Business Growth
Competitor analysis services for local businesses
You cannot plan around a competitor nobody has looked at properly. Our competitor analysis services map who is genuinely taking the work in your market, where they turn up, what they promote when they get there and where the gaps are. The point is a decision you can defend, not a document that gets filed.
What a local competitor analysis actually looks at
Not every competitor on your mind is a competitor in the data. Some of the businesses owners worry about are close to invisible in search. Some of the ones quietly taking the work have never come up in a meeting.
So the research starts from what customers see, then works backwards to the businesses behind it.
Business Profile categories and listed services
How they classify themselves, and which categories you are missing
Map visibility across the area
Whether they beat you everywhere, or only near their own address
Organic search visibility
Which searches their website owns, and which ones nobody owns
Paid advertising presence
What they are willing to pay for, which says what makes them money
Service pages and the offers on them
What they promise, and the questions they leave unanswered
Review volume and what customers complain about
Weaknesses you can design your own offer around
Website quality and how easy they are to contact
How much friction sits between a searcher and a booking
Research reflects the data available when it is carried out. It is not a prediction of what any competitor will do next.
What's included
The eight parts of the research
Scope is agreed before we start, and not every engagement needs all eight.
- 01
Competitor identification
The businesses actually competing for your searches, which is rarely the same list as the one in your head.
- 02
Search market analysis
What people in the area search for, in what volume, and which terms carry real buying intent.
- 03
Competitive positioning
How each competitor presents itself, what it leads with and who it is aimed at.
- 04
Service comparison
What they sell against what you sell, including the services nobody in the market promotes.
- 05
Local visibility review
Where each business appears on the map and in search across the area, not just at one pin.
- 06
Website review
What their site does well, where it loses people, and what yours would have to beat.
- 07
Market opportunity observations
The openings the research turns up along the way, with an honest note on how open they really are.
- 08
Strategic recommendations
What to do about all of it, in an order that reflects effort as well as upside.
How the research runs
The first step matters most. Research with no decision attached to it produces a report nobody reads.
- 1
Define
The market, the services and the geography, plus the decision the research has to support.
- 2
Analyze
Competitors, search visibility, positioning, services, online presence and the market information available.
- 3
Recommend
Practical recommendations, ordered, with the reasoning kept visible so you can argue with it.
Free data, paid analysis, and the difference between them
A lot of market information costs nothing. Knowing which part you still need to pay for is worth saying out loud.
Free
SBDCNet produces market research for Small Business Development Center clients at no charge, and SBDC counseling itself is free.
Good for
Industry background, demographics and a general feel for a sector.
What we add
The local search layer. Who ranks, for which searches, in which parts of the map, with which services and offers. Then the interpretation, which is the part that changes a decision.
Good for
One specific market and one specific decision in it.
What this is not
It is not a survey, a focus group or a financial forecast, and it is not a guarantee of future performance.
If you need that
A dedicated research firm or your accountant is the right call.
Sources: SBDCNet market research services · SBA local assistance resource partners
Where the findings usually go next
Competitor analysis questions
How many competitors do you look at?
It depends on the market. A dense metro can have a dozen businesses genuinely competing for the same searches. A smaller town might have three. We agree the list with you once the search data shows who is actually visible, rather than starting from the names that come up in the office.
Is this the same as market opportunity analysis?
No. This page answers who you are up against in a market you already serve. Market opportunity analysis answers whether to enter a new market or add a new service at all, and ends in a go or no-go.
Where does the information come from?
Everything comes from what is publicly visible: business listings, search results, advertising, websites and reviews, gathered with our own in-house software tools. There is nothing private or confidential in the research, and there should not be.
Can you tell me what my competitors spend on advertising?
Not exactly, and anyone who claims a precise figure is estimating. What we can show is where they advertise, what they promote there, and how consistently they appear, which is usually the part that changes your decision anyway.
Find out who is really taking the work
The free growth assessment includes a first look at your market and the businesses visible in it. You will see where you sit before you decide whether deeper research is worth it.