Whatever industry you’re in or what product you offer, there will always be a competitor to your business. You will find companies with completely the same nature of business as you or slightly similar. Even the most recent ideas are subject to competition in one form or another.
To be a successful entrepreneur, you should understand how competition works, especially in the digital landscape. You can look up trends in your specific industry and brainstorm for something unique. Moreover, you can streamline this analysis with SEO and its tools. You may research terms such as SEO competitor analysis to get an in-depth understanding of the relationship between competition and search engines.
Identify your competitors
Digital platforms and eCommerce gives businesses more control over customer traffic. It is an even playing field for small, medium-sized, and large businesses. All you need is a well-built SEO strategy, and you have a large chance to land on the first page of search engine results. Since these modern platforms benefit all types of businesses, it is natural to find several competing companies to yours. It would be best to identify them to get a clear view of where your business stands.
Understanding competition is essential in any business, but you have to identify who you are dealing with. Business competitors generally fall into three types: direct, indirect, and future competitors.
Direct Competitors
Businesses that provide similar services or products as you are your direct competitors. You cater to the same group of customers or demographic and usually through the same market channels. For example, Hungry Jack and McDonald’s are leading fast-food chains in Australia. Both establishments deliver burgers to those looking for that exact meal. To put it simply, direct competitors offer the same solutions to customers.
In terms of SEO, these companies rank for the same keywords that your business uses. When you look up “SEO competitor analysis,” you’ll find different tools that check companies’ background. You can input your direct competition on these tools, and you can easily view what keywords they rank in, what their top-performing blog is about, and more.
Indirect Competitors
Companies that offer slight substitutes to your services are indirect competitors. Your products are not the same, but your target market has the same set of needs. For instance, consumers have a choice between two fast-food chains to order their lunch. One is a pizza shop while the other serves sandwich deli. Both shops offer good food in slightly different ways and are therefore indirect competition.
A broader example is between tech products like desktops, laptops, and tablets. Any of these three can be used for a home workstation, for instance. In short, it is offering different solutions to fill the same need.
Future Competitors
Future competitors are usually a general term that includes replacement, potential, or perceived competitors. They do not necessarily provide the same service or product but tend to satisfy the same market base. While they haven’t entered the market yet, it would be best to study future competitors too.
They can be products and services that have no sales capability to your region but have the potential to enter in the future. They can also be small or large companies as long as they can take market share. For example, a foreign technology company looking to start a firm in your city. They may take away some customers from existing firms in the region.
