How to run keyword research competitor research for an England audience

What to take away

Keyword research competitor research means finding the search terms rival sites rank for, then judging which of those your own audience needs.

For England, separate search demand from audience contextuse location-filtered estimates and England-local-authority data rather than treating Great Britain figures as England figures.
Pick five to eight rivals for audience overlap, not sector similarity.
Filter every gap term by intent and location before you score it.
Record baseline positions before you brief a writer.

Choose competitors who share your audience

Start with businesses competing for the same searcher, not the same sector label. A Manchester clinic and a London clinic both serve patients, but only one shares your catchment.

Competitor shortlist mix

Direct rivals

Count: 3
Role: Same searcher
Check: Audience overlap

Aspirational

Count: 2
Role: Stretch target
Check: Audience overlap

Head-term rankers

Count: 1-2
Role: No same product
Check: Audience overlap

Aim for five to eight domains: three direct rivals, two aspirational, one or two that rank for your head terms without selling the same thing. Then check each candidate against the England audience research guide. That keeps the shortlist tied to real audience overlap.

A rival targeting Scotland or Wales only will mislead you on England demand.

Pull their keyword sets

To find competitor terms, use Ahrefs Site Explorer or Semrush Organic Research to review the organic queries, positions and landing pages reported for a domain. For your own site, Google Search Console shows queries and pages; it is not a source of competitor data. Rank tracking: Track your positions on search explains how that position data is collected.

Group exported keyword sets

Brand termsnoise for gap analysis
Product termscommercial opportunity
Informational queriesresearch intent
Local queriesEngland-specific opportunity

Filter for intent and location

A keyword only matters if the searcher wants what you offer. Sort each gap term into one of four buckets: learn, compare, buy, or find nearby. A price question that is really a research question needs a page answering both.

Location filtering is the step teams skip. Add England qualifiers to a sample of terms and see whether results change. If a rival ranks for a generic term through a national page, you may need a regional page instead.

Check the demand behind each term

Search volume estimates vary by tool, so treat them as relative signals. The ONS bulletin on internet access for households and individuals gives Great Britain-level figures, not England-only search demand. For England audience context, consult ONS Census 2021 local-authority data and filter to areas in England; for location-filtered keyword estimates, set the location to England in Keyword Planner in Google Ads.

If volumes look thin, survey your own audience. Google Forms can collect first-party survey responses, and your site's internal search terms may provide another useful signal where available; neither is a replacement for search-volume estimates. The survey tools guide for England can support that research.

Build the gap list

Use Ahrefs Site Explorer or Semrush Organic Research to export each rival's organic keywords and ranking URLs. Combine the exports, then compare them with your own Google Search Console query data; mark a term as a gap when a relevant rival ranks for it and your site has no relevant page or meaningful visibility.

Keep a working list with the query, rival domain, ranking URL and position, intent, location and proposed action. Use Keyword Planner in Google Ads with the location set to England to review location-filtered estimates before prioritising a term.

Score each opportunity

Give every term a score out of five for audience fit, commercial value and difficulty. High scores on the first two and a low score on the third rise to the top. Drop anything below three on audience fit, however tempting the volume.

Map terms to pages

One page targets one primary term and a small cluster of close variants. If a term needs a new page, note the URL, the working title and the internal links it needs. This step turns a research file into a content plan.

Set up measurement before you publish

Record the starting position for every target term on the day you brief the writer. Without a baseline you cannot tell whether a page worked. Re-check positions monthly and log algorithm changes alongside them.

Paid search data adds a second view of which terms attract interest. Keyword Planner in Google Ads lets you review keyword ideas and estimates with the location set to England; results from a paid campaign can add evidence of commercial intent before investing in organic content.

Competitor research checklist

Five to eight rival domains chosen for audience overlap, not sector similarity.
England-only location filters applied to every local query.
Gap terms sorted into learn, compare, buy and nearby buckets.
Demand cross-checked against a named published source or your own survey.
Each term scored for audience fit, commercial value and difficulty.
One primary term mapped to one page, with variants listed.
Baseline ranking position recorded before the brief is issued.
Monthly position review logged with the date.

Common questions

How many competitors should I track?

Five to eight suits most small and mid-sized sites. Longer lists add rows without insight, and you can rotate the set each quarter.

Should I include national brands?

Include one or two if they rank for your head terms. They show the ceiling for competitive queries, but their sets rarely map onto a local England audience.

What if my tools show different search volumes?

Treat volume as a relative signal and lean on intent and audience fit. Where a term touches online behaviour, check it against ONS data or your own survey before committing budget.