Your competitors have already tested what works in search. Studying them shows you which topics attract traffic in your market, which page types rank, and which gaps nobody has filled well. Done properly, competitor research is a shortcut to a better plan. Done badly, it leads to copying, which rarely ranks and never builds a brand.

Who are your search competitors?

Your business competitors are the companies you lose deals to. Your search competitors are whoever ranks for the queries you want, and they're often different:

  • Directories and marketplaces (Yellow Pages, hipages, Oneflare, Yelp, Houzz, Trustpilot listings).
  • Publishers and comparison sites (Canstar, Finder, Choice in Australia; NerdWallet, Which? or Forbes Advisor overseas).
  • Government and association pages, such as the ATO, Business.gov.au, consumer affairs regulators, or the UK's GOV.UK.
  • National brands with large content teams.
  • Local businesses like yours.

To find them, search 10 to 20 of your most important queries (from your keyword map) in a clean browser session, set to the right location, and note every domain that appears on page one. Domains that keep appearing are your real search competitors. Many SEO tools also have a "competing domains" report based on keyword overlap.

Separate them into groups. You compete directly with similar businesses. You may not be able to outrank Canstar or the ATO, but you can learn what users expect from their pages, and sometimes get listed on directories that rank.

Keyword gap analysis

A keyword gap (or content gap) report compares the keywords several domains rank for and shows the terms competitors rank for that you don't.

How to run one

  1. Choose three to five direct competitors similar in size and offer. Comparing a local accounting firm against a global software company produces noise.
  2. Run a gap report in your SEO tool (most offer one), filtered to your country.
  3. Filter for keywords where at least two competitors rank in the top 20 and you don't rank in the top 50 or at all. Terms several competitors share are more likely to be genuine market demand.
  4. Remove irrelevant terms: competitor brand names, services you don't offer, places you don't serve.
  5. Cluster the remaining terms and check intent, as covered earlier in this course.
  6. Add the valuable clusters to your keyword map, either as improvements to existing pages or as new pages.

Example: a Gold Coast physiotherapy clinic

A gap report against three nearby clinics revealed clusters the clinic had no pages for: "dry needling gold coast", "running injury physio", "post-surgery knee rehab", and a set of informational questions about shin splints and plantar fasciitis. The clinic offered all of these. It added service pages for dry needling and running injuries, and practitioner-written guides for the two conditions, linked to the relevant services. The clinic was careful to follow AHPRA advertising guidelines for health services, avoiding testimonials and claims about outcomes, which also made its content more trustworthy than some competitors'.

Studying competitors' top pages

Beyond keywords, look at which pages bring competitors the most traffic. Most tools have a "top pages" report. This reveals:

  • Content types that work: calculators, cost guides, comparison tables, local landing pages, case studies.
  • Topics with demand that you hadn't considered.
  • Formats: long guides versus short answer pages, video embedded, downloadable checklists.

Then open the top-ranking pages for your priority keywords and assess them honestly:

  • What does the page cover, and what does it miss?
  • Is the information current? (Prices, regulations, standards and product models date quickly.)
  • Does it show first-hand experience, such as real photos, project examples, data or named experts?
  • Is it easy to use on a phone?
  • What structured data or SERP features does it earn?

Your aim is not to copy the page, but to make something more useful. That may mean adding real Australian price ranges, an original checklist, photos from your own projects, a comparison you've tested, or simply clearer writing.

Finding gaps nobody covers well

The best opportunities are often questions where the current results are weak:

  • Outdated pages ranking because nothing better exists, such as a 2017 article about rules that changed in 2023.
  • Forum threads (Reddit, Whirlpool, Quora) ranking for a commercial or practical query, which suggests a lack of good, dedicated content.
  • Mismatched results, such as a US page ranking for an Australian query about local regulations or pricing.
  • People also ask questions that existing pages answer poorly.

Customer conversations are another great source. Sales calls, support emails and reviews (yours and competitors') reveal questions no keyword tool will show you.

Backlink gaps (briefly)

Competitor analysis also covers links. A link gap report shows sites that link to several competitors but not to you, such as industry associations, local business directories, supplier "where to buy" pages, event sponsorships and local news. These are often legitimate links you can earn because you qualify for them too. Avoid buying links or joining link schemes, which breach Google's spam policies.

Pitfalls to avoid

  • Copying structure and wording. Duplicated or lightly rewritten content adds nothing and can be ignored or treated as scaled low-value content.
  • Chasing every gap. Only pursue gaps that match your offer and audience.
  • Assuming they're right. Competitors make mistakes too; a competitor ranking with thin pages may be about to lose those rankings.
  • Ignoring international results. If you serve the UK or US as well as Australia, run separate analyses per country, because competitors and results differ.

Turning findings into a plan

Competitor research is only useful if it changes what you do. Summarise your findings in a short table and feed it into your keyword map:

Finding Evidence Action Priority
Competitors rank with cost guides 3 of 4 have a "cost of X" page in their top 10 pages Write a cost guide with real local price ranges High
Directories dominate "near me" queries hipages and Yelp in top 5 Claim and complete directory listings; strengthen Google Business Profile Medium
No good answer for a regulation question Top result is a 2018 forum thread Publish a clear, sourced explainer and keep it updated High
Competitor has 40 suburb pages with swapped names Thin, near-identical text Don't copy; build fewer, genuinely local pages –

How often to repeat it

Search results change as competitors publish, merge or lose pages, and as search features evolve. A light review every quarter is enough for most small businesses: re-check your top 10–20 queries, rerun the gap report, and note new entrants. Larger sites in competitive markets, such as finance, travel or ecommerce, often monitor monthly with rank tracking.

Ethical limits

Analyse what's publicly visible in search results and SEO tools. Don't scrape competitors aggressively, impersonate customers to extract information, copy their content or images, or use their trademarks in misleading ways. Australian Consumer Law, and similar laws in the UK, US and NZ, prohibit misleading comparisons, so any comparison you publish must be accurate and fair.

Key takeaways

  • Your search competitors include directories, publishers and government sites, not just similar businesses.
  • A keyword gap report shows valuable terms competitors rank for and you don't; filter for shared, relevant terms.
  • Study competitors' top pages to learn what content types and formats work.
  • Aim to be more useful, not to copy: add first-hand experience, current local detail and clearer answers.
  • Weak, outdated or forum-heavy results signal opportunities.
  • Link gaps reveal legitimate links you can earn; never buy links.