Competition online is far different to traditional competition on mainstreet.  All business owners and marketing managers can name their major competitors.  These are often the businesses who are physically nearby, who advertise in the same publications or attend the same tradeshows.  On the internet however there is far more competition from a wider range of websites.  Many of these may not be considered direct competitors, and some may not even sell what you sell, but if they rank above you and capture the attention of potential customers before they find your website, then you should consider them as competitors.

Online competitors can be companies that sell the same as you but are located in different places.  Traditionally they might not have been able to target your market but over the web they can.  Competitors may also be companies that are slightly different to yours but overlap some of your products or services.  This could be a farm shed building company that has branched out into garages and now competes with your specialist garage company; or a business advisor who has started selling business insurance and is competing with your insurance company.  If they have conducted keyword research and have engaged in effective copywriting and Search Engine Marketing then they could be ranking above your website.  Aside from these two obvious types of competitors there are the sites that rank above you simply because they have been around a lot longer, are much bigger and have lots more relevant content.  Typically they can be publications, education or research institutions, industry groups, or directory sites.  A well established newspaper, news network or magazine website could rank above your website if it ran an article related to your industry, products or services. Although it is not trying to sell what you sell, if it pushes you down in the rankings then it should be considered a competitor.

The easiest way to check your online competition is to Google a couple of keyword phrases you think your target audiences would search on.  This will immediately show you who is ranking above you.  It is likely the top positions will be taken by a range of the examples mentioned above.  Another option is to use a free ranking report which many SEO companies offer.  If your website is not on the first two pages of results then realistically you will not be capturing much of the online market.  It can be very frustrating to see a competitor that is less experienced or less competent than yourself ranking at the top simply because they invested in Search Engine Marketing sooner than you did. 

It is not however the end of the world.  An effective ongoing Search Engine Marketing plan, supported by relevant web page content can get your web site competing.  You may even find after completing keyword research that your competitor has targeted the wrong phrases that very few people are searching on.  You should be able to select targeted keyword phrases that have reasonable demand and not too much competition.  With well researched keywords you have a good chance of ranking well because you have assessed the competition, and gaining targeted new visitors to your website because you have assessed the online demand.  This strategy will help your website get results against all the direct and indirect competitors out there.