Finding out who your competitors are in a niche is an essential aspect of research for all businesses. It is incredibly crucial to do to help you know how to jump into the market and establishing your company without falling into a ditch.
When you fail to know your competition in your market, it is a guarantee that your company is going to fail. In every market, companies are dominating. To beat them or take some share of their market, you have to find them first.
The other questions such as how to position yourself to beat them, how to outrank them on keyword searches and which strategies and methods to use can only get answered after you have found the competition.
Some smart tips to help you find other UK companies in your market include:
Search Your Niche On Any Search Engine
An easy step to do with no cost attached, all you need is an internet connection and your mobile phone or computer. Type in your specific niche on Google and put the UK at the end of the word.
Google will run a quick search in seconds and bring out results for you. It will bring up a lot of pages, but all you need is on the first page. Your competitors that make it to the first page are Google’s recognized industry leaders. Please take note of these companies; they are possibly your business competitors.
Search Keywords In Your Target Market
Keyboards are an effective way to identify other UK companies in your market. Identify the top keywords in your market or your keywords, search it on Google, and look for companies that are ranking for it; they are your competitors.
Remember to put the UK after the keyword before you hit the search button. This step will tell the search engine that you are only looking for results from the UK. Failure to do so and the search engine will do a global search.
Use SEO Tools
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) tools are another great tool to use to fish out your competitors in your target market. There are lots of SEO tools available in the market. Some are few, and some charges a fee.
Before jumping into the free bandwagon as almost everyone does, know that free SEO tools do fewer comprehensive searches and their results are not the most accurate compared to the paid SEO sites.
Type into your keyword in an SEO site such as SEMRush, Uber Suggest, and Ahrefs or put the link to your competitor website on the search box. The SEO tool will run a quick search and show you information about your competitors, including how strong they are. Customize the search by country and select the UK.
6 Top Research Tools To Aid You In Finding Your Competitors
Competitors are a massive concern of businesses, not just for new or emerging companies but also for established businesses. The famous Chinese strategist, Sun Tzu, emphasized the need to know the enemy.
In this case, the competitor is the enemy. Knowing who the competitors are is the first step of any business analysis. In today’s SEO world, finding out your competitors is as easy as ABC.
There are a lot of SEO tools and non-SEO tools that help you find your competition. Some of these 6 top tools are below. Note that there are free tools, and they are paid tools. The paid tools produce better insight and results for you.
1. SEMRush
SEMRush is a popular choice for market research. It is easy to use and shows you a wealth of information about your website and that of your website. Such information includes detailed traffic count, ranking positions, and who your organic competitors are.
It compares your website with your organic competitors to give your better insight into how your competitors are outranking and outperforming your business on search engine searches.
This tool has freemium and premium packages. The advantage is that it does not just show you information about only your organic competitors, but also about paid competitors.
2. Similarweb
This tool offers you website insight, including showing you who the top competitors in your Niche are. It has both the freemium and premium types of accounts. The premium has more ideas and provides more valuable information about your competitors.
3. Industry Directories
You can use industry directories to find your competitors. Pick up an online or offline directory on your Niche and take a look at which businesses are appearing in the list. Using industry directory is a great way to search for local competitors. Get an industry directory that restricts itself to the UK. Most online catalogs allow you to filter your search result by locations.
4. Google Maps
Google Maps is a powerful tool to find other UK competitors in your market. It is excellent for finding competitors in a restricted search area. Open Google Maps either on your phone or computer system and try this: [Name of Target Market] in the UK. If you are looking for local search content, for example, you want to know who your competitors are in Liverpool, replace the UK with Liverpool, UK and search.
5. Searchmetrics
Similar to similarweb.com, the tool gives you insight into who your competitors are and also shows you how the online presence status of your website. It’s an excellent tool for finding keywords your competitors are utilizing.
6. SpyFu
SpyFu is another SEO tool similar to SEM Rush that offers you detailed insights on your competitors. Like SEM Rush, it provides both free and paid accounts. The free account has restrictions on what information you can access while the premium account offers unlimited access to information about your competitors and your website.
Market Mastery
Before jumping into a niche, it is essential to find who your competitors are. Finding other leading UK companies in your market place is more comfortable using these tips and tools such as Spyfu, SEM Rush, Google, Business, Similarweb, Searchmetrics, and Ahrefs.
There is no substitute for proper market research, of which knowing your competitors is a crucial part.
