Plenty of tools promise to offer excellent PPC data and insights. However, they usually come at a cost. But if you know where to look, you can gather a wealth of data and insights without spending a dime. In this article, I’ll share a list of free tools I use to manage client accounts and optimize campaigns across paid channels.
Analyzing the competition is crucial when planning and managing your **paid media ads**. You also need to keep up with what is happening in the market. The tools below offer free insight into just this.
The Power of Google Ads Transparency Center
**Google Ads Transparency Center** is a relatively new tool that enables users to see what ads any verified advertiser is running across Google networks. This tool allows you to search for any advertiser, specify a date range, location, and ad format, and see what ads are or have been running.
- Check the messaging, visuals, and offers your competitors are using to better understand how you can make your own ads more enticing.
- Use it as an additional place to check if a competitor has adjusted their offering or started/stopped ads when you see a change in performance in your ads.
Similar to the Ads Transparency Center is the **Facebook Ads Library**. The Ads Library allows you to search all ads currently running across Meta platforms from any advertiser.
- View the date the ad was launched, the platforms it is running on, the type of ad it is, the messaging and creative, and the landing page in use.
Combine these tools to build a picture of the messaging and funnel your competitors are adopting.
**Google Trends** allows you to track the popularity of terms, topics, or companies over a given period and location. It also lets you compare the trend data, making it a great tool for tracking brand growth over time.
- Plot how your brand name trends vs. your competitors and compare up to four keywords.
- Filter the results by the type of search used to gain insights into different buying intents and trends.
**Glimpse** is an extension to Google Trends that provides additional insights and data. With the free package, you can access 10 free lookups per month on any topic or keyword.
- Track trends and trajectory, see what variations of the keywords people are also searching for, and break down what people are searching across different channels.
- See the social media channels where the keyword is used, and get a topic map to give you new ideas for keyword clusters.
In addition to these tools, several other premium platforms offer basic free access. While these tools alone do not give you all the answers, you can build a comprehensive view when used with other tools.
In the realm of keyword research, **Google Keyword Planner** is a widely used tool that provides both historical search volume metrics and forecasts. It allows you to start with base keywords or a website URL and provides related keywords.
**Answer the Public** is an alternative keyword research tool that focuses on question-based searches. It offers a free version of up to three searches per day and provides questions, prepositions, and comparisons.
**Ahrefs** can be a good place to start for keyword idea generation. Without a subscription, you can see the first 100 keywords for free, along with their search volume and difficulty ranking. It provides data for Google, Bing, YouTube, and Amazon.
When it comes to visual ads, your creative is everything. But creative traditionally can be expensive. Luckily, there are free tools you can use that offer great design capabilities.
**Canva** is an extremely user-friendly design platform that allows you to create stunning visuals for your ads.
As an SEO expert and online marketer, I highly recommend using these free tools to gather valuable data and insights for your paid media ads. However, if you need expert assistance in optimizing your campaigns and achieving better results, Bridgewell Marketing offers top-notch SEO services. Visit their website at https://bridgewellmarketing.com to learn more.
