Stop Wondering Why They’re Busy and You’re Not
Walk down any main road in Chermside or Coorparoo and you’ll see it: two businesses offering the exact same thing, but one has a packed car park and a ringing phone, while the other is dead quiet.
In the digital world, the same thing happens. You search for your service—whether you’re a plumber, a solicitor, or a physiotherapist—and there’s that one competitor who always seems to be at the top. They aren’t there by accident, and they certainly didn’t get there by luck.
Most Brisbane business owners look at their rivals and think, "They must be spending a fortune on ads." Often, that’s not the case. They’ve simply figured out what Google wants to see. If you want to stop losing jobs to the bloke down the road, you need to stop looking at your own website for a minute and start looking at theirs.
But here’s the problem: most people look at the wrong things. They get distracted by fancy colours or slick videos. That’s not what brings in the money. To help you get ahead, I’ve put together the most common mistakes I see local business owners make when trying to suss out the competition.
Mistake 1: Worrying About the Wrong Competitors
I’ve sat down with business owners in Milton who tell me, "I want to beat Bunnings" or "I want to rank higher than this national franchise."
Forget about them. Unless you have a million-dollar marketing budget, you aren't competing with the national giants. Your real competitors are the 3 or 4 local businesses in your suburb (and the surrounding ones) that are actually taking your customers.
If you’re a mechanic in Geebung, your competition isn’t Ultra Tune’s national website; it’s the independent shop three streets over that shows up in the 'Map' section when someone searches "mechanic near me."
Before you spend a cent or a minute of your time, identify who is actually winning the local jobs. If you don't know where to start, our introduction to SEO covers how this ecosystem works for local shops. Focus on the local winners, not the national giants.
Mistake 2: Thinking a "Pretty" Website is Why They Win
I see this all the time. A business owner sees a rival’s site with high-end photography and a cool layout and thinks, "That’s why they’re getting the calls."
It’s usually a lie. Google doesn't have "eyes." It can't see if a photo is beautiful. It cares about whether that website answers the customer's question quickly and clearly.
When you look at a competitor who is outranking you, don't look at the design. Look at the information. - Do they have a separate page for every single service they offer? - Do they mention the specific Brisbane suburbs they work in? - Does their site load instantly on a phone?
If they have a page dedicated to "Blocked Drains in Indooroopilly" and you just have one generic "Services" page, they will get the call every single time. It’s about being the local expert Google recommends because you’ve provided more helpful information than the next guy.
Mistake 3: Ignoring the Power of the "Google Map"
For most local Brisbane businesses, the "Map Pack" (those three businesses that show up next to the map) is where 70% of the clicks go. If your competitor is in there and you aren't, you are effectively invisible to a huge chunk of the market.
Don't just look at their website; look at their Google Business Profile. - How many reviews do they have? - How often are they posting updates or photos? - Are they responding to every review, even the bad ones?
Winning on the map isn't about being the oldest business; it's about being the most active and trusted. If you’re lagging behind, you need to get more Google reviews immediately. It is the fastest way to bridge the gap between you and the market leader.
Mistake 4: Chasing the Wrong Words
I spoke to a landscaper recently who was obsessed with ranking for the word "landscaping." He was frustrated because a big national blog was in the top spot.
Here’s the reality: Ranking for "landscaping" gets you researchers and students. Ranking for "retaining wall builder Brisbane north" gets you a customer with a credit card ready to go.
Your competitors who are actually making money aren't chasing the big, ego-stroking words. They are targeting the specific phrases that people type in when they have a problem that needs fixing now. If you spend your time chasing keywords instead of chasing customers, you’ll end up with a lot of website traffic and zero extra dollars in the bank.
Mistake 5: Not Checking Their "Secret" Help
Sometimes, a competitor is winning because they have other local sites talking about them. In the industry, we call these backlinks, but you should just think of them as "digital word-of-mouth."
If the local Chamber of Commerce, the Brisbane City Council, and three local hardware blogs all link to your competitor’s site, Google thinks, "This business must be the authority."
Look at your rivals. Are they sponsoring the local footy team? Are they featured in local news? These things aren't just for 'brand awareness'—they tell Google that this business is a real, trusted part of the Brisbane community. If you’re sitting in your office waiting for the phone to ring while they are out building local digital connections, they will stay at the top.
How to Actually Beat Them (The 3-Step Plan)
Knowing what they are doing is only half the battle. You have to act. Here is what I would tell a mate to do if they wanted to overtake a rival in the next 3 to 6 months:
1. Audit the Content: Look at the top 3 competitors. Count how many pages they have. If they have 50 pages of helpful info and you have 5, you have homework to do. Start writing about the problems you solve for your customers every day. 2. Fix Your Speed: Open your website on your phone using a 4G connection (not the office Wi-Fi). If it takes more than 3 seconds to load, you’re losing money. Most people will hit the 'back' button and click on your competitor before your logo even appears. 3. Be More Socially Active: You don't need to be a TikTok star, but you do need your Google profile to look alive. Add a new photo of a finished job every Friday. Ask every happy customer for a review before you leave their driveway.
What’s a Waste of Money?
Don't go out and hire a cheap agency that promises "thousands of backlinks" for $99. Those are usually spammy links from overseas that will eventually get your site penalised or hidden by Google.
Also, don't waste money on "SEO tricks" like hiding keywords in white text at the bottom of your page. Google stopped falling for that in 2010. Today, wasting money on SEO tricks is the fastest way to ensure your website never sees the light of day.
The Bottom Line
Success on Google isn't a mystery. It’s a competition. If your rival provides a better experience, better information, and has a better reputation online, they get the customer. It’s as simple as that.
It usually takes about 3 to 4 months of consistent effort to start seeing the needle move. You won't wake up at #1 tomorrow, but if you start fixing these mistakes today, you’ll be the one the competitors are worried about by next season.
Ready to stop losing jobs to your rivals?
At Local Marketing Group, we don't care about "rankings"—we care about your phone ringing. We’ve helped dozens of Brisbane businesses take the top spot and keep it. If you want us to take a look at what your competitors are doing and give you a straight-talk plan to beat them, let’s chat.