All PPC marketers have to do something to differentiate themselves in a busy and noisy online market. You often need to conduct PPC competitor analysis to fill that space. Knowing what is successful for your competition provides you with the data to enhance your campaigns, avoid ad waste, and capture more market share. This guide gives you the step-by-step process of reviewing PPC competitors.
Finding Your PPC Competitors
The first step to effective competitor analysis is identifying who you’re competing against. While your established business rivals might immediately spring to mind, your PPC competitors may differ. Use tools like Google Ads Auction Insights, SEMrush, and SpyFu to uncover competitors targeting the same keywords as you.
These tools don’t just reveal the competitors, but also give us metrics such as impression share, overlap rate, and ad position. And never forget to use manual Google searches with your target keywords to see which companies have continuously appeared in top ad position. This method is especially helpful when conducting local PPC competitor analysis, where understanding location-based targeting is key.
Looking at Keyword Plans
Competitor keyword data is the heart of PPC research. Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, and Ubersuggest show what keywords your competitors are bidding on. Look at their highest-performing keywords, ones that are most likely to be pushing high traffic and conversions.
Pay special heed to whether they’re targeting branded or non-branded keywords and how they compare to you. This informs you where your targeting is weak and which high-competition or long-tail keywords would be most suitable for your campaigns. Leveraging these insights is an essential part of PPC advertising competitor analysis.
Ad Copy Analysis
The power of a PPC ad lies in its messaging, promotions, and calls to action. Look at your competitors’ ad copy and observe what engages. Look at their titles, descriptions, and keyword targeting. Are they highlighting special promotions? Do they create a sense of urgency with time-sensitive promotions? Are their calls to action well worded and compelling?
Looking at these elements can be motivational, showing you if your very own messaging will appeal to potential customers. Invest in distinguishing your ad writing without losing your voice. Effective competitor ad analysis can help you refine your messaging to stand out.
Landing Page Review
A top-performing ad is only half the work; after the ad comes the landing page, which also needs to deliver. Check out other competitors’ landing pages to make an estimate of how they match up with their ads. Observe the layout of the page, load times, content quality, and concentration on conversion items like forms or the buy button.
Verify if the page provides a seamless and educational user experience. For instance, do they expose straightforward benefits, symbols of trust like reviews, or actionable offers? Finding out about strengths and weaknesses in their approach will enable you to refine your landing pages in order to enjoy improved conversion rates. Reviewing landing pages is an essential extension of competitor PPC analysis.
Get Help from a Marketing Agency
For businesses competing in aggressive PPC markets, the assistance of an experienced marketing agency can be very much worth the investment. Agencies have the expertise, software, and staff to dedicate to in-depth competitor research and apply data-based optimizations. They can provide strategic perspectives that might not be readily apparent, keeping your campaigns agile and competitive. Partnering with an agency for PPC campaign management services can help you stay ahead of the competition.
Adjustment Through Ongoing Monitoring
The internet marketing landscape is ever-changing, and thus competitive tracking should never be a one-time thing. Regularly return to your rivals’ campaigns in order to check for changes in keywords, copy, and method. Use these discoveries to make your own campaigns more refined so that you will stay ahead of the PPC trend. Using the right tools and methods, your ability to dissect and respond to your competitors is the key to success or failure in your campaigns.
