111: Why Your Competitors Are Beating You in Google Search (and How to Catch Up)

In this episode, Jules White unpacks why your beauty, health & wellness business competitors might be appearing above you in Google search results, even when you know your services are just as good, if not better. She explains how small, strategic tweaks to your website and Google Business Profile can help you close that gap and start showing up more clearly in search.

Key takeaways:

• Why competitors look clearer to Google: How well written page titles, meta descriptions, and homepage messaging send strong signals about what each page is really about.
• The role of website structure and headings: Why using a single H1 heading, logical H2 and H3 subheadings, and clear internal links helps Google understand your content quickly.
• Service and category pages that work harder: The value of dedicated service or category pages with at least 350 words of focused copy that ties directly to what you offer.
• Smarter blogging for buyers, not just browsers: Creating blog content that answers questions closer to a buying decision.
• Winning locally with your Google Business Profile: Why accurate categories, regular updates, photos, reviews, and even events can transform your local visibility.
• Building authority over time: Using case studies, testimonials, awards, press features, and supplier recognition to demonstrate real-world expertise.
• Foundations to focus on first: Clarifying your homepage H1, tightening navigation, adding strong calls to action, & including at least one trust signal on every key page.
• Why social media is optional: A reminder that no one beats their competitors in Google just because they post more reels, and that your owned content is where the real leverage sits.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Book a Website Potential Discovery Call to talk through where you are now and where you want your website to take you
• Explore ongoing support through one to one consulting or The Website Growth Club f

Chapters

• 0:00 Why Your Competitors Rank Higher
• 1:03 Making Your Website Clear to Google
• 4:17 Website Structure and Page Hierarchy
• 9:25 Internal Linking Strategy
• 11:54 Creating Strategic Blog Content
• 14:49 Optimizing Your Google Business Profile
• 19:13 Building Authority and Trust
• 20:59 Action Steps to Beat Your Competitors

Transcript

AI-GENERATED TRANSCRIPT - MAY CONTAIN ERRORS

Why Your Competitors Rank Higher

So if you've ever searched for your business and wondered why everyone else seems to come up first, you're not alone.

There are usually a few simple reasons, and none of them are unfixable.

Hi, it's Jules here.

Welcome back to the Website Success Show, where I teach beauty, health, and wellness business owners how to get more traffic and sales through your existing website.

So there are usually a few reasons why competitors can show up first on Google, and this is really annoying if you're trying to get your own website showing up.

You can sometimes see your competitors down the road who you know aren't as good as you actually showing up in the Google search results.

There are usually a few reasons why this is happening, and it's something that you can just make some tweaks to your own website to fix.

Making Your Website Clear to Google

And that can make a big difference.

So the number one reason is they look clearer to Google than you do, and this is not about their business being better than yours.

Google doesn't do any kind of judging on the quality of your business; it's not actually a client of yours.

It doesn't know what actually goes on in your business.

It's just basically Google judging you by your online presence.

So it's judging you by the things that are missing from your website, the things that are on your website, or the things that you're talking about on your website.

It might be that there are things missing that your competitors are doing better than you.

Some examples of this are your page titles and your page descriptions.

You might also see them in your website builder as meta titles and meta descriptions.

If you've got those missing or really poorly optimised on your website, then that doesn't send the right signals.

Or, probably the other way of explaining it is, if you've got these in and they're clear, then it sends really strong signals to Google about what these particular pages of your website are about.

Probably something to mention here when we are talking about pages and websites in general is that Google looks at each individual webpage.

So Google doesn't rank whole websites; it ranks individual webpages.

So we need to be really clear on what the goal of each page is and what the topic of each page is.

We need to consider what we actually want Google to understand about each of our webpages.

Adding in clear, concise, and really targeted page titles and descriptions can make a big difference to the amount of understanding that Google has about those particular webpages.

The homepage is one of the things that people often neglect.

I think for the homepage, there is so much potential here.

If we can really get our messaging very clear on our homepage so people can understand, and I say people, but also Google.

We're talking about Google here.

Immediately, as soon as they land on the page, they should be able to understand within three seconds what you do, how you're going to make their life better, and what they need to do to get it.

And if Google can't understand that, there's a good chance that people won't quite understand that as well, really.

Your competitors might be doing better than you as well by actually mentioning the location and the services that they offer.

This is something that's often neglected on websites.

I think when it's pointed out to you, it's like, oh yeah, of course Google's not going to know where I am and what I do if I haven't actually mentioned that on my website.

But sometimes we just have these mental blocks or we've just never really thought about it.

We've never had it explained to us.

We've never really taken the time to look at our website and think, is it clear where I actually am?

Is my address on there?

Is the address the same as it is on my Google profile and the other places online?

Even if you are a service area business, is it clear on your website the service areas that you do actually cover as well?

That can make a big difference, especially if your competitors are doing this.

So Google immediately knows exactly where your competitors are, but you are not clear on your website.

The second reason that your competitors might be showing up above you is their website structure actually helps Google understand them quickly.

Website Structure and Page Hierarchy

So this is where we come to our page hierarchy, which is something I talk about a lot.

So making sure that our website pages are actually set up in a way that Google, and we are talking about AI bots now as well, understands.

ChatGPT, or wherever people are searching, whichever bots are crawling through your website, need you to make sure that you've got that proper hierarchy.

This is like an English essay.

So if you think about if you were back at school and you were writing an English essay, you would have one title for that essay.

On your website, that relates to your H1 heading.

And this is something website builders often set us up to fail with.

The way people use it is to actually style the page and make some things look bigger or smaller.

But what you're doing when you're setting those stylings for the headings on your page is you're actually telling Google this is an important part of the page.

That H1 heading on your pages, you should just have one of those.

And that is telling Google the most important thing about what this page is all about.

So make sure that you've got that.

So you've just got one H1 heading and that contains the thing, the topic, or the keyword, if you like.

It is the key phrase of what this page is about and what you actually want Google to show this page up for in search results.

Thinking about your English essay, you've got one heading, then within that, you would maybe have some subheadings.

And they would relate to that main heading.

So they would be the bits that actually divide it up into the different parts, the related parts of that English essay essentially.

Then maybe within those H2 headings, you might have some subtopics in there, which would be your H3 headings.

Realistically, for most websites, you probably don't need to go much lower than a H3 heading.

You would never want to see a H1 followed by a H3, followed by another H1.

We want to see that, as I say, structured hierarchy down the page that makes sense.

And it's helping Google to understand the most important parts of your page.

It helps Google to understand what this page is all about and the related topics as well.

So if we were thinking about this for a salon website, then your H1 heading might be the main thing, like "Beauty Salon in [Your Location]".

That's something you could have potentially as a H1 heading on your page.

And then maybe your H2 headings on your homepage would be the different services you offer.

Or maybe you'd have a H2 heading of "Services We Offer," and then your H3s would be facial treatments, body treatments, massage treatments, and those kinds of things.

That is how you can then set up that logical hierarchy of the page.

And there's no right or wrong once you actually know what are those important headings within that page.

The important things that Google needs to understand about this page might be right for your business but different for other businesses.

But you can actually go and have a look at your competitors' websites.

For the ones that are doing well, you could actually go on and have a look at their website and see what they've got their headings set up as.

The way that you could do this is you can download a little Google Chrome plugin.

Go to the Google Chrome store and download AIOSEO.

This is a plugin that I use every single day in my business.

You can just go to any website, click on the little blue icon for the plugin, and it will tell you what structure they've got on their page.

This is really helpful to do on your own website, but as I say, you can also look at your competitor's website and see how they've got their heading structure set up.

Bear in mind with this, though, that they may not have done that much work on this.

So don't assume that's the only thing that's helping them to show up higher on Google than you.

Because a lot of businesses haven't done any of this.

Actually, that's probably one of the reassuring things about this whole topic of how you can beat your competitors; a lot of businesses haven't done any of this really.

So coming back to your page hierarchy, make sure that your pages are structured in that way so that it is logical.

The hierarchy down the page makes sense.

Then make sure that you've got internal links that tie your webpages together.

So if somebody comes onto your page, or if Google reads through your page, it can understand how your pages relate to each other.

And it can understand which page leads to another page.

Actually, those links that you add to your pages send strong signals to Google about what that page you are linking to is about.

So let's give the example of a blog article that was all about how to hydrate your perimenopausal skin.

If you had a link that just says "Learn more," it's not really sending any strong signals to Google about what that page you are linking to is all about.

Whereas actually if you made that whole title the link, "How to Hydrate Your Perimenopausal Skin," then Google immediately understands so much more about that page that you are linking to.

That is all about how to hydrate perimenopausal skin.

As you're actually building in the links to your website and building in your own internal links, think about what helps Google understand what that page that you're linking to is all about.

Internal linking is one of the strong things that you can do that makes a big difference.

Internal Linking Strategy

And again, a lot of businesses aren't doing this and a lot of business owners aren't thinking about how you can link your content together.

This not only helps with Google understanding your website.

It also helps to keep people there for longer, so they binge through your content, they understand more about your business, and they want to spend more time there.

Actually, they investigate more and learn more about you, and hopefully buy something from you, book an appointment, or join your email list.

The other thing that helps Google to understand your business and your website quickly is having a dedicated service page for each thing that you offer.

This is something that can build up over time, and I would definitely think about category pages first.

So let's come back to the salon example; just having one page that has all of your treatments on there isn't enough.

If you can have even just some pages broken out into facial treatments, massage treatments, anti-ageing treatments, and those kinds of things, making sure you've got some category pages there really helps.

Then that really helps Google to understand what you do.

And if you can actually link those into your Google Business Profile, make sure the categories that you've selected in your Google profile relate to those services pages that you actually have on your website.

So if you've selected a category in Google Business Profile of facial treatments or facial aesthetics or something like that, making sure that you have a page on that on your website is a really good way to help Google understand that you do actually offer that service.

When we're doing this, ideally we need to make sure that those category pages, and this works for products as well as services, have content.

Make sure there are at least 350 words on that page.

So quite often, especially with e-commerce businesses or with product-based businesses, we'll have category pages that don't have any description on that page of what this is all about.

It literally will just link to the boxes that can take you through to book that appointment.

But just by adding a little description at the top about why you are the expert in this particular service or what the service is, adding some keywords into that description on that page can make a big difference.

Then, as we said with the homepage, making sure you've got that page title and description set up in a way that's appropriate means that Google would understand what this page is all about really.

One of the things that your competitors might be doing is they might be adding blogs, so adding content onto their website that answers relevant questions.

Creating Strategic Blog Content

So rather than just writing random blogs that don't necessarily help people to move along that buyer's journey with you, make sure that you're creating blogs that answer questions that are closer to people actually buying from you.

So rather than the blog about how to hydrate perimenopausal skin, you could have blogs around what's the best facial for perimenopausal skin, or the best treatments for perimenopausal skin.

These tend to be people who are actually looking for a solution right now rather than just trying to gather information about things really.

And those things can be often answered in the AI overviews when people are searching now using AI overviews.

This is one of the things we really focus on in the Website Growth Club.

We make sure these foundations around our messaging are really clear, that we understand what people are actually searching for in relation to our business, and we make sure that we are mentioning that on our own website there as well.

The third reason why your competitors might be showing up higher on Google than you is they've got a stronger local presence.

This is really important.

I'm so passionate about local businesses and about the amazing power of showing up in local searches, which is so much easier than trying to show up nationally.

I think we can often ignore the fact that there are many local customers nearby.

Even if we are an online business, there are usually people who need our products and our services nearby to us.

And as I say, it's so much easier to stand out locally than it is trying to compete against the whole internet out there.

So even if you can serve anyone anywhere, or even if you do help people locally but people can buy from you anywhere, making sure that you have actually claimed and optimised your Google Business Profile if you are eligible for one is key.

One of the strongest things that you can do is make sure you've selected the right categories for your business, particularly your primary category.

There is another Google Chrome plugin that you can use called GMB Everywhere, which can help you to see what categories are actually available in your niche.

I find this is really helpful and it also then tells you how many people roughly are searching for that particular search term as well.

One thing I would say is if you've got a primary category selected and you're thinking about changing it, that can sometimes trigger a reverification.

This is a lot easier if you are actually a brick-and-mortar business, so you've got a pin in the map and you've got a physical location with signage outside and everything.

But if you are a service area business and you're thinking about changing your primary category, I would strongly think about whether that's actually going to help you or not.

Because it can, as I say, trigger a re-verification, which can be a real pain.

Nobody wants to have to re-verify their Google profile if they can help it.

Optimising Your Google Business Profile

So make sure that you've selected those categories carefully.

Select all of the ones that are relevant for your business; you can have 10 categories.

So you have one main category, and then the subcategories within that.

That can help you then to show up in those searches related to those categories.

So when people are searching for things on Google Maps, if you've selected that category and it is actually appropriate for your business, and your website shows Google that it is appropriate for your business, it helps.

So it ties in with your website and you are actually doing that thing and telling Google you're doing that thing that you're saying you are.

Then that can really help you to show up in those local searches.

And then make sure that you're using all of the sections of your Google profile that are available.

So making sure you are using things like adding photos into your profile, asking for reviews, and updating your profile regularly.

Go through and just make sure that you've been through every box on that Google profile and filled in the ones that are appropriate for your business.

You can also add events in here as well.

So if we were coming back to a salon, a clinic, or a spa, then if you're having events, or if you've got events coming up, make sure you list them.

If you've got Christmas shopping events or if you do a summer sale, those kinds of things.

Actually making sure that you are adding those events into your profile can make a big difference.

The fourth reason that your competitors might be showing up more than you in Google is they've created authority and they've done this over time.

This isn't something you can do overnight.

It's not something that you can fake, basically.

It's not complicated, but sometimes just releasing a few helpful pieces of content that really relate to those core topics of what your business is all about and how you help your customers works.

And this doesn't have to be blog posts.

This can be just making sure that on your services pages you are actually talking about what you do.

You're talking about why you are an expert.

You're showing your real-world experience of this, and this is something that's going to become more and more important as we move more into AI search as well.

Showing that you're not just a business who knows how to use AI to create content, but you actually have real-world experience of this.

You've worked with customers, you've worked with clients, and this can be case studies on your website.

This can be testimonials.

It can be a blog that's stating your experience of working with different people's skin, coming back to the salon example, or working with different problems that you've worked with clients through.

Just think about how can I show that I am a real human who knows about this rather than just someone who knows how to use AI.

One of the things you can do to help with this and help with creating authority is getting recognition from within your industry as well.

So if you've won any awards, not just having a logo to the award there, but talking about that experience.

Talking about why you being an award winner is helpful to your clients and your customers.

Talk about how you got that award, what the award means, and all of those kinds of things.

And we are not talking about having this as a big section on your homepage here.

Having an actual specific page of "Featured in the Press" or "Awards We've Won," and those kinds of things can be helpful.

And you don't have to have a load on there.

So if you're thinking, "Oh, I've only won one award, I don't want to create a whole page about that," just do it.

You know, as long as that page has got some content on there, you've got to start somewhere really.

If you can get in the local press, that can be really helpful as well.

So if you've got something like an event going on at your salon or your spa or retreat or wherever.

Whatever your business is, this doesn't just apply to salons and spas.

Mention it in local press; see if you can get a local press article, reach out.

They always need articles and things to put in.

I wouldn't ever sort of pay for an advertorial or anything like that.

But if you've got something interesting going on in your business, just reach out and see if local press would actually be interested in it really.

You can also get links from trusted suppliers; if you are a trusted supplier of a particular brand, getting them to link to your website helps.

Mention the fact that you are that trusted supplier.

The salon I used to work at, we were a Clarins Gold Salon.

I definitely don't think we shouted about that enough on our own website and what that meant and why it meant that we were more trusted.

Then those kinds of things make a big difference as well.

Building Authority and Trust

But with all of these things, it's creating content authority over time.

So it is not something, as I say, that you just do overnight.

So each time you're looking at your website and you're thinking about how can I increase the trust and the authority there, just think about what small things you can do that just build that momentum over time.

With this, I just want to remind you that no one beats their competitors in Google because they've posted more Reels.

So this is just reinforcing that message that social media is optional.

And beating your competitors on Google doesn't mean that they are doing better on social media than you.

Your website is the content that you own in your business.

So being more consistent there, being clearer there, and having more structure there is going to make so much more of a difference than being louder on Instagram, realistically.

The Gap Is Smaller Than You Think

The gap between you and what your competitors are doing is probably smaller than you think.

So most of your competitors are probably winging it as well.

If they are showing up on Google higher than you, then a lot of the time they're not doing much more than you anyway.

So actually just those small and strategic changes over time make a difference.

The things that we've talked about here can make a big difference and that can close that gap quite quickly as well.

Google really does reward clarity, authority, and trust.

Basically answering the things that the person who's searching on Google is looking for and making sure that your business is showing itself as the best solution to that person's problem.

I've got a few things for you to focus on this week.

Action Steps to Beat Your Competitors

What to focus on first is making sure that your homepage is really clear, so fixing your homepage clarity is a big priority really.

So make sure that your H1 heading on your homepage clearly states what you do and who you help if you're a local business.

Ideally, it reads naturally if you can get your location in there as well.

Make sure that you've got simple navigation on your homepage that makes it easy for people to get to where they need to on your website.

So that can be your top-level navigation, so navigation in your header.

But also make sure that you've got some clear navigation points in your homepage to the other pages so people can quickly understand.

Again, coming back to the salon example.

Make sure that it's really easy for people to see how they can click and find out more about the treatments that you offer or the products that you offer.

Or if you are a service-based business, make sure the services that you offer are there really.

And then make sure that there is a strong, clear call to action and next step on your homepage as well.

So make sure that people understand what they need to do next.

Whether it is to book an appointment, to send an enquiry, to book a discovery call, to buy something, or to join your email list.

Make sure that people aren't confused about what they need to do next to work with you and to buy from you.

Most businesses only need to start with their homepage and their main services or treatment page.

So work out which is your most profitable product or service, and start with those first.

Get those optimised, and get used to actually doing this process of going through and optimising your pages.

And then you can start thinking about building up other content beside that really.

Then make sure that your Google Business Profile is optimised for a local business.

I can't state it any clearer that this is really, really critical to your business.

So if you are ignoring your Google profile, and especially if you're ignoring your profile and then you're using social media, that's a real quick win that you can do.

What you're posting on social media, those posts that are talking about what you do, the authority-type posts or the posts that explain what's going on in your business, can be used.

Even if you just took your top-performing post from the week and actually posted that on your Google profile as well, that would make a difference.

That would help Google to understand that your business is still live and still relevant.

The content that you actually are producing is helping to support Google understanding your products and services in there really as well.

Add a trust signal to every page as well.

So for each of those pages that we talked about, your homepage and your main services page, make sure you add at least one trust signal to every page.

So whether that is a review or a testimonial, rather than having them all on one particular page, scatter them throughout your website and you can really make the most of them there.

Before and afters work as well.

So if it's a services page and you can actually build into that page either some links to a case study page or just a quick before and after picture in there with a little description, that can make a big difference.

Frequently asked questions are always good to add to your main pages as well.

And then something that can help to build trust, like maybe a freebie or a download or those kinds of things, can help people to just take that first step towards actually buying from you really.

And make your Google Business Profile part of your weekly rhythm in your business.

As I say, always first and foremost, make sure you've made the most of all of the boxes that are available in your profile.

Make sure the messaging is all up to date there as well.

But even just one update a week requesting one review a week is better than nothing.

Ideally, you'd want to be requesting reviews from all of your customers.

Make sure that you just have a little look at your profile and look at what's actually happening.

You can actually go into your profile and see what people have actually been typing into Google that's led them through to your profile.

So just do that once a week.

Just go in, have a look at your profile.

Think about if you need to add any new updates, any new photos, or if you've had any new reviews.

Do you need to go in and actually reply to them?

All of these kinds of things can make a big, big difference really.

So remember, this isn't about working harder; it is about working on the right things that really help you to stand out against your competitors really.

And it's something that you can start at any time.

Any time that you start making changes and start improving, this can make a big difference really.

And with all of this, don't feel like you are behind or don't feel like, "Oh, I'm doing so much less than everybody else."

When you take that step onto the path and actually are shown how to do these sort of things, and the things that you don't even realise your website isn't doing for you, it can become one of the easiest ways to grow your business.

Especially if you've got the right support with this as well.

So if you're tired of guessing about all of this and not sure what to do first, then book a Website Potential Discovery Call with me.

We can have a chat about where you are, where you are trying to get to, and if I've got anything that can help you with that.

Whether with my one-to-one consulting or with the Website Growth Club, I'll point you in the right direction that can help you then to get there quicker.

These slow and steady improvements can put you on page one of Google and get you recommended in ChatGPT faster than you think.

So that's all for today.

Remember, you only need to do a little bit more than your competitors to actually stand out.

So take care and remember, social media is optional.