If you’ve ever Googled your own business name—or a service you offer—and found a competitor sitting above you, you’re not alone. It’s one of the most common questions local business owners ask, and it’s almost never about luck.

Google’s ranking system looks at dozens of factors, but for local businesses in Colorado Springs, a handful of them tend to make the biggest difference. Here’s what’s likely going on, and what you can actually do about each one.

1. They’ve Been Around Longer (Online, Not Just in Business)

Domain age and history matter to Google—but not in the way most people think. It’s not just “how old is the domain,” it’s “how long has this domain been consistently active, indexed, and earning trust signals.”

A business that’s had a website for ten years, even if it hasn’t changed much, has had ten years to accumulate backlinks, get indexed pages, and build a track record. A brand new site is starting from zero, regardless of how good the business itself is.

What you can do: You can’t change when your domain was registered, but you can accelerate trust-building through the other factors below—especially backlinks and content. A newer site with strong signals elsewhere can absolutely outrank an older, neglected one.

2. Backlinks: Who’s Vouching for Them?

A backlink is simply another website linking to yours. Google treats backlinks somewhat like word-of-mouth referrals—if reputable local sites (a chamber of commerce, a local news outlet, a industry association, another business) link to your competitor’s site, Google takes that as a signal that the site is trustworthy and relevant.

Most small businesses have very few backlinks, which means even a handful of quality ones can make a noticeable difference.

What you can do:

• Get listed in local directories: the Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce, BBB, industry-specific directories
• Ask vendors, partners, or suppliers if they’ll link to your site from their “partners” or “resources” page
• Sponsor a local event or little league team—many will link back to sponsors on their website
• If you’ve been featured in any local news or blog, make sure that link is live and pointing to your site
  
  

3. Content: Are They Answering Questions You’re Not?

This is often the single biggest gap between two competing local businesses. If your competitor has a blog with 20 posts answering common customer questions, and your site only has a homepage and a contact form, Google has far more reasons to show their pages for a wide range of searches.

Every blog post is essentially another “entry point” for someone to find you on Google. A business with one webpage can only rank for a handful of searches. A business with 20 well-written pages can rank for hundreds.

What you can do: Start a simple blog answering the actual questions your customers ask you. Think about what people say when they call you for the first time—”how much does this cost,” “how long does this take,” “do you serve my area”—and write a post answering each one.

4. Google Business Profile Optimization

We covered this in detail in our last post, but it’s worth repeating here: your Google Business Profile is often the very first thing a potential customer sees, and it’s a major ranking factor for local search specifically (separate from your website’s organic rankings).

If your competitor has more reviews, more photos, a more complete profile, and posts regularly, they’re going to outperform you in the local map results even if your website itself is technically better.

What you can do: Refer back to our step-by-step Google Maps guide and make sure every section of your profile is filled out completely, with regular reviews coming in.

5. Site Speed and Mobile Experience

More than half of all local searches happen on a phone, often from someone standing outside a business or driving and needing information quickly. If your site takes 8 seconds to load on a phone, most people will hit the back button before it even finishes—and Google notices that behavior.

What you can do: Run your site through Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool (it’s free) and see your score. Common culprits for slow local business sites include oversized images, too many plugins, and outdated themes. Even basic image compression can make a noticeable difference.

6. Structured Data (Schema Markup)

This one is more technical, but it matters: schema markup is a behind-the-scenes code that tells Google exactly what your business is, what your reviews say, what your hours are, and more. Sites with proper schema markup are more likely to get “rich results”—the star ratings, FAQs, and extra info that show up directly in search results and make a listing stand out visually.

If your competitor’s search result has gold stars next to it and yours doesn’t, that’s very likely why—and it directly affects click-through rate even if your actual ranking position is similar.

What you can do: This is one of those things best handled by whoever manages your website, since it involves adding code to your site. If you’re not sure whether your site has this set up, it’s worth asking.

The Bottom Line

Outranking a competitor isn’t usually about one big fix—it’s the accumulation of a lot of small, consistent things: a complete Google profile, a handful of quality backlinks, content that answers real questions, a fast mobile site, and the technical groundwork that helps Google understand your business.

The good news is that most small businesses in Colorado Springs aren’t doing most of these things well, which means even modest, consistent effort can move you ahead of competitors who’ve been coasting on having “been there first.”

If you’d like a free, no-pressure look at where your business currently stands compared to your competitors, we’re happy to put one together.

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Big Picture Web Development provides web design and SEO services to local businesses in Colorado Springs and the surrounding area. We believe in transparent, results-driven work without the big agency price tag.