Competitor analysis of Google Ads: All You Wanted to Know

Competitor analysis Google Ads refers to the process of weighing the pros and cons of your rivals’ Ads strategies and applying the insight to do better than them.

Sounds easy, right? It sounds easy, because it is easier said than done.

In this Innocams blog post I’ll explain exactly what it is, its benefits, how to do it right–the works.

Let’s roll.

What is Google Ads

Google Ads (formerly Google AdWords) is the search engine’s advertisement platform where businesses can publish paid ads in Google search results and other Google partner sites.

How It Works

Advertisers bid for keywords relevant to their niche, and when users search for those keywords, Google shows them the most relevant ads. 

Advertisers only pay when their ads are clicked. This model is called the Pay-per-Click (PPC) model.

Benefits of Google Ads

If properly used, a PPC campaign can yield several noteworthy benefits for businesses. A few key advantages of utilising this useful Google Ads platform are listed below:

• Google shares around 94% of the global search market. So, an ad on Google may give you unbelievable local, national or international visibility.
• Using this platform you can precisely target potential customers based on keywords, demographies, locations, behaviours and interests. 
• You can synchronise your ads with the time and date when your target audiences are most active, ensuring the utilisation of the full potential of the ads.
• It may drive traffic and generate qualified leads that often turn into conversions.
• A targeted Google Ads for local customers may increase footfalls at your brick and mortar store, leading to more sales and profits.

What is Competitor Analysis in Google Ads?

You’ve competitors who are also using Google Ads platform. So, you want to know exactly what they are doing with their PPC campaign. This insight will help you beat them to it. Here is the definition–

The Definition

Analysing your competitors’ Google Ads campaigns to understand their strengths and weaknesses and utilising the insights to make your PPC drive better than theirs is what is known as competitor analysis Google Ads. 

The Importance

Competitor analysis in Google Ads gives you an opportunity to get your bearings in the competitive landscape. It helps you identify opportunities and do better than your competitors. 

The Benefits

The benefits of this competitor analysis are many. Some key benefits are briefly discussed below.

1. It will help you understand the strengths and weaknesses of your rivals’ Google Ads campaigns.
2. This understanding will help you to formulate strategies to make your PPC campaign stronger than your competitors’.
3. This analysis will help you understand where you are going wrong and plug the loopholes in your ad campaign.
4. It will also help you understand your target audience’s interests; for example, what keywords they are rising up to.
5. It will help you beat your competitors to it and earn more money than them. Period. That’s what you want, don’t you.

How to Do Competitor Analysis in Google Ads

Competitor analysis Google Ads entirely depends on an analytical mind. 

The Analysis Process 

To analyse your competitors’ activities and performance, the first thing you need is an analytical mind. If you don’t have it, hire someone who has. You will have to use some tools, but tools will give you data, not insight. That comes from human brains. 

Now, use this analytical mind to perform the following tasks:

• Finding out who your competitors are.
• Analyse their ad KPIs like CTR, average position and conversion rates.
• Finding out their ad strategies.
• Evaluate their messaging (landing page, headlines, descriptions etc).
• Be aware of the keywords they are using and getting results.
• Get Google Ads Auction Insights Report and compare your ad performance with that of your competitors.
• After this comparison, better your ad copy, landing page, keyword use and overall ad strategies to beat the competition.

Tools You May Need

Your analytical mind will use and monitor the results coming out of the following tools that you may use to do a competitor ad analysis. 

Here, I want to tell you a secret: There are many third-party tools, but if you carefully use Google and the tools it offers, they will suffice. I’ll confine myself to Google’s tools  only in this blog post.

1. Just type your target keywords and see the Google Search results. This will tell you who your competitors are, what type of copy they are using, where do you stand with respect to them etc. 

2. Google Ads Auctions Insights Report is a built-in tool in your Google Ad account. This will let you compare your performance with your competitors. 

3. Google Ads Transparency Center is a tool that lets you see the ads your competitors have run across different Google platforms. You can see the ad copy, format etc.

4. Google Ads Keyword Planner is a tool that is very useful in competitor analysis Google Ads. It will let you know the competition level of your target keywords and the bid ranges. 

Conclusion

Competitor Analysis Google Ads is crucial if you want to stand out in Google search with your PPC Ads. 

This Analysis will give you valuable insights into the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors’ ad campaigns which you can use to make your Google Ads campaign stronger than your rivals’ to register more ROI than them. 

For that you need an analytical mind and some tools, most of them are supplied by Google itself like Google Keyword Planner etc. There are some third-party tools that are useful. But if you are clever, Google’s tools will suffice.

Frequently Asked Questions