Analyzing Your Competitors: Staying Ahead in Local SEO

If you’re trying to climb to the top of local search results, there’s one crucial step many service businesses overlook: understanding your competition.

Sure, you know who your biggest competitors are offline—but do you know why they outrank you online? What pages drive their traffic? What reviews help them convert? What backlinks boost their credibility?

At Precision Pair Marketing, we believe great SEO starts with great insight. Here's how to conduct a simple but powerful local SEO competitor analysis to uncover gaps in your own strategy and find opportunities to dominate your market.

Step 1: Identify Your True Online Competitors

Your real-world competitors may not be the ones showing up next to you on Google. You need to know who Google thinks your competition is.

How to do it:

• Search your top service + location keywords (e.g., "drain cleaning Tulsa")

• Note the top 3–5 businesses in the Google Map Pack

• Check the top organic results just below the map

• Look at who’s running Local Service Ads and Google Ads

These are the businesses you’re directly competing with for clicks, calls, and visibility.

Step 2: Evaluate Their Google Business Profiles

Google Business Profiles (GBPs) are often the first touchpoint for local searchers. Understanding how your competitors use theirs gives you ideas on what to improve.

What to look at:

• Total number of reviews and average rating

• Use of keywords in business description

• Frequency of posts (updates, promos, photos)

• Service categories and subcategories

• Q&A section (are they answering customer questions?)

Pro Tip: Use a tool like PlePer to analyze GBP categories and uncover hidden tags competitors are using.

Step 3: Analyze Their Website Content and Structure

Once people click off Google and land on a site, content is what earns their trust—and rankings.

What to review on each competitor’s website:

• Do they have separate service pages or one generic list?

• Are their pages optimized for local terms (e.g., "Water Heater Installation in Cottage Grove")?

• Is the content informative and helpful, or vague and thin?

• Are blog posts answering customer questions?

• Is the site mobile-friendly and fast-loading?

Look for strengths to learn from—and gaps you can exploit. For example, if they lack service area pages, that’s an opportunity to create hyperlocal content and outrank them.

Step 4: Review Their Backlink Profile

Backlinks (links from other websites to theirs) help Google determine authority and trustworthiness. A competitor with more high-quality backlinks may outrank you even with similar content.

How to check: Use free or low-cost tools like:

• Ahrefs Free Backlink Checker

• Ubersuggest

• Moz Link Explorer

Look for:

• Total number of referring domains

• Quality backlinks from local directories, news outlets, or sponsorships

• Patterns—are they sponsoring events, guest blogging, or using partnerships?

Action step: Make a list of the local sites linking to your competitors and reach out to them with your own pitch or offer.

Step 5: Compare Reviews and Reputation

Online reviews can make or break a service business’s online reputation—and influence local rankings.

What to analyze:

• Review count and rating average

• How recent the reviews are

• What services are mentioned in reviews

• Tone and professionalism of responses

You don’t need more reviews than competitors—you need better ones. Ask customers to mention specific services and neighborhoods in their feedback.

Step 6: Learn from Their Ads and Promotions

Even if you’re not running ads, you can learn what competitors are promoting and how they’re positioning themselves.

What to watch for:

• Are they running Google Ads or Local Services Ads?

• What do their ad headlines and callouts say?

• Are they pushing seasonal services, discounts, or financing options?

Use this intel to create better offers, ad copy, or landing pages—without guessing.

Step 7: Turn Insights into Strategy

Once you’ve gathered your intel, it’s time to apply what you’ve learned to your own SEO strategy.

Use your findings to:

• Build better service pages with clearer calls-to-action

• Improve your Google Business Profile with strategic keywords and fresh content

• Identify backlink opportunities in your city or industry

• Launch new content (blogs, guides, FAQs) that fills content gaps

• Ask for more meaningful, keyword-rich customer reviews

Final Thought: Know Your Competition, Beat Your Competition

SEO isn’t just about what you do—it’s about how you stack up. With a smart competitor analysis, you can uncover weaknesses in their strategy and turn them into strengths for your own.

At Precision Pair Marketing, we don’t guess—we reverse-engineer what’s working and build it better for our clients.

Want a Done-for-You Competitor Analysis?

We’ll show you exactly how your online presence stacks up—and what it’ll take to outrank your top competitors.

Schedule your free consultation.