For example, if your ad shows up in the second position on the page, your ad rank for that particular search is a two.<\/p>\n
But, what factors actually impact your ad rank?<\/p>\n
Before 2017, ad rank was a more simple calculation involving your max CPC and the number of competitors relative to the search.<\/p>\n
Since Google Ads introduced some key changes to the way Ad Rank is calculated, such as thresholds and machine learning<\/a>, it\u2019s become much more complex.<\/p>\n Simply put, Ad Rank is calculated by:<\/p>\n Each specific keyword search is analyzed by determining the above factors to give it an Ad Rank.<\/p>\n That means that every search is fundamentally different. That means in one search auction, you could have an Ad Rank of one. But the very next search auction, you could have an Ad Rank of four.<\/p>\n In order to fully understand Ad Rank, let\u2019s dive deeper into each of the factors above.<\/p>\n Because Google Ads is essentially an auction, it\u2019s often assumed that if you just bid higher, you\u2019ll land the top advertising spot.<\/p>\n In the world of complexity, that is not the case anymore.<\/p>\n You could be bidding significantly less than a competitor of yours in an auction but still, outrank them if your ads are better!<\/p>\n While there are many differences between organic and paid searches, they do function similarly in the fact that Google will favor more relevant information for searchers.<\/p>\n Now that we\u2019ve gone through the basics of ad rank and how it\u2019s calculated, here are three ways you can improve your ad rank \u2013 all without spending more money.<\/p>\n Ad relevance<\/a> is a major component of your ad rank. As mentioned above, ad relevance is one of three components that comprise of ad quality or quality score.<\/p>\n According to Google\u2019s official definition<\/a>, ad relevance is \u201chow closely your ad matches the intent behind a user\u2019s search.\u201d<\/p>\n So, how do you improve your ad relevance?<\/p>\n Start by auditing your current ad copy and cross-reference the keywords that you\u2019re bidding on.<\/p>\n Do your headlines or descriptions include keywords that a user is searching?<\/p>\n Responsive Search Ads are a great way to test out different copies to determine what resonates best with a user.<\/p>\n Google does give some reporting on headlines and descriptions, including how they rank from \u201clow\u201d to \u201cbest\u201d in terms of performance.<\/p>\n If you have found a winning ad copy that performs well, you could also pin your top-performing headline to the top of your ad, ensuring that it always shows up in your ad.<\/p>\n Now, while you should focus on including relevant keywords in your copy that a user is searching, don\u2019t get this confused with keyword stuffing<\/a>.<\/p>\n Gone are the days of focusing on SKAGs (single keyword ad groups). It used to be easy to have higher ad relevance with SKAGs because you were almost always matching a particular search term with your headline.<\/p>\n With Google\u2019s expansion of Exact match types, advertisers have had to switch away from SKAGs and focus on the holistic picture. Everyone searches differently, and if you\u2019re relying on SKAGs in your account to drill down to a particular level, you could be limiting yourself.<\/p>\n Secondly, part of Google\u2019s definition of ad relevance is how much the ad matches a user\u2019s intent<\/a>.<\/p>\n Say I search for [keyword research tool cost]. I\u2019m clearly looking for how much a tool like that would cost me per month.<\/p>\n This example above hits on all the key points of a good ad:<\/p>\n To sum it up, ad relevance is not just trying to fit keywords as many times into your copy as possible.<\/p>\n Google is focused more on the intent of a user and how well your ad can help that user solve a problem.<\/p>\n Ad extensions are something that can easily be forgotten when setting up new campaigns and ad groups.<\/p>\n While they may seem tedious or unimportant to set up, the contrary is true.<\/p>\n Ad extensions are a vital part of increasing your ad rank on Google. They help increase your CTR<\/a>, therefore in turn help increase your ad rank.<\/p>\n Why do they help increase CTR? Glad you asked!<\/p>\n Ad extensions allow you to give users additional information about your business that you couldn\u2019t convey in your ad. After all, we are still limited by character count with headlines and descriptions.<\/p>\n However, don\u2019t just add extensions for the sake of adding them.<\/p>\n In fact, if you add extensions to a campaign or ad group that don\u2019t align with the search terms, this could actually lower your ad rank.<\/p>\n So, what should you use ad extensions for?<\/p>\n Well, almost anything! Google continues to produce additional ways that we as advertisers can get our message across to a user to help them solve a problem.<\/p>\n As of now, these are the available ad extensions<\/a> you can create:<\/p>\n With all these options, how do you choose which ones to add?<\/p>\n Ideally, you should create ad extensions based on your campaign goal(s).<\/p>\n For example, if you are a local business and trying to drive in-store traffic, you\u2019d benefit from adding location extensions.<\/p>\n If your goal is to drive more web traffic, try adding relevant sitelinks to different areas of your site that can help solve a user\u2019s problem.<\/p>\n If your main goal is lead generation<\/a>, try adding a lead form extension to your ads \u2013 especially if you don\u2019t have a stellar landing page. But, we\u2019ll get more into landing pages in the next section.<\/p>\n To summarize, be specific about the extensions you add to your campaigns. Aligning them with your campaign goals could help significantly increase your ad rank.<\/p>\n Landing pages are often a forgotten piece of the conversion puzzle.<\/p>\n However, I\u2019d like to argue that this is the most important part to get right in improving your ad rank.<\/p>\n If you\u2019ve ever clicked on a paid ad and were disappointed about your landing page experience, you know how frustrating that can be.<\/p>\n As a searcher, the user experience can make or break whether or not they purchase from you.<\/p>\n Your search query should be a direct indicator of what you expect to see when you get to a website.<\/p>\n Back in the day, many advertisers would consume so much time creating a different landing page for each ad group to ensure that the page had exactly what the user was searching for.<\/p>\n Well, in theory, that\u2019s good, right?<\/p>\n It is good \u2013 if you are helping them solve a problem. If you\u2019re creating landing pages with fluff copy just to match the search term, you\u2019ve got it all wrong.<\/p>\n If you haven\u2019t noticed the theme of Google lately, it\u2019s all about intent.<\/p>\n We need to stop worrying about our landing page headline matching exactly what a user searches for and more about what they actually see when they land.<\/p>\n There are many things to consider in creating a good landing page:<\/p>\n The list can go on and on if you get my drift.<\/p>\n The point is, that your landing page experience has to be of quality and consistency in order to improve your ad rank.<\/p>\n\n
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1. Improve Your Ad Relevance<\/h2>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/marketingnewsbox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/get-to-know-ad-rank-learn-3-ways-to-improve-it-via-sejournal-brookeosmundson.png\"){kind=icon}
Screenshot from search for [keyword research tool cost], Google, June 2022<\/span><\/div>\n\n
2. Focus On Ad Extension Content<\/h2>\n
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3. Create Better Landing Pages<\/h2>\n
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