Why Your Competitors Are So Valuable When It Comes To SEO
If you run a service-based business, you've probably had a go at the whole SEO thing at some point, and it can feel a bit like shouting into the void. You tweak a few words on your homepage, add your location into a heading, maybe pop a blog post up, and then... nothing much changes. It's frustrating!
So here's a tip I give almost every client I work with, and it costs nothing, takes about twenty minutes, and tells you more than any SEO course will: go and look at your competitors.
Not to copy them. To learn from them.
Start With An Incognito Search
Open an incognito or private browser window (this bit matters more than you'd think) and google the exact terms your customers would actually search for. Not your business name, the search terms. So if you're a plumber in Guildford, you'd search "plumber Guildford" or "emergency plumber near me", that sort of thing.
Incognito mode is the key here, because your regular browser knows who you are. It knows you've visited your own website fifty times this month, it knows roughly where you are, and it quietly personalises the results around all of that. Incognito strips that away and shows you something much closer to what a genuine new customer would actually see when they search. That's the version of Google you want to be studying.
Now Actually Look At Who's There
Whoever shows up on that first page, particularly in the top three or four spots, is worth your time. Click through to their websites and really look, not just a quick glance, but properly study their homepage.
Ask yourself:
Do they have a whole section dedicated to where they work, their location and the areas they cover?
Do they have a section that explains why they're the right choice for the job, their experience, what makes them different, why someone should pick them over anyone else?
Do they show off past work, reviews, or credentials front and centre?
Do they make it obvious what to do next, book a call, get a quote, get in touch?
Do this for four or five competitors and a pattern will start to jump out at you pretty quickly.
Why This Actually Works
Here's the bit that most people miss. Those businesses ranking on page one aren't there by accident, and it's not just about their words and keywords. Google is trying to work out which pages genuinely answer what someone searching "plumber Guildford" actually wants to know, and it's using the structure and depth of the page as one of the signals for that.
If four out of five of the businesses ranking above you all have a dedicated location section, that's not a coincidence. It's a strong sign that both Google and real customers expect to see that on a service-based business homepage. Same with the "why choose us" bit, people searching for a local service are often comparing a few options at once, and a page that clearly answers "why should I pick you" is doing exactly the job it needs to do, for the customer and for search rankings.
So when your homepage is missing a whole section that all your top-ranking competitors have, you're not just missing out on trust with visitors, you're likely missing a piece of the puzzle Google is looking for too.
Turning It Into Action
You don't need to copy anyone's words, just their thinking. Once you've spotted what those top few homepages have in common, go back to your own site and be honest with yourself about the gaps. If nobody's talking properly about the specific towns or areas they cover, that's your opening. If everyone's "why us" section is a bit generic and yours could actually say something more specific and more you, even better.
The businesses ranking well have essentially done a chunk of the research for you already. All you need to do is spot what's working, and then do it properly, in your own voice, with your own story behind it.
Give it a go this week, just twenty minutes with a few incognito searches, and see what you spot. I'd genuinely love to know what patterns you find in your industry!