Google Ads Competitor Analysis: A How-to Guide (+ Top Tools)

3 months ago 45
ARTICLE AD BOX

A Google Ads rival investigation involves monitoring and evaluating the advertizing campaigns of competing businesses successful your industry. To larn astir their tactics and get you ideas for your ain campaigns.

And it tin absorption connected Google Search ads, Google Shopping ads, and ads connected websites that spouse with Google done the Display Network.

Why You Should Perform a Google Ads Competitor Analysis

Analyzing your competitors' Google Ads campaigns tin assistance you find ways to boost your campaigns’ performance. 

For example, if you observe competitors are bidding connected keywords you're not targeting, you tin adhd those presumption to your campaigns. 

This tin assistance you seizure imaginable customers you mightiness person missed to thrust much applicable postulation to your site, summation conversions, and more.

Analyzing your competitor’s Google Ads besides lets you:

  • Learn what works and what doesn’t successful their ads to debar making akin mistakes
  • Compare however overmuch they walk connected ads to assistance program your advertizing budget
  • Keep up with changes successful advertizing trends 

Now, let’s spell implicit however to bash your archetypal analysis. 

How to Perform a Google Ads Competitor Analysis

Follow these steps to analyse your competitors’ Google Ads:

1. Identify Your Google Ads Competitors

The archetypal measurement is figuring retired which businesses are your apical Google Ads competitors. 

Use the Advertising Research instrumentality to bash this.

Add your domain and click “Search.”

Advertising probe   hunt  for reebok.com

From the "Positions" report, click the “Competitors” tab.

Advertising Research instrumentality   by Semrush Position study  with Competitors tab highlighted

Scroll down to the “Paid Competitors” array to spot your apical hunt advertisement competitors based connected the fig of keywords their ads stock with yours. 

The much keywords you person successful common, the higher the contention level.

Semrush Advertising instrumentality   competitors tab with paid competitors array  and contention  level   highlighted

2. Find Your Competitors’ Paid Keywords

Next, you’ll privation to analyse the keywords your competitors bid connected successful Google Ads. To find further applicable presumption to usage successful your ain campaigns.

If you’re conscionable getting started and haven’t yet started moving ads, instrumentality to the “Competitors” tab successful the Advertising Research tool. And click immoderate of the competitors’ URLs to spell to the “Positions” tab for their domain.

Highlighted URL successful  paid competitors tab of Advertising Research instrumentality   by Semrush - nobullproject,com.

Then, look at:

  • Their ads’ positions successful hunt results (the “Pos.” column)
  • The mean fig of searches each keyword gets each period (the “Volume” column)
  • The mean cost per click (CPC) for those keywords—which is the mean magnitude advertisers are consenting to wage for a click connected their ads
  • The estimated magnitude of postulation a fixed keyword drives to the domain being analyzed
Paid Search Positions array  showing nobullproject.com data

Review this database to look for invaluable keywords. 

You’ll privation to take keywords that align with your circumstantial run plans. And ones that person attributes like:

  • Decently precocious hunt volumes: Indicates galore radical hunt for it
  • Specificity: Suggests they’re long-tail keywords. Which are often little competitory but tin pb to higher conversion rates.
  • High traffic: Suggests the keyword is effectual astatine driving postulation done ads
  • Low CPC: Means a keyword is much affordable. What counts arsenic “low” for you volition mostly beryllium connected your fund and your industry.

If you already tally ads, usage the Keyword Gap instrumentality to find keywords your competitors bid connected that you don't.

Open the tool, participate your and your competitors' domains, and prime the people country. Then, click "Compare."

Semrush Keyword Gap hunt  surface  with vrbo.com and competitors listed

You'll spot a study similar the 1 below. Click “Paid keywords.”

Semrush Keyword Gap instrumentality   dashboard for vrbo.com and competitors. Paid keywords toggle highlighted

Scroll down to the "All keyword details for" section. And click the "Missing" tab to spot which keywords each of your competitors are ranking for but you’re not.

Missing keywords for vrbo.com highlighted utilizing the Semrush Keyword Gap tool

If you’ve entered much than 1 competitor, click the “Untapped” tab to spot keywords for which you person nary rankings but astatine slightest 1 of your competitors does.

Untapped keywords for vrbo.com highlighted utilizing the Semrush Keyword Gap tool

Review these keywords against the aforesaid criteria arsenic before. Targeting those that are applicable to your business, person precocious hunt measurement and postulation potential, and (ideally) a debased CPC.

Analyzing your competitors' advertisement transcript shows however they effort to entreaty to imaginable customers. You tin spot the messaging, unsocial selling points, and calls to action (CTAs) they usage to thrust clicks.

To bash this, caput backmost to the Advertising Research tool. 

With a competitor’s domain entered, navigate to the "Ads Copies" tab.

Semrush Advertising Research instrumentality   Ads copies tab with 8  examples of unrecorded  adverts for Zendesk

You'll see:

  • The nonstop advertisement transcript they use
  • Landing page URLs the ads nexus to

Click the arrow adjacent to "Keywords" connected immoderate of the cards to presumption each the keywords that trigger the ad. Along with circumstantial metrics similar mean monthly searches, estimated outgo per click, and your competitor’s advertisement presumption for each keyword.

Semrush Advertising Research instrumentality   with ads copies container  clicked showing keyword metrics table

You tin usage this information to place adjacent much keywords you mightiness privation to target. And spot however your rival incorporates them into their advertisement copy.

To analyse your competitor’s merchandise listing ads, cheque retired the PLA Copies study of PLA Research.

Open the tool, participate a competitor's domain, and prime your people country. Then, click "Search."

PLA probe   hunt  barroom  with asics.com and hunt  fastener  highlighted

You’ll onshore connected the “Positions” tab, which shows the products your rival has PLAs for and however those ads fertile successful hunt results. 

Head to the “PLA Copies” tab to spot your competitors’ best-performing ads.

Semrush PLA Research instrumentality   positions study  for asics.com with PLA copies tab highlighted

This volition amusement a grid of merchandise listing ads, on with a keyword drop-down for each one. 

Clicking 1 of these shows much information astir the keywords that trigger that ad.

Semrush PLA probe   instrumentality   showing 4  PLA copies for asics.com alongside accompanying sneakers

As you reappraisal your competitor's advertisement copy, wage attraction to:

  • The cardinal benefits they highlight
  • Emotional triggers and symptom points they mention
  • Promotions similar discounts oregon escaped shipping
  • Calls to enactment that make urgency

The extremity is to recognize what motivates imaginable customers to click. And however your competitors are successfully gaining their attention.

Use these insights to make advertisement transcript that showcases your merchandise arsenic the perfect solution for the aforesaid needs.

4. Track Competitors’ Campaign History

Analyzing your competitor's Google Ads past shows you however their strategy evolves implicit time. So you tin larn from what has and hasn’t worked for them. 

With a competitor’s domain entered, spell to the “Ads History” tab successful Advertising Research. This provides a 12-month presumption of your competitor's paid keywords and their positions.

Semrush Advertising Research instrumentality   with ads past  tab and a calendar of hunt  rankings highlighted

Pay attraction to keywords they consistently bid connected and fertile for each month—those are apt invaluable terms. 

Click the bluish cells to spot however their advertisement transcript changed implicit time. 

Semrush Advertising Research instrumentality   Ads History tab with May 2023 calendar day  highlighted and Asics ads transcript  displayed

Look for messaging themes they instrumentality with oregon offers they repeat. Those are apt driving beardown results.

Use these insights to place your competitor's halfway presumption and astir effectual hooks. And see however you tin use these ideas to your ain ads.

5. Review Corresponding Landing Pages

Your competitors' advertisement landing pages amusement you however they effort to person visitors to instrumentality action. Which tin assistance you recognize what motivates your shared audience.

To find these landing pages, spell to the "Pages" tab successful the Advertising Research (when analyzing a competitor’s domain). 

You'll spot apical landing pages associated with competitors' paid ads. Sorted by those that get the astir traffic. 

Click the grey icon adjacent to an idiosyncratic URL to cheque retired the landing pages.

Advertising Research instrumentality   by Semrush Pages tab for asics.com. URL opening   successful  caller   model   highlighted

Here are a fewer elements to see erstwhile looking astatine these landing pages:

  • Layout and design: Look for simple, cleanable designs that assistance visitors easy find what they need
  • Headlines and copy: Check if the headlines are attention-grabbing and the transcript is wide and benefit-driven
  • Calls to action: Note the clarity and prominence of CTAs, and however they usage action-oriented words to make urgency
  • Social proof: Look for the beingness of testimonials, reviews, and spot badges that adhd credibility
  • Page speed: Consider the wide responsiveness and loading velocity of the pages

The extremity is to place elements that marque your competitor's leafage effective. And to accommodate those elements to your ain connection and offering. To boost your conversion rate.

Analyzing your competitors' Google Ads spending gives you an denotation of however overmuch advertizing costs successful your industry. This tin assistance you acceptable a realistic fund to enactment competitive.

To spot this data, leap backmost into the Advertising Research instrumentality for 1 of your competitors. And caput to the “Positions” tab.

First, look astatine the "Traffic Cost" information astatine the top. This is an estimation of however overmuch it would outgo each period to fertile for the keywords that look successful the report.

Traffic outgo  of $763 highlighted for asics.com successful  Semrush Advertising Research tool

You tin besides spot postulation outgo stats for idiosyncratic keywords. Just scroll down to the “Paid Search Positions” widget. And cheque the “Costs” and “Costs %” columns.

This shows astir however overmuch the rival apt invested successful each word implicit the past month. And what percent of the full outgo is attributed to idiosyncratic keywords (higher percentages successful the “Cost %” file tin bespeak which keywords are astir invaluable to that competitor). 

Paid hunt  presumption   array  for asics.com successful  Semrush Advertising Research tool

If competitors are drastically outspending you connected applicable terms, you whitethorn request to allocate much of your fund to support visibility.

But don’t conscionable transcript their spending. Because existent costs alteration based connected factors similar advertisement relevance and targeting. And bigger budgets don't ever mean amended results.

Instead, usage these competitory insights arsenic a starting point. And fto them usher your budgeting decisions on with your ain information connected which keywords output the champion results.

You’ve already seen however immoderate tools tin beryllium utilized to execute a Google Ads rival analysis. But here’s a speedy overview of immoderate bully options:

1. Advertising Research

Semrush’s Advertising Research instrumentality shows which keywords your competitors bid connected successful Google Ads, the advertisement transcript they use, however overmuch they spend, and more. 

Plus, you tin way their advertisement positions implicit clip to gauge however their strategy evolves. 

Semrush Advertising Research instrumentality   showing paid keyword hunt  presumption   changes

2. Keyword Gap

Semrush’s Keyword Gap shows you which keywords your competitors fertile for that you don’t. And which keywords their ads fertile higher for than yours (if you usage the “Weak” tab).

Semrush Keyword Gap instrumentality   showing paid keyword positions for expedia.com and competitors alongside keyword overlap ellipse  graphic

3. PLA Research

PLA Research gives you an wrong look astatine your competitors' Google Shopping campaigns—also known arsenic product listing ads (PLAs).

It shows which products they advertise the most, however they terms and beforehand items, and keywords that trigger their merchandise listing ads.

Semrush PLA Research instrumentality   showing merchandise  listing advertisement  trends and dashboard for nike.com

Google Search provides a basal method for manually researching your competitors' ads by entering people keywords.

This lets you presumption and analyse the ads displayed successful the hunt results. And absorption connected elements similar headlines, descriptions, calls to action, offers, and ad assets.

This manual attack works for a quick, surface-level check. But you request specialized tools for a much elaborate competitory advertisement analysis.

5. Google Ads Auction Insights

The Google Ads Auction Insights study shows however your ads execute compared to different advertisers participating successful the aforesaid auctions. 

It includes metrics like:

  • Impression share: The percent of impressions you (or a competitor) received retired of the full you could person received
  • Overlap rate: A measurement of however often that competitor’s ads showed astatine the aforesaid clip arsenic yours 
  • Top of leafage rate: How often your ads (or your competitors ads) appeared astatine the apical of the leafage supra the integrated (unpaid) hunt results

But cognize that you’ll lone spot information for keywords you’re already bidding on. And it’ll lone amusement if your content stock is astatine slightest 10% for the selected clip period.

6. Google Ads Transparency Center

Google’s Ads Transparency Center lets you presumption ads a circumstantial advertiser has tally crossed Google's network. 

Google Ads Transparency Center displaying each  ads shown crossed  the Google web  by Mailchimp

You tin besides spot the geographic regions wherever the ads were displayed. And erstwhile they were past shown.

But it doesn't supply information connected keywords, bids, oregon performance.

Analyze Competitors’ Ads to Improve Your Campaigns

Doing a Google Ads competitory investigation isn't astir copying your competitors. It’s astir knowing their tactics to observe opportunities.

Combine these insights with your ain show data, assemblage research, and concern goals. To make an effectual Google Ads strategy.

Get started with Advertising Research to find your competitors, observe the keywords they're targeting, and larn from their advertisement campaigns.