PPC-advertising is a very powerful tool that will help you reach your target group, promote your traffic, and get more conversions. You must know what your competitors are doing in order to have effective PPC campaigns. A competitive analysis of your PPC rivalry can assist you to explore chances, prevent expensive errors, and lead in the advertisement arena.

Here in this guide, we would take you through the process of analyzing PPC competitors step-by-step.

Why PPC Competitor Analysis Matters

Before going to the how, we should briefly discuss the why. Your rivals are using money to reach the same people to whom you are targeting. 

Through the analysis of their strategies, you can:

• Determine lucrative keywords that they are bidding.
• Learn their ad copy and creative ways.
• Discover their landing page strategies.
• Identify loopholes or places where you can be better than them.
• Competitor research is not about imitation- it is about knowing and doing better.

Step 1: Identify Your PPC Competitors

First, determine who your real PPC competitors are. These may not be identical to your SEO or organic search competitors.

Use Google Search

Enter your desired keywords in Google and notice the advertisements which are displayed at the top. Probably these are your direct PPC rivals.

As an illustration, when selling running shoes online, you can search with such keywords as:

• “Buy running shoes”
• “Best running shoes for men”
• “Running shoes under $100”

Use PPC Tools

Use tools like:

• SEMrush
• SpyFu
• Ahrefs
• iSpionage
• Google Ads Auction Insights (in case of ads running).

The tools are used to find advertisers who have placed the same keywords and find out how their ad appears in relation to your ads.

Step 2: Analyze Their Keywords

After you have the competitors, the next thing to do is to determine the keywords that the competitors are targeting.

Check Paid Keywords

Go to SEMrush or SpyFu and input the domain name of one of your competitors before going to their Paid Keywords report.

You’ll see:

• Keywords they bid on
• Average cost-per-click (CPC)
• Ad position
• Estimated monthly traffic

Look for:

• Keywords in which they are always ranked in high volumes.
• The long-tailed keywords that they could be employing to cut off CPC.
• Non-branded and branded keywords.

Keyword Gaps

Compare your Keyword strategy and a competitor using Keyword gap tools.

This helps you identify:

• Keywords that are optimized.
• New keyword opportunities
• Competition keywords that are not high competition.

Step 3: Study Their Ad Copy and Messaging

This is where competitive advertising is done to capture the attention of your audience.

Notice of the following:

Headlines and Descriptions

What are their catchphrase words? Look for:

• Emotional Appeals (e.g., “Limited Time Offer,” Free Shipping)
• Value propositions (ex: 30-Day Money Back Guarantee, Made in the USA)
• Call-to-action text (e.g. Shop Now, Free Quote, etc.)

Unique Selling Propositions

What is unique about their advertisements? Is it about pricing, quality, customer service or any other thing?

Make notes and find some patterns in several ads.

A/B Testing Their Ads

Certain tools (such as SEMrush or iSpionage) allow viewing ad variations in the past. This may provide information on which versions did better and what they tested in the long run.

Step 4: Explore Landing Pages

The following important element after the ad is the landing page. This is the place where conversions occur.

Visit Their Landing Pages

Click on competitor advertisements (incognito or ad preview extensions to avoid charges).

Analyze:

• Correlation between ad copy and headline and messaging.
• Speed and mobile-friendliness.
• Clarity of the call-to-action (Buy Now, Get Started, etc.)
• Form length and layout
• Badges (reviews, guarantees) and trust signals.

Funnel Analysis

• Attempt to trace their complete sales channel. What follows the clicking of the ad?
• Is it discounted or free of charge?
• Does it have a retargeting strategy?
• Do you have any cross-sells or upsells?

Their funnel can be understood to help you improve your own.

Step 5: Review their Budget and their Spend Strategy

You cannot know how much they are spending but tools such as SpyFu and SEMrush give them estimates.

Focus on:

• Monthly ad budget (estimated)
• Number of keywords targeted
• Number of active ads.

This information provides you with an approximate notion of their aggressiveness and the amount of money they spend on PPC.

Step 6: Track their Ad Placements and Devices

Devices

Are they orienting towards mobile or desktop, or both? There are certain industries that perform excellently on a certain platform as opposed to the other.

Ad Networks

Do your competitors just appear on Google search or do they appear on:

• Google Display Network (GDN)
• YouTube Ads
• Microsoft Ads (Bing).

The existence of a broader approach can be an indication of a high PPC maturity and increased budget.

Step 7: Auction Insights (Google Ads Users)

When you are self-managing a Google Ads campaign, Auction Insights should be used in your dashboard.

This shows:

• Who are your rival competitors in auctions?
• Their impression share
• How often they rank above you
• Overlap rate (frequency of their advertisements coinciding with yours).

This is strong first party data to monitor your direct competitors on a real-time basis.

Step 8: Track Changes Over Time

One-time analysis can be of assistance, but PPC is dynamic. Advertisements, budget, and strategies change every time. Add a reminder to re-examine your competitors on a monthly or quarterly basis.

Use tools to:

• Get notifications on when competitors have new ads.
• Monitor keyword changes.
• Track changes in landing pages.
• Conservancy assists in keeping steps ahead.

Key Competitor Analysis PPC Tools You Can Use

The following are some of the trusted tools by digital marketers:

Tool	Key Features
SEMrush	Paid keyword analysis, ad copy, competitor comparison
SpyFu	Ad history, PPC spend estimates, keyword overlap
iSpionage	Landing page tracking, A/B testing insights
Ahrefs	PPC keyword research (limited)
Google Ads Auction Insights	Real-time competitor performance (your account only)