions, so the “Traffic trend index” and cards remain consistent frames. Use screenshots of the “Traffic by channel” section next to your own channel reports, so you can see if your mix is off compared to a leader. In the last third of your review, hide one competitor field in Competitor Traffic Comparator and rerun the view, just to see your own line without that mental anchor and check if your progress still feels acceptable.