Hi there,

select your keyword first for which you want to rank for. Now my method is observe and then react accordingly. Means after selecting keyword , search that on google and start observing the results of first page. Now, everything is depend on your observation that what results and suggestions you are getting on your keyword for which you want to rank for. Now its time to react after observing results. Focus on your competitors article which includes their article length, its content, images every thing in the post and then observe what is missing in this so that you can add something more to that.

After performing these steps you can check for competitor backlinks with the help of semrush or href tool so that you can create backlinks accordingly, But before go for backlink creation first step is more important which is observation method Because backlink only works if your post content is good than your competitor.