Google Ads Search campaigns are based on keywords that you choose that are related to your business. But you might be thinking…I have competitors, will their ad show instead? Will our ads show together? Who’s ad will show first? How much will my ad cost to show?
These questions can be answered by the 6 ranking factors that Google Ads considers at each auction. An auction in this case refers to one single search conducted by a user. Each time a user searches for one of your pre-selected keywords, Google will examine the following:
1. Keyword Bid – High Impact Ranking Factor
Is your keyword maximum CPC (cost-per-click) high enough to beat out a competitor? If you are running a manual CPC strategy, Google will indicate in the keyword level performance if your bid is “below first-page bid”. This is a good indicator that you’re not competitive enough. Another indicator is if your ad isn’t showing but you are sure your next 4 factors are competitive, probably a good indicator to increase the bid.
If you are running a bid strategy where Google controls your keyword bids, you will need to focus your time on the next factors to help improve your ranking.
2. Ad Quality – High Impact Ranking Factor
Ad Quality comes down to your ad relevance and landing page experience. When a user searches on Google, they want to easily find the answer to their problem or question. Ensure you have the keyword in your ad and all relevant information for a successful and easy user experience on the landing page. Google will reward better user experiences.
3. Ad Rank Threshold – High Impact Ranking Factor
Ad Rank determines your ad position and whether your ads are eligible to show at all. There are 6 areas that factor into Ad Rank. To help ensure quality, Google sets minimum thresholds that an ad must achieve to show. These thresholds are determined at each auction and can change based on:
- Ad quality – discussed above
- Ad position – ads higher on the search results page have higher thresholds than those lower on the page
- User signals and attributes such as location and device type – thresholds can vary based on who is searching or where or on what device
- The topic and nature of the search – just because someone types in your keyword, doesn’t mean they have the same intent as what your business offers, Google will take this into consideration
- Related Auction – Google can take similar auctions into consideration for setting thresholds
4. Competition – Medium Impact Ranking Factor
This one is pretty simple, if there are more competitors in the market, it will be more expensive to advertise in the space. To dive deeper into the competition for a campaign, ad group, or keyword; you can use the auction insights tool within Google.
5. The Context of the Person’s Search – Low Impact Ranking Factor
Similar to Ad Rank, Google will change its’ thresholds for each auction based on the context of someone’s search.
6. The Expected Impact of Ad Extensions – Low Impact Ranking Factor
If your ad extension has relevant information to the user’s search, Google will reward this by increasing ad relevancy in each auction. A best practice is always to have at least 3 different types of ad extensions running at one time. This not only helps to improve your ranking but can also help to push competitors further down the page.