How can you perform competitive analysis and benchmarking for SEM?

1 Identify your competitors

The first step is to identify who your competitors are in the search engine landscape. You can use tools like Google Ads Keyword Planner, SEMrush, or Moz to find out who is bidding on your target keywords, who is ranking for your target keywords, and who is targeting your audience segments. You can also look at your own analytics data to see who is driving traffic to your website and who is converting your visitors. You should narrow down your list to a few key competitors who are directly competing with you for the same goals and customers.

2 Analyze their SEM performance

The second step is to analyze how your competitors are performing in terms of SEM. You can use the same tools to compare their metrics and indicators with yours. Aspects to consider include their ad spend, impression share, click-through rate, and conversion rate for paid search campaigns, as well as their organic traffic, ranking position, domain authority, and backlink profile for SEO. Additionally, evaluate their keyword strategy, ad copy, landing pages, and offers for both paid and organic search. Finally, assess their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) for SEM.

3 Benchmark your SEM performance

The third step is to benchmark your own performance against your competitors and industry standards. Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and Google Ads Reports are great tools to measure your own metrics and indicators. Furthermore, setting SMART goals for SEM campaigns and strategies is essential. You should look at ad spend, impression share, click-through rate, conversion rate for paid search campaigns, organic traffic, ranking position, domain authority, backlink profile for SEO, keyword strategy, ad copy, landing pages and offers for both paid and organic search. Additionally, analyzing your gaps, challenges, advantages and differentiators (GCAD) for SEM is critical.

4 Identify your SEM opportunities

The fourth step is to identify where you can improve your SEM performance and where you can leverage your competitive advantages. You can use tools like Google Ads Recommendations, Google Trends, or Google Keyword Planner to find new keywords, ad groups, and campaigns that can drive more traffic and conversions. You can also use tools like SEMrush, Moz, or Ahrefs to find new content ideas, backlink opportunities, and SEO best practices that can boost your ranking and authority. You should prioritize the opportunities that have the highest potential impact and the lowest difficulty or cost.

5 Implement your SEM actions

The fifth step is to implement the actions that you have identified in the previous step. You can use tools like Google Ads Editor, WordPress, or Yoast SEO to create and optimize your ads, landing pages, and content. You should also follow the SEM guidelines and policies of each search engine platform that you are using. You should test and experiment with different variations of your ads, landing pages, and content to find the best combination that works for your audience and goals. You should also monitor and track the results of your actions using the tools mentioned before.

6 Evaluate and iterate your SEM process

The sixth and final step is to evaluate and iterate your SEM process. You can use tools like Google Analytics, Google Search Console, or Google Ads Reports to measure the outcomes and impacts of your actions. You should compare your results with your goals and benchmarks and see if you have achieved or exceeded them. You should also analyze the feedback and insights that you have gathered from your audience and competitors and see if you can learn from them. You should then repeat the process from the first step and look for new ways to improve and grow your SEM performance.