Before you start
- A confirmed competitor list (5 max - more dilutes the audit)
- Access to: SEMrush or Ahrefs (for paid keyword + URL data), Meta Ad Library, SpyFu, Wayback Machine
- BuiltWith or Wappalyzer browser extension for tech stack identification per page
- 60-90 minutes per competitor for a full landing page audit
The playbook
8 steps
Pull the competitor's top paid landing pages from SEMrush
SEMrush -> Domain Overview -> Advertising Research -> Pages tab. This shows the actual landing page URLs the competitor is sending paid traffic to, ranked by estimated traffic share. The top 10 landing pages absorb the majority of their paid budget - these are the pages worth auditing in depth. Ahrefs has a similar view under Paid Search -> Top Landing Pages.
TipSort by estimated traffic share descending. The top 3-5 landing pages usually take 60-80% of paid traffic - those are the pages you audit first.Expected outcome
Ranked list of competitor paid landing page URLs with estimated traffic share per page.
Pull the competitor's top organic landing pages
Ahrefs Site Explorer -> Top Pages, or SEMrush Domain Overview -> Top Pages by traffic. These are the URLs driving the most organic traffic. Organic landing pages often differ from paid landing pages - paid pages are usually optimized for single-keyword conversion; organic pages are usually content-led (blog posts, guides) that capture broader intent.
Expected outcome
Ranked list of competitor organic landing pages distinct from paid landing pages.
Match each landing page to its source keyword and ad creative
For each top paid landing page in SEMrush/Ahrefs, identify which paid keywords drive traffic to it (Ads tab -> click the URL -> see source keywords). For Meta-traffic landing pages, find the matching ads in Meta Ad Library (search competitor brand -> click ads -> note the destination URL). The landing page + the ad creative + the keyword together = the full acquisition unit.
# Acquisition unit decomposition # AD CREATIVE: <headline> <visual> <CTA> # | # v # KEYWORD / AUDIENCE: <search term> or <interest targeting> # | # v # LANDING PAGE: <URL> # - hero offer # - social proof placement # - form fields / CTA # - secondary CTAsExpected outcome
Each landing page mapped to the keywords/ads that send traffic to it - the complete acquisition unit.
Manually walk each landing page as a prospect
Visit each top landing page in incognito (no personalization cookies). Capture screenshots above-the-fold and full-page. Document: hero headline (the offer), subhead (proof / clarification), primary CTA (text + color + placement), form fields requested, social proof type (logos / quotes / numbers / case studies), secondary CTAs, exit-intent behavior. This is the qualitative layer no tool produces for you.
TipCapture the page on both desktop and mobile. Mobile layouts often reveal different priority hierarchies - what's pushed below the fold tells you what they think is less important.Expected outcome
Per-landing-page annotated screenshot set with offer / proof / CTA structure documented.
Identify the tech stack with Wappalyzer or BuiltWith
Open the landing page; check Wappalyzer. Note: A/B testing tools (Optimizely, VWO, Convert), analytics (GA4, Mixpanel, Heap), heatmap tools (Hotjar, FullStory, Microsoft Clarity), chat (Intercom, Drift), personalization (Mutiny, Dynamic Yield). Heavy testing stack = competitor is iterating on landing pages systematically. Bare stack = they're shipping and forgetting; you can outpace them with even basic CRO.
Expected outcome
Per-landing-page tech stack profile revealing how much CRO investment competitors are making.
Pull the page's history from Wayback Machine
web.archive.org -> enter the landing page URL. The Wayback Machine has snapshots showing how the page has evolved over time. Compare a 12-month-ago snapshot to the current page. Frequent meaningful changes (every 2-4 weeks) = active optimization. Static for 12 months = either a winner they don't want to touch or a neglected page. The change cadence reveals testing maturity.
Expected outcome
Per-landing-page evolution timeline showing optimization velocity and pattern.
Score each landing page against a structured rubric
Build a scorecard with 8-10 criteria: hero offer clarity, social proof depth, form friction, CTA contrast, mobile parity, page speed (PageSpeed Insights), trust signals, copy specificity, visual hierarchy, exit recovery. Score each competitor page 1-5 per criterion. The scorecard reveals patterns: where they're strong (you need to match), where they're weak (you can leapfrog).
# Landing page scorecard - per page # Hero offer clarity: [1-5] # Social proof depth: [1-5] # Form friction: [1-5] # CTA contrast: [1-5] # Mobile parity: [1-5] # Page speed (PSI): [1-5] # Trust signals: [1-5] # Copy specificity: [1-5] # Visual hierarchy: [1-5] # Exit recovery: [1-5] # TOTAL: __ / 50Expected outcome
Per-landing-page scorecard with strengths and weaknesses flagged for your response strategy.
Build your own landing page action list
Synthesize: which of your landing pages are weakest vs the competitor benchmark? Which competitor patterns are worth borrowing (offer structure, social proof type, form layout)? Which competitor weaknesses can you exploit (clarity, speed, mobile)? Ship the action list as a prioritized CRO backlog with owners and dates. Otherwise the audit produces beautiful slides and no traffic.
Expected outcome
Prioritized CRO backlog tied directly to competitor audit findings, ready for execution.
Shuttergen
Audited their landing pages? Now match their creative.
Landing page audits show how competitors convert; the upstream creative is how they get traffic. Shuttergen generates the ads that pair with your CRO improvements - end-to-end paid optimization.
Pitfalls
What goes wrong
Auditing the homepage as if it's a landing page
Homepages serve multiple audiences and lots of secondary goals. Landing pages serve a single keyword/ad with a single conversion goal. They're different beasts. Always audit the actual paid/organic destination URLs, not the homepage.
Ignoring the keyword/ad context that drives traffic to the page
A landing page in isolation is hard to evaluate. The same page can be excellent for one source keyword and terrible for another. Always pair the landing page audit with the source keyword/ad to evaluate the full acquisition unit.
Skipping the mobile capture
Mobile traffic is 50-70% in most categories. A landing page that's strong on desktop and weak on mobile is bleeding majority traffic. Always audit both viewports.
Treating the scorecard as ranking truth
Scorecards reveal pattern strengths and weaknesses but don't predict conversion rate. A page scoring 35/50 may convert better than a page scoring 45/50 because of factors the rubric doesn't capture (offer-market fit, trust capital). Use scores as inputs, not verdicts.
Not shipping the action list
The audit produces insight; insight without implementation produces nothing. Always close the audit loop with a prioritized backlog with owners and dates.
Limits
When this playbook won't work
- The competitor doesn't run paid traffic (no dedicated landing pages to audit beyond the site itself)
- Their pages are heavily gated behind login (you can't see what prospects see)
- The product is in a category where landing page convention is unstable (very new categories have no proven patterns to learn from)
- Your team has no CRO capacity to implement the action list - audit only when you can act
Why landing page audits beat homepage audits
Homepages are committee documents. They balance multiple audiences (prospects, customers, investors, employees) and serve multiple goals (brand, conversion, navigation, content discovery). Auditing a homepage reveals brand and structural choices but rarely reveals conversion strategy.
Landing pages are conversion documents. Each one is built for a specific keyword or audience, with a single primary goal (signup, demo, purchase). Auditing landing pages reveals the actual conversion machinery a competitor is using - the offers that work, the proof formats that work, the form designs they've iterated to.
The leverage from landing page audits is direct and measurable. Borrow a competitor's proven offer structure and your conversion rate may climb 20-50% on a matched page. Borrow a homepage layout and you might confuse your customers. Always audit the conversion surface, not the brand surface.
Audited their landing pages? Now match their creative. Landing page audits show how competitors convert; the upstream creative is how they get traffic. Shuttergen generates the ads that pair with your CRO improvements - end-to-end paid optimization.
The landing page audit deliverable structure
Page 1: Per-competitor scorecard summary. Table with each competitor's top 5 landing pages and their rubric scores. Quick visual reference for relative strengths.
Page 2-N: One page per competitor landing page audit. Each page contains: the URL, the source keyword(s) / ad(s), screenshots (desktop + mobile), the scorecard, two paragraphs of qualitative analysis (what works, what doesn't), explicit borrow / counter / ignore recommendations.
Final page: Your CRO backlog. Prioritized list of actions tied to competitor audit findings - 'add testimonial section to /pricing matching competitor X's format', 'reduce form fields on /demo from 8 to 4 matching competitor Y benchmark', 'A/B test hero offer against competitor Z's structure'. Each action has an owner and a date.
Re-audit cadence: quarterly for active competitive monitoring. Landing pages change slowly relative to ads but faster than homepages. Quarterly captures meaningful evolution.
Internal: find-competitors-website, find-competitors, seo-analysis-of-competition.
FAQ
Frequently asked
How do I find my competitor's landing pages?
What's the best tool to find competitor landing pages?
How are landing pages different from homepages?
How many competitor landing pages should I audit?
Can I audit competitor landing pages without paid tools?
What should I look for on a competitor landing page?
How often should I audit competitor landing pages?
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Creative competitive framework.
Audited their landing pages? Now match their creative.
Landing page audits show how competitors convert; the upstream creative is how they get traffic. Shuttergen generates the ads that pair with your CRO improvements - end-to-end paid optimization.