HOW TO TRACK WHAT YOUR PLUMBING COMPETITORS DO ONLINE (SET IT AND FORGET IT)

Your biggest competitor just launched a new website.

Did you know?

They added 8 new service pages, started running Google Ads for "water heater installation," and their Google reviews jumped from 45 to 112 in the last 6 months.

You had no idea. Because you're not tracking them.

And while you were busy crawling under houses and unclogging drains (respect), they were quietly building a digital moat around your market.

Time to start paying attention.

knowledge is power, and also money

Why Competitor Tracking Matters

"I don't care what my competitors do. I just focus on my own business."

I hear this a lot. And I get the sentiment. But here's the problem.

Your customers are comparing you to your competitors whether you like it or not. When someone Googles "plumber near me," they see you AND them. Side by side. Right there in the search results.

If your competitor has 200 reviews and you have 30... they're getting the click.

If your competitor's website has 15 service pages and yours has 3... they're ranking for 5x more keywords.

If your competitor just launched a "$99 Drain Cleaning Special" and you don't know about it... they're stealing your customers.

You don't have to obsess over your competitors. But you do have to know what they're doing. So you can stay ahead or catch up.

The Free Tools You Need (15 Minutes to Set Up)

### Tool 1: Google Alerts

This one's stupid simple. And free.

Go to google.com/alerts. Set up alerts for:

1. Your competitor's business name
2. Your competitor's owner's name
3. "Plumber [your city]" (to catch news mentions)
4. Your own business name (so you know when YOU get mentioned)

Google will email you whenever any of these terms appear on a new webpage. New review, press mention, blog post, directory listing... you'll know about it.

Set it up once. Takes 3 minutes. Runs forever.

### Tool 2: Google Search (The Manual Check)

Once a month, do a manual search for your top 5 keywords and see where your competitors rank.

Keywords to check: - Plumber [your city] - Water heater repair [your city] - Drain cleaning [your city] - Emergency plumber [your city] - Sewer repair [your city]

Write down who shows up in the top 3 for each term. Track it over time. If someone new starts creeping up, you'll catch it early.

Pro tip: Use an incognito/private browser window so your search history doesn't skew the results.

### Tool 3: Google Review Monitoring

Check your top 3 competitors' Google Business Profiles once a month. Track:

1. Total number of reviews
2. Average star rating
3. Most recent review date
4. What customers are saying (look for patterns)

If a competitor's reviews suddenly spike, they've set up a review automation system. You should too. If their reviews stop, they might be getting complacent. Opportunity.

Also read the negative reviews. Not to be petty (okay, maybe a little). But because their negative reviews tell you their weaknesses. (For more on how reviews impact revenue, read our post on how each star affects your plumbing revenue.) If customers keep complaining about their response time... that's your selling point. "Same-day service guaranteed."

### Tool 4: Wayback Machine for Website Changes

archive.org (the Wayback Machine) takes snapshots of websites over time. You can see what your competitor's site looked like 6 months ago and compare it to today.

Did they add new pages? Change their pricing? Update their design? Add new services?

This tells you what they're investing in. If they added a "Water Softener Installation" page that wasn't there before... they're going after that market. Maybe you should too.

### Tool 5: SpyFu or Ubersuggest (Free Tiers)

These SEO tools let you see what keywords your competitors rank for and whether they're running Google Ads.

SpyFu (spyfu.com): Enter your competitor's domain. See their top organic keywords, estimated traffic, and any paid ads they're running. Free tier gives you limited data but enough to be useful.

Ubersuggest (neilpatel.com/ubersuggest): Similar functionality. Enter their domain, see their top pages and keywords.

This tells you exactly what searches are driving traffic to their website. And if they're ranking for keywords you're not... those are opportunities you should go after.

What to Track (The Monthly Checklist)

Don't overcomplicate this. Set a calendar reminder for the first Monday of every month. Spend 15 minutes on this checklist.

For each of your top 3 competitors:

1. [ ] Check their Google review count and rating
2. [ ] Read their most recent reviews
3. [ ] Google your top 5 keywords and note their positions
4. [ ] Visit their website and note any changes
5. [ ] Check if they're running Google Ads
6. [ ] Look for any new service pages or blog posts
7. [ ] Check their Google Business Profile for new posts or photos

For your own business:

1. [ ] Compare your review count to theirs
2. [ ] Compare your keyword rankings
3. [ ] Note where you're ahead and where you're behind
4. [ ] Identify 1-2 actions for the month based on what you found

15 minutes per month. That's it. The information you gain is worth thousands in strategic decisions.

What to Do With This Information

Tracking is useless without action. Here's how to use what you find.

Scenario 1: Competitor's reviews are growing fast. They've got a system. You need one too. Set up automated review requests after every job. Target 10+ new reviews per month.

Scenario 2: Competitor added new service pages. They're targeting new keywords. Check if those are keywords you should be targeting too. If yes, build your own (better) service page.

Scenario 3: Competitor launched Google Ads. They're investing in paid traffic. This might mean they're struggling with organic rankings (good for you) or they're going aggressive on growth (watch out). Either way, make sure your organic presence is strong so you're not dependent on ads.

Scenario 4: Competitor redesigned their website. Study it. What did they change? Better photos? More reviews? Clearer pricing? Take notes. Then make yours better.

Scenario 5: Competitor stopped posting, stopped getting reviews, website looks stale. They're getting complacent. Now is the time to push hard. Increase your content, reviews, and GBP activity. Take their market share while they sleep.

The Competitive Intelligence Edge

Here's the real advantage of competitor tracking.

Most plumbers operate in the dark. They have no idea what their competitors are doing online. They don't know who's ranking for what. They don't know who's running ads. They don't know who's growing their reviews.

When you track this stuff, you see the whole chess board. You can make moves based on real information instead of guesses. For the full deep dive on analyzing competitors, pair this with our competitor gap analysis guide and our competitor keyword research guide. Use Google Search Console to track your own rankings for free.

And the best part? Your competitors probably aren't tracking YOU. Which means every strategic move you make is invisible to them until it's too late.

That's a massive advantage. Use it.

One More Thing: Track Their Weaknesses

This is the sneaky part.

Every competitor has weaknesses. Their website is slow. They don't answer the phone after 5pm. Their reviews mention rude technicians. They don't serve a particular suburb.

Your competitor's weakness is your opportunity.

Build it into your website. "Same-day service (because we know waiting isn't an option)." "After-hours booking available 24/7." "Serving [suburb they don't serve]."

You're not copying them. You're filling the gaps they leave open.

[Want a website that outperforms your competition? See how we build them.](/#pricing)

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Free Competitive Analysis

We'll analyze your top competitors' websites, rankings, reviews, and online strategy. Then we'll show you exactly where you can win.

[Get your free competitive analysis.](/#contact)

Takes 10 minutes of your time. Saves you months of guessing.

P.S. Right now, your competitor might be reading this same article and thinking about tracking YOU. Don't be the one who falls behind. Stay ahead.