If you are into an online business and rely on Google ads to drive traffic, it is quite obvious that you would like to keep a close eye on what competitors are doing. Only then you can be proactive and one-up on your competitors. However, you must know the ways and means by which you can spy on your competitors. Only then you can find the right answer to the question of how to see competitors’ Google Ads.
There are many ways by which it can be done. In this article, we will be looking at a software solution that can help you achieve this objective and answer the question raised above. We will talk about the step-by-step process using SEMrush. The process will help your business to be one up on the competition by making use of keywords and ad copies more effectively.
Why Do Marketers Need to Look at Competitors’ Google Ads?
It is critical for marketers to see that their ads are one-notch on top of competitors and above them. This can be made possible only if they are able to see competitors’ Google Ads.
That way, marketers and online entrepreneurs are able to know more about all paid competitors. They are also able to get a much better idea about the various types of keywords and keyword phrases that competitors are bidding on. Further, they can be in a position to analyze the various live ad examples. It also helps them to analyze better keywords by taking into account CPC and other key metrics.
All this information will certainly help online entrepreneurs execute and plan PPC campaigns and audits that are more focused and more successful.
Why Do You Need a Software to Check Competitor’s Google Ads?
There is no doubt that when you use Google Ads, it is quite easy to have a look at your competitors. Whenever you search for a product or service that is related to your products, you can easily find your competitors’ products. Their ads will be literally staring at your face.
So why do you need software?
Well, because you will not get all the data by searching Google. Think about the below scenarios.
- Your competitors might be rotating ads and you might only see what’s running at the moment.
- You might search for specific keywords, which might show an ad targeted for that keyword. What about all other ads that are running for other keywords?
- You can’t find out all the keywords this competitor is targeting. Also, which ones of these keywords are actually useful?
- You can see the ads that are running now. But what if you want to know ads that were running at a specific time (e.g. during the Christmas period)?
The list can go on, but you get the point. It is impossible to see all the data about the competitors’ ads without using software that has all this data available.
Using SEMrush, you can easily identify the keywords where your competitors might have an edge or could be losing their strength and positions. One more big advantage of using SEMrush is that you will be able to get some clear examples of the various ads that competitors may have run throughout the year. This again will help you have a better idea about the strategy of the competitors and then make changes accordingly.
At the end of the day, there is no doubt that without proper research it would simply not be possible to run an effective campaign. These insights, apart from helping you to be careful, will also help you know more about your areas of strength.
How to See Competitor’s Google Ads using SEMrush?
Let us see how finding out all about your competitor’s Google ads can actually be done by going through a step-by-step process and learning how this process works on the ground.
To begin with, you will have to access the SEMrush tool.
Once you have accessed the site, you will have to access the Advertising Research Page. This page will allow you to select a specific website for which you would like to have copies of the various ads. It could be any website that you believe is your competitor.
Once you have selected a website, the next step is to click on the tab named as “Ad Copies”. This tab will give you a complete list of the ads that pertain to this website.
You can make a note of the various ads, but this is not the end of it.
You can further drill down. For this, you have to click on the “Keywords” tab. Once this has been done, you will be able to get a display of the various keywords that are being targeted by the competitor in question. Once you have the keywords available, you will certainly be able to learn more about these ads making use of the keywords. You can then use these keywords and ad copies as a base for your future campaigns.
Bottom Line
The above process would have given you an idea as to how to understand the ad strategy of competitors better. You can not only get ad copies but also see complete data pertaining to the ad history of the competitors.
These insights will go a long way in better analyzing the strategy that the competitors are using. You can then work around it so that you are able to perform better.
These findings can also help you determine where your own weaknesses and strengths lie. So, you can come out with ways by which you can pull ahead of the competition.
