How to identify your competitors?

Identifying your competitors on Google was comfortable in the early days of the search engine: it was enough to understand the simple relationship between the search performed by the Internet user on Google and the brand’s proposition. Today, the process is more complicated because Google sorts each search according to best SEO services in Pakistan: criteria of location, personalization, matching of the intentions expressed in the investigation, and many other criteria.

The reality is that no advertiser comes first in a Google search: you could be number 1 for some Internet users and not for others, whether for reasons of geolocation or language, for example.

Therefore, each advertiser has their SERP, a Search Engine Results Page that translates to “Search Engine Results Page “. According to Google, “this page lists all the results that were obtained by the search engine for a particular query. Thus, the search engine responds to the request formulated by an Internet user. Most of the time the results are ordered in the form of a list, the first results of the list being the most relevant compared to the request which was formulated. “

But under these conditions, how to identify your competitors? Here are some explanations and tips!

1- Understand how the “SERP” works

A recently published white paper by .com on 1.2 million keywords states that every SERP is a local SERP. Geo location and, therefore, best SEO services in Pakistan is therefore, an essential element to take into account in your SEO strategy.

Take the example of two people located in the same apartment in Pakistan: one performs a “Chinese restaurant” research and the other “Chinese restaurant in the 11 the arrondissement of Pakistan.” They will not have the same search results on Google because the search engine identifies different queries. In this kind of case, 80% of the SERP is the same. Now imagine that the two people separate in two other boroughs. Then their SERPs will only be identical between 26 and 75%.

Imagine now requests made differently “Chinese restaurant”, “Chinese restaurant 11th district”, “Chinese restaurant Pakistan”, “Best Chinese”, “Chinese restaurant prices means.” The results per SERP can then be different.

Another criterion must be taken into account: time. The same search can have different results from hour to hour. In these conditions, it is difficult for you to know who your main competitor is!

2- Effectively influence the “local pack.”

All these changes are linked to what in SEO is called the “local pack”. Google defines the local pack as follows: “the Local Pack designates all the information from the Maps and my Business services displayed in Google search results when a query with a local connotation is typed on the engine.”

The local pack contains:

• A Google Maps map of the geographical area concerned offering several suggestions for the request made,
• Three proposals for physical results (shop, restaurant, location, etc.),
• A clickable link embedded in the Google Maps result, pointing to other products.

He is influenced by:

• Location (the closer the store, the more valued it is): it can be entered in the query or located directly by Google.
• The information in Google My Business file: see our article on effectively using the Google My Business tool to be well referenced locally.
• The number of opinions left by Internet users,
• The content of the website.

Therefore, you need to work on these four criteria first to understand who your competitors are and secondly to influence the local pack effectively.

3- Analyze Google results

To identify your competition, perform several searches with different keywords (between 10 and 20). Enter these keywords or groups of keywords, and the first three results put forward by Google in an Excel file. It is essential to carry out this research from your physical store and during its opening hours.

When you have identified all of your competitors, calculate the geographic distance that separates you from each of the businesses, then determine which ones appear the most frequently. This will give you a first ranking of “strength” between the most threatening and the “weak.” The more a sign appears, the more it goes up in the scale of your main competitors.

When this is done, you can then study your competitors’ digital strategy and understand what makes their strength to inspire you in turn and improve your local SEO. To learn more about increasing your visibility on the web, do not hesitate to consult our dedicated article or call on our team!