Your online competitors may be different from your “real life” competitors
If you run a physical business — like a local shop, service-based company, or anything that involves face-to-face interaction — it’s essential to keep an eye on competitors operating nearby. Local competitor research should be part of your approach. But don’t stop there.

You also need to look at who’s competing with you online. That includes businesses without a physical presence that still rank for your target keywords. Researching local and digital players in your industry or niche gives you a fuller view of your competition — and might reveal rivals you hadn’t even considered.

Making assumptions about your competitors can steer your strategy in the wrong direction
It’s costing you valuable time and resources. Instead of guessing, take a data-backed approach to identify who you’re up against online. Misjudging your competition can lead to content that misses the mark and gaps in your SEO efforts. To get it right, make sure you’re analysing the correct search results and keeping tabs on the businesses that compete for your audience’s attention.

Keep it Real
When evaluating your competitors, it’s essential to be realistic about who you’re able to compete with. If you’re a smaller business and find major players like Amazon or Apple ranking for your keywords, you’ll unlikely outrank them anytime soon. Rather than focusing on those giants, look for high-ranking pages from businesses closer to your size and authority. These are your real competition and a more practical benchmark for your SEO goals.

Identifying Your Real Competitors
Using features in available software such as Moz helps you uncover the right competitors based on your domain, subdomain, or even specific subfolders. This allows you to refine your competitor list depending on your niche, offerings, market verticals, or business type.

Uncovering Competitor Keywords
After identifying your key competitors, the next step is to explore which keywords they rank for. This can help you uncover content gaps, highlight areas where they outperform you, and guide improvements to your content strategy.

Many tools allow you to compare your domain against your competitors to find overlapping and unique keywords. Enter your website and those of your competitors to see where they stand in search and where you can gain ground. This insight is essential for refining your SEO approach and prioritising efforts that can deliver better results.

Analyse Your Competitors’ Content
Once you’ve gathered a solid list of keywords, the next step is to dig deeper by examining what types of content are performing best for your competitors. This helps you understand what your target audience is responding to and where you might be missing opportunities.

Use a content analysis tool to explore the top-performing pages from competing websites. These tools typically let you input your site alongside others, then show you which pages rank higher and for which keywords. The data is usually grouped by page, giving insight into the structure, topics, and formats working well in your space. This can help guide your content planning, from optimising existing pages to creating new ones that fill apparent gaps or provide better value.

In Summary
You now have a refined list of keywords used by your competitors, along with a few valuable pointers to help you delve deeper into their content and uncover potential opportunities. If you’re interested in exploring this topic further, consider seeking more detailed resources to conduct a thorough competitor analysis. The next step is to implement your insights and start making strategic improvements. Best of luck – and until next time!