What are the best ways to benchmark your SEM performance?

1 Define your goals and metrics

To benchmark your SEM performance, you need to first define your goals and metrics . What are you trying to achieve with your SEM campaigns? Are you looking for clicks, conversions, leads, sales, or brand awareness? Depending on your objectives, you will need to select the appropriate metrics to track and analyze. Common metrics include Click-through rate (CTR), Cost per click (CPC), Conversion rate (CVR), Cost per acquisition (CPA), Return on ad spend (ROAS), and Quality score. CTR is the percentage of users who click on your ads, CPC is the average amount you pay for each click on your ads, CVR is the percentage of users who complete a desired action after clicking on your ads, CPA is the average amount you pay for each conversion, ROAS is the ratio of revenue generated by your ads to the cost of your ads, and Quality score is a measure of how relevant and useful your ads, keywords, and landing pages are to your audience.

2 Choose your benchmark sources

When benchmarking your SEM performance, the next step is to choose your benchmark sources. This means selecting the sources of data you will use to compare your performance. There are three main types of benchmark sources: historical (your own past performance data), competitive (your competitors' performance data), and industry (the average performance data of your industry or niche). To collect and access these benchmark sources, you can utilize a variety of tools and methods. Google Ads offers built-in reports and features, such as the performance planner, the auction insights report, and the keyword planner, to gain insights into historical, competitive, and industry data. Additionally, third-party tools like SEMrush, SpyFu, or Moz can provide more detailed and comprehensive data on competitors and industry.

3 Analyze your performance gaps

The third step to benchmark your SEM performance is to analyze your performance gaps, which are the differences between your actual performance and desired performance. To do this, you can use SWOT analysis to identify your strengths and weaknesses, gap analysis to compare current and desired states, and Pareto analysis to prioritize the most significant problems. Through analyzing performance gaps, you can gain a better understanding of where you are, where you want to be, and how to get there.

4 Implement your improvement actions

The fourth step to benchmark your SEM performance is to implement your improvement actions, using various tools and methods such as SMART goals, an action plan, A/B testing, and optimization. SMART goals are a framework that helps you set specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound goals. An action plan is a document that outlines the tasks, responsibilities, resources, and deadlines for each goal. A/B testing helps you compare two or more versions of your ads, keywords, or landing pages to determine which one performs better. Optimization is a process that helps you improve the quality and relevance of your ads, keywords, and landing pages to increase your CTR, CVR, and quality score. By implementing your improvement actions in this way, you can enhance your SEM performance and achieve better results.

5 Monitor and evaluate your results

The fifth step to benchmark your SEM performance is to monitor and evaluate your results. This involves tracking and measuring performance and comparing it with goals and metrics. You can use various tools and methods, such as dashboards that show KPIs and metrics in real time, reports that summarize performance data, and feedback that provides constructive suggestions for improvement. Through this ongoing process, you can check progress, identify successes and challenges, and adjust your strategy as needed.

6 Learn and grow from your experience

The sixth and final step to benchmark your SEM performance is to learn and grow from your experience. This entails reflecting on your performance and applying the lessons learned to your future actions. To do so, surveys, reviews, and learning logs are useful tools that can help you collect feedback, assess your performance from different perspectives, and record reflections, insights, and action points. By leveraging these tools, you can improve your skills, knowledge, and confidence to become a better SEM professional.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?