SpyFu

What Stevin gets out of SpyFu

SpyFu shows what normally stays hidden: which keywords your competitor bids on, what their ads look like, and, roughly, what they spend. For finding keyword gaps and avoiding a bidding war you would lose anyway, that is useful ammunition. The caveat is that the spend figures are an estimate, not their invoice, and that a gap in their coverage is not automatically an opportunity for you. Teams get stuck there: they take the numbers literally or chase every keyword the competitor misses, including the worthless ones. Stevin reads SpyFu data and translates it into concrete signals in your Advisor: this keyword is sitting unused while it fits, here the competitor spends more, here they are actually pulling back. It proposes the move, a person decides whether it fits your strategy and budget.

What you pair it with

SpyFu gives you a view of other people's PPC strategy, but it is a reconnaissance tool, not a steering wheel: it does not tell you what to do, only what they do. Count on a layer that lays the findings next to your own campaign performance, otherwise you copy a competitor who may be running at a loss. The spend is estimated, so treat it as direction. The real value comes when the gaps and overlaps get weighed against what works in your account, not as a loose list of keywords.

Common mistakes

• →Mistaking a competitor's estimated spend for their actual invoice.
• →Copying a competitor who may be running at a loss themselves.
• →Chasing every keyword the competitor misses, including the worthless ones.
• →Not weighing the findings against what works in your own account.