Articles

Get your Google ads to show on the first page

Posted on June 13, 2013

How do you get your ads to appear on the first page? First it’s important to understand what a first page bid estimate is. Next, it’s helpful to know that even if you meet the first page bid estimate, in some cases your ad may not appear on the first page of results. And finally, we’ll share suggestions about how you can improve your ad rank.

First page bid estimates

The estimated first page bid (Est. first page bid) amount approximates the cost-per-click (CPC) bid needed for your ad to reach the first page of Google search results when a search query exactly matches your keyword. This estimate is based on the Quality Score and current advertiser competition for that keyword, can help you make better bidding decisions.

On average, ads that appear on the first page or above the search results tend to get substantially more clicks than ads that appear on other search results pages, or alongside the search results.

The first page bid estimate is a guide, meant to give you greater insight with which to plan your bidding strategy -- but meeting your first page bid estimate isn’t a guarantee of ad position. Ad position will still depend on Quality Score, your CPC bid, your budget and account settings, and user and advertiser behavior.

Ad position is the order in which your ad shows up on a page. For example, an ad position of "1" means that your ad is the first ad on a page. In general, it's good to have a high ad position because it's likely that more customers will see your ad. Ads can appear on the top of a search results page, on the side of the page, or on the bottom of the page.

Ad position is determined by your Ad Rank in the auction. Your Ad Rank is a score that's based on your bid and your Quality Score. If you're using the cost-per-click bidding option, your bid is how much you're willing to pay for a single click on your ad. Your Quality Score is a measurement of how relevant and useful your keyword, ad text, and landing page are to what a user is searching for.

To improve your ad position, you can increase your bid, or you can focus on improving your Quality Score.