One of the biggest misconceptions about advertisement ranking is that the highest bid will always beat the competition and always force an ad onto the front page of Google. This idea stems from the notion that ranking is a simple machine. The reality, however, is that ranking and placement source their final grades from a number of factors.

Rid Yourself of That Falsehood

In order to dispel this false belief, it is important to first say: Ad quality is extremely important. Google says it would rather show no ads on a page than display poorly-designed ads to its users. Therefore, your designers and marketers should take the time to fine tune the ads themselves and the keywords Adwords knows are associated with those ads.

Next, you must understand that your ultimate cost-per-click (CPC) – the final amount Adwords charges you for a click on your ad – may reach lower than you expect but may also increase to your maximum CPC, even if the competition is not fierce. With a low-quality ad, you may have to gain ground with your bid price in order to beat an ad of higher quality. If you keep your ad quality and website quality high, then you won’t have to consistently make up that ground.

The addition of any extensions in your ads also has an impact on your ranking. Google wants to display the highest quality links to its users, so Adwords takes the impact of your extensions into consideration when determining whether or not your ad will make a good fit in a search. Also keep in mind that, because extensions require a minimum ad rank before being show, higher bids and higher ad quality can determine whether or not extensions are shown at all.

Adwords’ determination of ad quality takes into account an ad’s expected clickthrough rate, its relevance to search terms, and its landing page experience (the quality of your website), so it’s in your best interest to make sure all those factors are as good as they can be. Remember that clickthrough rate takes keyword quality into consideration and that keyword types can have a huge impact on whether or not a user’s search will trigger your campaign.

Quality is a Full-time Job

As a takeaway, businesses should know that, to manage a successful campaign on Adwords, their marketing and design teams will have their hands full. Using Adwords to its full effect isn’t about having the most money. It’s about mixing high-

quality search terms, ad content, and landing page content to create a unified whole.

Only when the above factors work well with one another will their resulting ads have a chance at consistently beating the competition. This is where Atria’s expertise shines through. Are you ready to improve your PPC management campaign? Schedule a consultation today!