Search Engine Forums, SEO Forum

I'm a total beginner at the forums and also at gathering info from websites so the simpler the terms the better for me:)I'm not sure if this is even possible but I was wondering how best to determine how our website performs against other similar industry websites? As an example do they use their website to create new enquiries or just as a means for contacting them?Any suggestions (in the most simplest of terms would be most helpful :)Thank