The broad words are taken. That is not the same as the market being taken.
An honest read of a market where several competitors have a decade of head start.
What is actually in front of you
Businesses that have been publishing since before you registered a domain, agencies with a budget for this, and a handful of national brands who rank here without trying because they rank everywhere.
None of that is fixable with effort this year, and any proposal that does not begin by saying so is asking you to fund an education.
The widest word is usually the wrong target
The single broad term everyone wants is expensive, slow and full of people who are still comparing. Underneath it sit the phrases somebody types when they have already decided, and those are quieter, cheaper and worth more per visit.
Winning one term nobody talks about, that fifteen people a week type with a wallet open, beats losing the one everybody talks about.
Where a small studio genuinely has the advantage
Speed and answerability. A page can be rewritten the day you ask for it, because there is no queue, no account manager and no ticket. That sounds small until you have waited three weeks for a price change.
The larger the agency you are compared with, the more this is the thing they cannot copy.
Reviews decide it once you are in the running
At this size several businesses are close enough on everything else that the choice is made on what other people wrote. That is true whether you are third or eighth.
It is also the one lever that costs nothing and that almost nobody works at systematically.
When we would tell you not to bother
If what you sell is decided on price alone and somebody bigger is cheaper, search will bring you visitors who leave. Ads would tell you that in a fortnight for less money than a year of patience.
We have said this to enquiries from the capital. It is the answer that costs us the job and it is still the right one.
Questions worth asking
Is it harder here than on the coast?
For the broad terms, considerably. For a specific service in a specific district, often no, because the businesses holding the broad terms rarely bother writing the specific pages.
Do I need an office in the capital to rank there?
For the ordinary results, no, they are not addressed to a place. For the map, a real address in the city is what counts, and a rented one that nobody works from tends to be discovered.
How long before this is worth judging?
Longer than on the coast, because the competition is deeper and everything you are trying to pass has more history. Assume months and be pleased if the listing moves sooner.
Should I just pay for ads instead?
Often yes, at the start, and we will say so. Ads tell you in weeks which words bring buyers, and that answer makes the slower work aim at something instead of guessing.
What can we check before deciding?
The client pages here, and the site you are reading. Both were built the same way, so if the speed and the structure hold up under a tool, that is the work rather than a description of it.
Tell us the term you want and we will read who currently holds it and whether it is worth going after. Get a free audit.
Updated