Analyzing your competitors’ Google Ads campaigns can help you find ways to increase the performance of your campaigns.
For example, if you find that competitors are bidding on keywords that you don’t target, you can add those terms to your campaigns.
This can help you capture potential customers you may have missed to drive more relevant traffic to your website, increase conversions, and more.
Analyzing your competitors’ Google ads also allows you to:
- Learn what works and what doesn’t in your ads to avoid making similar mistakes
- Compare how much they spend on ads to help you plan your advertising budget
- Stay up to date with changes in advertising trends
Now let’s see how to do your first analysis.
How to perform a competitor analysis in Google Ads
Follow these steps to analyze your competitors’ Google ads:
1. Identify your Google Ads competitors
The first step is to find out which companies are your main competitors on Google Ads.
To do this, use the Advertising Research tool .
Enter your domain and click ” Search “.
In the “Positions” report, click the ” Competitors ” tab.
Scroll down to the “Paid Competitors” table to see your top search ad competitors based on the number of keywords their ads share with yours.
The more keywords you have in common, the higher the level of competition.
2. Find your competitors’ paid keywords
Next, you’ll need to analyze the keywords telemarketing data your competitors are bidding on in Google Ads to find other relevant terms that you can use in your own campaigns.
If you’re just getting started and haven’t started running ads yet, go back to the ” Competitors ” tab in the Advertising Research tool . And click on any of your competitors’ URLs to go to the ” Positions ” tab for their domain.
So, look:
- The positions of your ads in search results (the “Pos.” column)
- The average number of searches each keyword receives each month (the “Volume” column)
- The average cost per click (CPC) for those keywords, which is the average amount advertisers are willing to pay for a click on their ads
- The estimated amount of traffic that a given keyword drives to the analyzed domain
Check out this list to find valuable keywords.
You’ll want to choose keywords that fit your specific campaign plans. And those that have attributes like
Quite high search volumes :
- Indicates that many people are searching for it
- Specificity : Suggests that these are long-tail keywords . They tend to be less competitive, but can lead to higher conversion rates.
- High Traffic : Suggests that the keyword is effective in driving traffic through ads
- Low CPC : This means that a keyword is more affordable. What counts as “low” to you will largely depend on your budget and your industry.
If you’re already running ads, use the Keyword Gap tool to find keywords your competitors are bidding on that you’re not.
Open the tool, enter your domain and your competitors’ domains, and select the target country. Then, click ” Compare “.
You will see a report like the one below. Click on ” Paid Keywords “.
Scroll down to the “All keyword details for” section and click on the “Missing ” tab to see the keywords that all your competitors are ranking for but you aren’t.
If you’ve entered more than one competitor, twitter is rolling out new image extensions for ads click the ” Unranked ” tab to see keywords that you don’t rank for but at least one of your competitors does.
Review these keywords with the same criteria as before. Target those that are relevant to your business, have a high search volume and traffic potential, and (ideally) a low CPC.
Find new keyword opportunities’
with the Keyword Gap Tool
3. Review the advertising text of rivals
Analyzing your competitors’ ad copy find list shows how they try to attract potential customers. You can see the messaging, unique selling points, and calls to action (CTAs) they use to drive clicks.
To do this, return to the Advertising Research tool .
With a competitor’s domain entered, go to the “Ad Copies ” tab.
You will see:
- The exact advertising text they use
- URL of the landing page that the ads link to
Click the arrow next to “Keywords” on any of the tabs to see all of the keywords that trigger your ad. Along with specific metrics like monthly average searches, estimated cost per click, and the position of your competitors’ ads for each keyword.