How to conduct competitor analysis in PPC?

Introduction to Competitor Analysis in PPC

In the highly competitive legal sector, paid search advertising can be a vital component of your overall marketing strategy. However, success in pay-per-click (PPC) advertising isn’t solely defined by your budget or creativity—it’s heavily influenced by how well you understand and respond to your competitors. Competitor analysis is therefore essential for law firms aiming to stay ahead in search engine results and maximise return on ad spend (ROAS).

By systematically analysing what your competitors are doing in their PPC campaigns, you can uncover valuable insights that inform your own strategy. From identifying competitors’ ad copy and keyword targeting to assessing their landing pages and advert extensions, a thorough competitor analysis enables you to refine your approach, enhance your message and achieve more cost-efficient results.

Why Competitor Analysis Matters in PPC for Law Firms

PPC advertising in the legal field is one of the most competitive and expensive in the digital marketing landscape. With cost-per-click (CPC) often reaching substantial figures, law firms simply cannot afford to guess when it comes to crafting campaigns. Competitor analysis helps you:

• Identify high-performing keywords your competitors are bidding on
• Learn from successful ad copy that resonates with clients
• Discover gaps or weaknesses in competitors’ landing pages
• Benchmark your performance against industry standards

Ultimately, it helps your law firm make data-driven decisions that increase visibility and leads while avoiding wasteful spending.

Identify Your PPC Competitors

Your PPC competitors may not be the same as your direct competitors within your local legal community. Instead, these are the firms bidding on the same keywords as you in Google Ads or Microsoft Ads. Begin by conducting searches using keywords relevant to your practice areas, such as “commercial litigation solicitor London” or “family law firm Manchester”. Tools such as SEMrush, SpyFu, Ahrefs or Google Ads Auction Insights will display which firms consistently appear for your target terms.

Analyse Their Keyword Strategies

Once you have identified your PPC rivals, the next step is to evaluate the keywords they are targeting. Keywords provide insight into which case types or client intents they consider most valuable. Use competitor research tools to obtain a detailed list of their paid keywords along with metrics such as average position, CPC, and search volume.

Assess which keywords are bringing traffic to their site and consider how they align with your own services. For instance, if a rival focuses strongly on terms around “no win no fee personal injury”, this reveals a strategic focus that may differ from your own positioning. It may also show opportunities to pursue more niche or neglected keyword terms with lower competition and potentially higher conversion intent.

Review Ad Copy and Messaging

Compelling ad copy is crucial, especially within the legal sector where credibility, trust and authority matter enormously. Review the headlines and descriptions your competitors are using in Google Ads. Consider what calls to action, USPs (unique selling points), or value propositions they include.

Ask the following:

• Do they highlight awards, years of experience, or accreditation?
• Are they offering free consultations or 24/7 availability?
• Is the tone formal, friendly or assertive?

By observing what seems effective, you can adapt your own messaging to better meet the expectations of potential clients while ensuring that your voice remains distinct and professional.

Study Landing Page Quality and Content

The effectiveness of a PPC advert isn’t only judged by the ad itself—landing pages play a pivotal role in converting visitors into enquiries. Investigate the landing pages linked to your competitors’ ads. Factors to review include page load speed, clarity of information, call-to-action prominence, trust signals such as reviews and case studies, and compliance with SRA guidelines and GDPR.

Compare the user experience and legal tone of these pages with your own. You may find opportunities to improve navigation, increase relevance to specific search queries or address potential client questions more clearly.

Evaluate Use of Ad Extensions

Sitelink extensions, callouts, structured snippets, and call extensions can all greatly enhance the visibility and effectiveness of your PPC campaigns. See what ad extensions your competitors are using, and how effectively these are deployed. For example, are they promoting multiple practice areas, showcasing client testimonials or highlighting specialist solicitors?

Ad extensions can increase clickthrough rates significantly, so understanding how competitors make use of them can provide direction for improving your own campaign structure.

Monitor Performance Over Time

Competitor analysis isn’t a one-off task; PPC is a dynamic field where strategies evolve frequently. Lawyers and marketing teams should monitor competing adverts, keyword changes, and landing page developments on an ongoing basis. Setting up alerts through tools like SEMrush or Google Ads Insights can help track sudden activity changes, which often indicate a new campaign or strategic shift.

This continued tracking can reveal seasonal trends, budget increases or decreased visibility—all of which present either a threat or opportunity for your firm to act upon.

Identify Gaps and Opportunities

By overlaying competitor findings with your own campaign analytics, you can identify gaps in coverage or areas of overinvestment. For example, if your competitors are heavily focused on contested wills but not advertising for “probate disputes”, this could be an underutilised niche that you can explore more aggressively. Conversely, investing heavily in high-CPC keywords where competitors dominate without yielding return may signal a need to shift tactics.

Competitor analysis can also inform content creation for paid and organic purposes, guiding your blog topics, FAQs and video campaigns based on what users respond to in competitor ads and landing pages.

Concluding Thoughts

Conducting thorough competitor analysis in PPC is a crucial step for law firms aiming to maximise visibility, attract better-qualified leads, and enhance return on investment. Through careful examination of rival law firms’ advertising strategies—from keywords and ad messaging to landing pages and ad extensions—you can refine your campaigns with precision and purpose.

In a market as competitive as legal services, knowledge of your competition empowers you to make informed, tactical decisions that support your firm’s growth. Make competitor analysis a regular part of your PPC strategy and you’ll be positioned strongly to outperform rivals in the ever-evolving battle for client attention.