How to Identify Your Competitors

 Every business in the world has competition, no matter whether it’s a small or large business. As a business owner, you should know who your competitors are, what they are providing and how different it is from what you’re doing. But, sometimes, just knowing who your competitors are isn’t enough.

There are two groups of competitors; direct and indirect competitors. Direct competitors are those businesses that sell similar products and services to your business. For instance, if you run a bookstore, your direct competitors are other bookstores. Indirect competitors are businesses that don't sell similar products but compete with your business digitally. For example, they may write the same content as you, so both of you are competing for your customer's attention.

How Do You Identify Your Direct Competitors?

Market research

Take a close look at the market and evaluate which companies are selling the same products as you.

Customer feedback

Customers are essential when it comes to identifying your competition. Once in a while, a customer will compare your products with another company. You can ask those questions on what you can do differently to make their experience better. In addition, customers often reveal unexpected competitors.

Online research

It is straightforward to know your direct competitors in this age of social media platforms and forums. Check conversations and recommendations that people online give to each other.

How Do You Identify Your Indirect Competitors?

Keyword research

Keyword research is the ideal method to identify indirect competitors. Google several keywords you would like to find, and you will see the first searches that appear when a customer uses these keywords. Your competitors might have optimised their sites to give them a high ranking.

Analyse Google’s search engine results page

Use Google’s search engine results page to identify keywords that are central to your product. Then, type the keywords into Google and see who is competing with your content on search engines.

Conduct a SWOT analysis

Review your strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities. This is a simple method to quickly identify where you’re beating out or falling behind the competition and develop any strategic changes you need to make.

To get ahead in business, you need to be better than your competitors. If you need assistance in identifying your competitors, Anchor Digital is here to help. Visit our website to see the services we offer orcontact us for more information.