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Positioning of Adverts
Positioning of Adverts
Positioning of Adverts - After using AdSense for a while you must have begun to ask yourself if there's anything you could do to improve your AdSense based earnings. But before you go on experimenting with this and that setup you have to realize a couple of things about positioning.
The first thing you should know is that there is no universal position that is guaranteed to improve your earnings. That being said, the part above about experimenting is meant to be taken literally. You have to try as many setups as you can to find the solution with the greatest benefit.
The first thing you should know is that there is no universal position that is guaranteed to improve your earnings. That being said, the part above about experimenting is meant to be taken literally. You have to try as many setups as you can to find the solution with the greatest benefit.
Positioning of Adverts
But, of course certain places usually work better then others. Of course, Google recognizes this and they publish a "heat map" of how much revenue ads placed in certain portions of the page can bring you. Experimenting is often the best way you can find, what suits the sub conscious mind of your audience.
Generally the most profitable ads are placed within the main content, generally right above it. But this is by no means a rule and there are some exceptions to it. One known exception is having a news site or something similar to a new site.
If this is your case, you will often find that you generate more earnings by placing your ads at the bottom of the content, right before comments begin. This is because as users finish reading a story, they have a short moment where they're looking for something more to do. And your AdSense ads can offer them that something.
Also, placing ads to the left side of your page seems to work better almost all the time. Of course, this is logical because text is generally written from left to right (unless you come from certain countries where it's the other way around).
People will finish a sentence and return their eyes to the left position, which means they have a higher chance of spotting your ads.
Also, there's a bit more to this then just having ads visually in the right place. If you have more then one ad you have to worry about where they're located in the code as well. And there's a very good reason for this concern.
AdSense fills the ads in the order it finds them in the source. That means that if the first add you have in the code isn't the one generating the highest revenue, you may soon start to lose money, rather then earn more.
This is because if AdSense doesn't have anymore ads it will supplement your space with public service ads or just leave it blank altogether. That means that, if you're unlucky, you could end up with your most profitable locations not having any good ads at all. To supplement your revenues
There are other issues with how many ads you should place in your site. The problem is that if you have too many, rather then generate more income, you'll have a lower click through rate, as visitors tend not to follow ads from the places where these come in excess.
You have to constantly keep track of how the users interact with your site. Keep an eye out for where the visitors will be looking at your site most. This is generally the place where you want to use your first ads. Also try not to place ads in annoying positions as that can guarantee a lower click through rate.
Of course, you always need to have ads that blend in with your content and generally don't make the visitor's presence on your site an unpleasant one. The key is providing an enjoyable experience for your visitor, whilst generating revenues from their exploration.
And again, ultimately the best revenue will be earned through a lot of experimentation. Be sure to use AdSense's channels feature and be on the look out for how certain ads in your pages are doing whilst altering the positions to better supplement your earnings.
Generally the most profitable ads are placed within the main content, generally right above it. But this is by no means a rule and there are some exceptions to it. One known exception is having a news site or something similar to a new site.
If this is your case, you will often find that you generate more earnings by placing your ads at the bottom of the content, right before comments begin. This is because as users finish reading a story, they have a short moment where they're looking for something more to do. And your AdSense ads can offer them that something.
Also, placing ads to the left side of your page seems to work better almost all the time. Of course, this is logical because text is generally written from left to right (unless you come from certain countries where it's the other way around).
People will finish a sentence and return their eyes to the left position, which means they have a higher chance of spotting your ads.
Also, there's a bit more to this then just having ads visually in the right place. If you have more then one ad you have to worry about where they're located in the code as well. And there's a very good reason for this concern.
AdSense fills the ads in the order it finds them in the source. That means that if the first add you have in the code isn't the one generating the highest revenue, you may soon start to lose money, rather then earn more.
This is because if AdSense doesn't have anymore ads it will supplement your space with public service ads or just leave it blank altogether. That means that, if you're unlucky, you could end up with your most profitable locations not having any good ads at all. To supplement your revenues
There are other issues with how many ads you should place in your site. The problem is that if you have too many, rather then generate more income, you'll have a lower click through rate, as visitors tend not to follow ads from the places where these come in excess.
You have to constantly keep track of how the users interact with your site. Keep an eye out for where the visitors will be looking at your site most. This is generally the place where you want to use your first ads. Also try not to place ads in annoying positions as that can guarantee a lower click through rate.
Of course, you always need to have ads that blend in with your content and generally don't make the visitor's presence on your site an unpleasant one. The key is providing an enjoyable experience for your visitor, whilst generating revenues from their exploration.
And again, ultimately the best revenue will be earned through a lot of experimentation. Be sure to use AdSense's channels feature and be on the look out for how certain ads in your pages are doing whilst altering the positions to better supplement your earnings.
Ad Position: What Is Ad Position & Why Does it Matter?
In PPC marketing, your ad position can have a big impact on the results of your campaigns. Precisely where your ads will be positioned on the search engine results page is determined by a relatively simple process, but there's a lot you can do to achieve better ad position. In this guide, we'll explain how ad position works and how you can improve your ad position.
Ad position example
What Is Ad Position?
Ad position refers to the position on a search engine results page (or SERP) in which your advertisements appear in relation to other ads on the page. Ad position, or ad rank, is determined by the following formula:
Ad Position = Max Bid x Quality Score x Expected Impact of Extensions
Even highly optimized advertisements do not remain static in terms of their positioning. Paid search platforms such as Google AdWords and Bing Ads function as an auction, which means that every time a user performs a search – even multiple searches using the exact same search criteria – the position of your ads may change. However, ad optimization is crucially important, and can help your ads achieve consistently strong positioning on the SERP.
What Affects Ad Position?
There are only a couple of factors that affect ad position, but advertisers on Google AdWords may not be as concerned with the same metrics as advertisers on Bing Ads. This is because the two platforms calculate ad position slightly differently, despite similarities in terms of how each platform functions.
Google AdWords and Quality Score
For AdWords advertisers, the single most important metric in determining ad position is Quality Score, an aggregate score that encompasses many different individual PPC metrics.
As its name suggests, Quality Score is a baseline indication of the overall quality of your ad. The higher the Quality Score, the "better" the ad is considered to be by Google. Better ads are more likely to be relevant and helpful to searchers – a primary objective for Google as a search engine – and as such are more likely to achieve better ad position.
Although Google's precise methodology for calculating Quality Score remains a well-kept industry secret, we do know that Google calculates Quality Score using an approximation of the following formula:
Ad position Quality Score formula
Relevance – how relevant your ad is to the user's search query – is determined by assessing several factors, such as:
Click-through rate
Relevance of keywords to their associated ad groups
Landing page relevance and optimization
Relevance of the ad text
Overall historical AdWords performance
Quality Score is a complex topic, but for now, all you need to know is that the more optimized and relevant your ads are, the higher your Quality Score will be. The higher your Quality Score, the better ad position you are likely to achieve.
In the following figure, you'll see that Advertiser I can achieve a higher ad position, due to their higher Quality Score, and actually pay less:
Advertise on Google AdWords bidding
To read more on Google AdWords' Quality Score, read this comprehensive PPC University guide to Quality Score and how it affects PPC.
Bing Ads Quality Score
Like AdWords, Bing Ads, Microsoft's PPC platform, also features a Quality Score metric. However, while Bing Ads calculates Quality Score in a similar fashion as AdWords, the overall Bing Ads algorithm treats Quality Score differently, placing slightly less emphasis on Quality Score and evaluating it in closer relation to other account metrics and overall performance.
Advertisers with slightly lower Quality Scores may still be able to achieve strong ad positioning, as Bing Ads evaluates Quality Score in a more relative way than Google. However, Bing Ads calculates Quality Score in much the same way as AdWords, with keyword relevance and click-through rate being prime indicators of a quality ad.
Bing Ads Quality Score
To learn more about Bing Ads and its approach to Quality Score and ad position, read this interview with Bing Ads Evangelist John Gagnon.
Ad Position and Ad Rank
Ad position is also known as ad rank, and the two terms are largely used interchangeably. Ad rank is essentially a formula used to determine ad position that multiplies your Quality Score with your maximum cost-per click bid, or CPC.
Ad position ad rank diagram
Higher ad rank results in better ad position, which, in turn, often results in higher click-through rates. High click-through rates, in turn, positively affect Quality Score. However, it's important to note that Quality Score is normalized for ad position, meaning your Quality Score will not increase unless your click-through rate is higher than the expected CTR for that ad position. You might get more clicks bidding for a higher ad position, but it will not automatically increase your Quality Score.
Improve Ad Position with WordStream
Running an effective paid search campaign is an ongoing, holistic process. Advertisers who are willing to consistently optimize and refine their campaigns according to PPC best practices are much more likely to succeed. However, managing even the simplest PPC campaign takes time and effort, which is why we created WordStream Advisor to help small businesses succeed with paid search.
Product marketing WordStream Advisor main dashboard
WordStream Advisor is an intuitive, responsive PPC and paid social campaign management platform that makes managing PPC campaigns easy. In just 20 minutes per week, you can improve Quality Scores and ad positions, reduce wasted spend, and see greater ROI with less effort, giving you more time to focus on what really matters – taking care of your customers and growing your business.
With individualized, intelligent alerts and recommendations tailored to your PPC accounts, WordStream Advisor quickly and effectively identifies areas of your account in which immediate improvements can be made, and allows you to optimize your campaigns for maximum impact. Every aspect of your PPC campaigns can be easily managed from WordStream Advisor's centralized dashboard, offering at-a-glance summaries of your campaign performance, highly visual reporting, and clear, prescriptive workflows for immediate improvement.
In PPC marketing, your ad position can have a big impact on the results of your campaigns. Precisely where your ads will be positioned on the search engine results page is determined by a relatively simple process, but there's a lot you can do to achieve better ad position. In this guide, we'll explain how ad position works and how you can improve your ad position.
Ad position example
What Is Ad Position?
Ad position refers to the position on a search engine results page (or SERP) in which your advertisements appear in relation to other ads on the page. Ad position, or ad rank, is determined by the following formula:
Ad Position = Max Bid x Quality Score x Expected Impact of Extensions
Even highly optimized advertisements do not remain static in terms of their positioning. Paid search platforms such as Google AdWords and Bing Ads function as an auction, which means that every time a user performs a search – even multiple searches using the exact same search criteria – the position of your ads may change. However, ad optimization is crucially important, and can help your ads achieve consistently strong positioning on the SERP.
What Affects Ad Position?
There are only a couple of factors that affect ad position, but advertisers on Google AdWords may not be as concerned with the same metrics as advertisers on Bing Ads. This is because the two platforms calculate ad position slightly differently, despite similarities in terms of how each platform functions.
Google AdWords and Quality Score
For AdWords advertisers, the single most important metric in determining ad position is Quality Score, an aggregate score that encompasses many different individual PPC metrics.
As its name suggests, Quality Score is a baseline indication of the overall quality of your ad. The higher the Quality Score, the "better" the ad is considered to be by Google. Better ads are more likely to be relevant and helpful to searchers – a primary objective for Google as a search engine – and as such are more likely to achieve better ad position.
Although Google's precise methodology for calculating Quality Score remains a well-kept industry secret, we do know that Google calculates Quality Score using an approximation of the following formula:
Ad position Quality Score formula
Relevance – how relevant your ad is to the user's search query – is determined by assessing several factors, such as:
Click-through rate
Relevance of keywords to their associated ad groups
Landing page relevance and optimization
Relevance of the ad text
Overall historical AdWords performance
Quality Score is a complex topic, but for now, all you need to know is that the more optimized and relevant your ads are, the higher your Quality Score will be. The higher your Quality Score, the better ad position you are likely to achieve.
In the following figure, you'll see that Advertiser I can achieve a higher ad position, due to their higher Quality Score, and actually pay less:
Advertise on Google AdWords bidding
To read more on Google AdWords' Quality Score, read this comprehensive PPC University guide to Quality Score and how it affects PPC.
Bing Ads Quality Score
Like AdWords, Bing Ads, Microsoft's PPC platform, also features a Quality Score metric. However, while Bing Ads calculates Quality Score in a similar fashion as AdWords, the overall Bing Ads algorithm treats Quality Score differently, placing slightly less emphasis on Quality Score and evaluating it in closer relation to other account metrics and overall performance.
Advertisers with slightly lower Quality Scores may still be able to achieve strong ad positioning, as Bing Ads evaluates Quality Score in a more relative way than Google. However, Bing Ads calculates Quality Score in much the same way as AdWords, with keyword relevance and click-through rate being prime indicators of a quality ad.
Bing Ads Quality Score
To learn more about Bing Ads and its approach to Quality Score and ad position, read this interview with Bing Ads Evangelist John Gagnon.
Ad Position and Ad Rank
Ad position is also known as ad rank, and the two terms are largely used interchangeably. Ad rank is essentially a formula used to determine ad position that multiplies your Quality Score with your maximum cost-per click bid, or CPC.
Ad position ad rank diagram
Higher ad rank results in better ad position, which, in turn, often results in higher click-through rates. High click-through rates, in turn, positively affect Quality Score. However, it's important to note that Quality Score is normalized for ad position, meaning your Quality Score will not increase unless your click-through rate is higher than the expected CTR for that ad position. You might get more clicks bidding for a higher ad position, but it will not automatically increase your Quality Score.
Improve Ad Position with WordStream
Running an effective paid search campaign is an ongoing, holistic process. Advertisers who are willing to consistently optimize and refine their campaigns according to PPC best practices are much more likely to succeed. However, managing even the simplest PPC campaign takes time and effort, which is why we created WordStream Advisor to help small businesses succeed with paid search.
Product marketing WordStream Advisor main dashboard
WordStream Advisor is an intuitive, responsive PPC and paid social campaign management platform that makes managing PPC campaigns easy. In just 20 minutes per week, you can improve Quality Scores and ad positions, reduce wasted spend, and see greater ROI with less effort, giving you more time to focus on what really matters – taking care of your customers and growing your business.
With individualized, intelligent alerts and recommendations tailored to your PPC accounts, WordStream Advisor quickly and effectively identifies areas of your account in which immediate improvements can be made, and allows you to optimize your campaigns for maximum impact. Every aspect of your PPC campaigns can be easily managed from WordStream Advisor's centralized dashboard, offering at-a-glance summaries of your campaign performance, highly visual reporting, and clear, prescriptive workflows for immediate improvement.
Positioning in advertisements is the answer to the following questions:
Ever had problems communicating to customers about a product or service?
Does your website or ad seem to confuse people about what you're selling?
Does your "ad copy" (text) make various ineffectual stabs at communication?
Does your ad copy send a muddled message?
Does your ad cause upset of your potential customers because in their eyes it can't be understood?
If so, you may be missing an important marketing tool called positioning!
Positioning means to form in the mind of another or others a concept about your product or service by comparing it to something already familiar to the customer and to make it "real" to the customer how your product/service can be useful, beneficial, worthwhile, etc., to him or her.
Let's do a mental exercise. Consider how many advertisements you see in a day. Possibly lots of them. Which ones do you remember? Okay. Consider how many ads your customers might look at with regard to your product or service. Competition could be strong. Positioning is done with words (ad copy) and/or images (positioning pictures) in order to create a rapid communication of your product or service. One wants to make a lasting impression!
In order to rapidly communicate and to make a favorable, effective sales pitch for your product or service to a majority of potential buyers, it is vital to ensure proper positioning as you compose your ads. Otherwise your ad might end up with the rest of the advertisements one sees on a daily basis — in the mental trash can!
Why? Because computers don't decide to buy your products or services. People do. You'll need to communicate what you offer to potential customers in the best possible light — one which causes the best possible reality for your product or service in each interested consumer visiting your website.
Proper positioning increases your chances of making sales by forming in your visitors' minds a favorable impression of your product or service, or how your product or service could be used by your potential customers in their lives.
By using clever and creative positioning, you can more quickly advance each potential customer along the line — to the point of sale.