How can you identify your top search advertising competitors?

1 Why search advertising competitors matter

Search advertising competitors are websites that bid on the same keywords as you, and appear in the same search results. They can be direct competitors, who sell similar products or services, or indirect competitors who target the same audience or solve the same problem. Knowing who your search advertising competitors are can be beneficial in understanding the level of competition and cost of advertising for your keywords, discovering new keywords and ad copy ideas that work for your niche, analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors' landing pages and offers, and benchmarking your own performance to identify areas for improvement.

2 How to find your search advertising competitors

Finding your search advertising competitors can be done with several tools and methods. Google's Keyword Planner is a free tool that allows you to enter a keyword and view the estimated bids, impressions, and clicks for that keyword, as well as the top domains bidding on that keyword and their ad headlines and descriptions. Paid tools like SEMrush or SpyFu offer more advanced features, such as entering a domain name to see all the keywords they are bidding on, their ad history, budget, and position. Additionally, you can manually search your keyword in Google to see who appears in the paid results, while also using modifiers like location, device, and time to observe how the results change.

3 How to evaluate your search advertising competitors

Once you have a list of your search advertising competitors, you need to evaluate them and see how they compare to you. To do this, assess their keyword relevance to your products or services and if they are targeting the same intent and stage of the buyer's journey. Additionally, look at the quality of their ads, such as compelling headlines and descriptions, if they match the user's query, and if they have clear benefits and calls to action. Furthermore, evaluate the quality of their landing pages in terms of value proposition, headline, offer, loading speed, design, and trustworthiness. Finally, consider their performance metrics like impressions, clicks, conversions, costs, search results ranking, quality score, click-through rate, and conversion rate.

4 How to use your search advertising competitor analysis

After you have evaluated your search advertising competitors, you can use your findings to improve your own campaigns. For example, optimizing your keywords can help you find new ones you may have missed and refine existing ones based on the level of competition and user intent. You can also exclude irrelevant or low-performing keywords that your competitors are using by using negative keywords. Additionally, optimizing your ads can help you craft better headlines and descriptions that stand out from the crowd and appeal to your target audience. Utilizing ad extensions, such as site links, callouts, and reviews, can also provide more information to the users. Furthermore, optimizing your landing pages can help increase conversion rates by testing different elements such as headlines, images, copy, forms, and buttons. You can also use social proof, testimonials, and guarantees to boost your credibility and trust.

5 How to monitor your search advertising competitors

Search advertising is an ever-evolving and competitive field, so it's important to keep track of your competitors. Setting up alerts with tools like Google Alerts, Mention, or Talkwalker can help you stay informed of your rivals' campaigns, changes, and mentions online. Additionally, the Google Ads Auction Insights report can give you an idea of how your competitors' performance is changing over time. Periodic audits with tools like SEMrush or SpyFu can help you monitor your competitors' keywords, ads, and landing pages. You can also use Google Analytics or Google Optimize to measure and test your own campaigns and see how they stack up against your rivals. To learn from the best practices of successful search advertising campaigns in your industry or niche, look to AdEspresso or Unbounce. Additionally, following industry blogs, podcasts, and newsletters can keep you up to date on the latest news and insights on search advertising.

6 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?