How to Run a PPC Keyword Competition Analysis: A Step-by-Step Guide

Most PPC managers waste hours analyzing keyword competition the hard way—juggling spreadsheets, third-party tools, and manual SERP checks—only to end up guessing which keywords are actually worth bidding on. Here's the reality: understanding keyword competition isn't about having the biggest budget. It's about knowing exactly who you're up against, what they're doing, and where the gaps are that you can exploit.

PPC keyword competition analysis helps you understand which keywords are worth bidding on, who you're competing against, and how to find gaps your competitors are missing. This guide walks you through the entire process—from pulling competitor data to building a strategy that actually wins clicks without burning through your budget.

Whether you're managing a single account or juggling multiple clients, you'll walk away knowing exactly how to assess keyword competition and make smarter bidding decisions. Let's dig in.

Step 1: Identify Your Top PPC Competitors

Your paid search competitors aren't always the same companies you compete with organically. That local competitor dominating organic search might not even be running ads, while a national brand you've never heard of could be outbidding you on every high-intent keyword.

Start with Google Ads Auction Insights. Navigate to any active campaign or ad group, click the three-dot menu, and select "Auction Insights." This native tool shows you exactly who's bidding on the same keywords as you, along with critical metrics like impression share, overlap rate, and outranking share.

What usually happens here is advertisers see a long list of domains and don't know where to focus. Filter the data by your highest-spend campaigns first. Look for competitors who appear consistently across multiple campaigns—these are your primary threats.

Cross-reference this data with manual SERP checks. Search your top 5-10 target keywords in an incognito window and note which ads appear consistently. Sometimes smaller competitors won't show up in Auction Insights if your overlap is minimal, but they're still taking valuable real estate on high-intent searches.

Create a competitor shortlist of 3-5 main players. In most accounts I audit, there are usually 2-3 dominant competitors who show up everywhere, plus 1-2 niche players who target specific keyword clusters. Focus your analysis on these core competitors rather than trying to track every domain that occasionally appears. For a deeper dive into this process, check out our guide on PPC competitor analysis.

Document each competitor's domain, estimated impression share, and the keyword themes where they're most aggressive. This becomes your baseline for the rest of your analysis.

Step 2: Build Your Target Keyword List for Analysis

You can't analyze competition without a clear list of keywords to analyze. The mistake most agencies make is pulling random keywords from a brainstorming session instead of starting with actual performance data.

Begin with your Search Terms Report. Pull the last 30-90 days of data and export all search terms that generated conversions or meaningful engagement. These are proven winners—queries real people used to find you. They're your foundation.

Add competitor keywords you've discovered through your SERP research. When you searched your target keywords in Step 1, you likely saw competitors bidding on variations you're not targeting. Add those to your list. Learning how to find the best keywords for PPC can accelerate this process significantly.

Include keyword variations across different intent types. Break them into categories: transactional keywords (buy, pricing, cost), informational keywords (how to, what is, guide), and navigational keywords (brand names, product names). Competition levels vary dramatically by intent.

What I typically see in client accounts is that transactional keywords have the highest competition and CPCs, while informational keywords offer lower competition but require more nurturing to convert. Document which category each keyword falls into.

Organize your list by themes or product categories. If you're running campaigns for a SaaS product, you might have themes like "features," "pricing," "alternatives," and "use cases." This structure makes the next steps much easier.

Don't skip long-tail variations. Add question-based queries like "how much does [product] cost" or "best [product] for [use case]." These often have lower competition because they're harder to scale, but they can convert exceptionally well.

Your final list should have 50-200 keywords depending on account size. Any fewer and you're missing opportunities. Any more and your analysis becomes unwieldy.

Step 3: Analyze Competition Metrics in Google Ads

Now comes the data pull. Google Ads Keyword Planner is your primary tool here, but you need to understand what the metrics actually mean—because "high competition" doesn't mean what most people think it means.

Navigate to Keyword Planner and paste your keyword list. Pull data for competition level, top of page bid ranges (low and high), and average monthly searches. Export this to a spreadsheet for easier analysis. Understanding how to choose keywords from Keyword Planner makes this step much more effective.

Here's the thing: Keyword Planner's "competition" column reflects advertiser density, not difficulty. It shows how many advertisers are bidding on that keyword, not how hard it is to rank for. A keyword can show "high competition" but still be winnable if competitors are running poor ad copy or landing pages.

Focus on the suggested bid ranges instead. The "top of page bid (high range)" tells you what the most aggressive advertisers are willing to pay. If that number is $15 and your target CPA is $30, you've got room to compete. If it's $50 and your target CPA is $30, you need a different approach.

Return to Auction Insights and pull metrics for your existing campaigns. The key numbers are impression share (what percentage of eligible impressions you're winning), overlap rate (how often you and a competitor appear together), and outranking share (how often you rank above them when you both appear).

In most accounts I audit, impression share below 50% means you're either underbidding or your quality score is dragging you down. Overlap rates above 80% with a single competitor means you're in a direct bidding war—you need to decide if it's worth fighting or if you should pivot to different keywords.

Calculate your estimated cost-per-click ranges. Multiply the high-end bid estimate by 0.7 to get a realistic CPC target. Google's suggested bids tend to run high, but this gives you a working number for budget planning. You can also learn how to benchmark keyword CPC vs industry average for more accurate comparisons.

Document which keywords fall into "affordable," "stretch," and "avoid" categories based on your budget constraints. This becomes critical in Step 6 when you build your bidding strategy.

Step 4: Evaluate Competitor Ad Copy and Landing Pages

Metrics tell you who's bidding and how much they're spending. Ad copy and landing pages tell you how they're actually competing for clicks and conversions.

Search your top 20 target keywords in an incognito window. Screenshot the ads that appear for each query. Look for patterns in how competitors structure their headlines, descriptions, and calls-to-action.

What usually happens here is you'll notice 2-3 dominant messaging themes. Maybe everyone's emphasizing "free trial" or "lowest price" or "24/7 support." These are the table stakes—the baseline messaging you need to match or beat.

Analyze their headlines specifically. Are they using dynamic keyword insertion? Are they leading with benefits or features? Are they asking questions or making bold claims? The best-performing ads typically match search intent precisely while differentiating with a unique angle. Our guide on Google Ads dynamic keyword insertion tips can help you compete more effectively here.

Click through to their landing pages. Time how long they take to load—page speed affects both quality score and conversion rates. Assess the relevance between the ad copy and the landing page headline. If there's a disconnect, that's a quality score weakness you can exploit.

Evaluate their offers and CTAs. Are they offering discounts, free trials, demos, or downloadable resources? What's the friction level to convert? A landing page requiring a phone call has higher friction than one with a self-service signup.

Identify messaging gaps you can exploit. In agency accounts, I often find competitors all saying the same thing, leaving obvious angles unaddressed. Maybe everyone talks about features but nobody addresses implementation time. Maybe everyone focuses on enterprise but ignores small business needs.

Document the top 3 competitor strengths and top 3 weaknesses for each major keyword theme. Your ad copy strategy should neutralize their strengths and exploit their weaknesses.

Step 5: Find Low-Competition Keyword Opportunities

The advertisers who win aren't always fighting the same battles as everyone else. They're finding keyword opportunities competitors are ignoring or undervaluing.

Start with long-tail variations of your core keywords. If "project management software" shows high competition and a $12 CPC, try "project management software for remote teams" or "project management software for construction." These variations typically have 50-70% lower competition while maintaining strong purchase intent. Mastering PPC keyword intent helps you identify which variations are worth pursuing.

Dig into your Search Terms Report for converting queries that don't match your main keywords. These are gold. They're queries real users typed that led to conversions, but they might not be in any competitor's keyword list because they're too specific or unconventional.

What I typically see in client accounts is that these "weird" converting queries—the ones that don't fit neat keyword categories—often have the best ROI because nobody else is bidding on them. Add them to your campaigns even if the volume seems low.

Use your negative keyword insights strategically. Look at what terms you're excluding and ask why competitors might be avoiding similar keywords. Sometimes they're avoiding them because they don't convert. Other times they're avoiding them because they don't understand the nuance of their audience. Our article on identifying negative keywords from competitor campaigns explains this approach in detail.

Check question-based keywords that competitors ignore. Queries like "how long does [product] take to implement" or "can [product] integrate with [tool]" often have lower competition because they're informational, but they can convert exceptionally well when matched with the right landing page.

Prioritize keywords where you can win without overspending. A keyword with 200 monthly searches and a $3 CPC is often more valuable than one with 2,000 searches and a $15 CPC—especially if your conversion rate is higher on the lower-volume term.

Build a separate "opportunity keywords" list with 20-30 terms that meet these criteria: lower competition than your core keywords, clear purchase or research intent, and CPCs within your target range. These become your testing ground for quick wins.

Step 6: Build Your Competitive Bidding Strategy

All the analysis in the world means nothing without a clear bidding strategy. This is where you turn insights into action.

Categorize every keyword into one of three buckets: compete aggressively, test cautiously, or avoid. Your "compete aggressively" keywords are those where you have a strong quality score, competitive ad copy, and the budget to win. These are your bread and butter.

Your "test cautiously" keywords are those with higher competition or CPCs than you'd like, but potential value if you can improve quality score or find a messaging angle competitors are missing. Start these with lower bids and tighter budgets. A solid PPC keyword strategy helps you prioritize these decisions effectively.

Your "avoid" keywords are those where the math simply doesn't work. If a keyword requires a $30 CPC and your target CPA is $40, you'd need an unrealistic conversion rate to make it profitable. Document these so you're not tempted to add them later without a strategy shift.

Set realistic CPC targets based on your competition analysis. Use the bid ranges from Keyword Planner as a starting point, but adjust based on your actual quality score and conversion data. In most accounts I manage, starting bids at 70-80% of the suggested high bid gives you visibility while leaving room to scale.

Plan your ad scheduling around competitor activity patterns. Run a day-parting report in Auction Insights if available, or manually check when competitors' ads appear most frequently. If everyone's bidding aggressively during business hours, consider testing evening or weekend hours where competition might be lighter.

Document your strategy in a shared document or spreadsheet. Include your keyword categories, target CPCs, quality score benchmarks, and the specific competitors you're targeting or avoiding for each keyword theme. This becomes your playbook for ongoing optimization.

Set calendar reminders to revisit this analysis monthly. Competitor strategies shift, new players enter the market, and keyword costs fluctuate. The accounts that consistently win are the ones that treat competition analysis as an ongoing process, not a one-time audit.

Putting It All Together

Let's recap what you've built: a clear picture of who you're competing against, which keywords are worth fighting for, and where the opportunities are that others are missing. That's the foundation of a winning PPC strategy.

Quick checklist to confirm you're ready to execute:

✓ Identified 3-5 main PPC competitors via Auction Insights

✓ Built a categorized keyword list with intent labels

✓ Pulled competition metrics from Keyword Planner

✓ Analyzed competitor ads and landing pages

✓ Found low-competition opportunities in your Search Terms Report

✓ Created a tiered bidding strategy based on competition levels

PPC keyword competition analysis isn't a one-time task. Revisit this process monthly to stay ahead of shifting competitor strategies and new keyword opportunities. The advertisers who win aren't always the ones with the biggest budgets. They're the ones who understand the competitive landscape and bid smarter.

What usually separates good accounts from great ones is execution speed. You can have the best competitive analysis in the world, but if it takes you three hours to implement changes across campaigns, you're losing momentum.

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