The Search Marketing Advisor Newsletter Article:
October 2009, Volume 8, Issue 10
PPC: When Position One Doesn't Make Sense
By Louise AuYeung, Search Marketing Specialist, iProspect
Oftentimes in life we strive to be in first place. Not surprisingly, this philosophy can trickle into paid search advertising (PPC) where marketers want top rankings. However, there are situations where being in position one just doesn't make sense.
For example, let's say that an advertiser selling Red Sox caps wants to bid on the keyword "caps." However, trying to reach position one for such a broad term when the product offering is so specific may actually be detrimental to not only the search engine users, but also the advertiser.
Instead, it's much more important to take the time to analyze which keywords are the right ones to keep in top positions. Below are five indicators that should help you determine exactly that, and whether you might be paying too much for a keyword.
Low Click through Rate (CTR)
If a keyword has a low CTR, it's possible that the ad associated with it needs to be more compelling, or that the keyword isn't relevant to your product or service offerings. You may want to rethink keeping it in a high position or within your keyword set.
High Bounce Rates
If visitors are quickly abandoning your site, it's usually a good indicator that they didn't find what they were looking for on your site after clicking on your ad. In this case, assess whether the problem may be the landing page users arrive at, or consider whether visitors are simply not finding what they were looking for as suggested by the keyword they searched on.
High Cost-per-Click (CPC)
Search engines reward advertisers with lower CPCs when their ad is highly relevant to the keyword query. If a keyword has an extremely high CPC, it might just be a highly competitive word; however, it could also indicate that the search engines think that your ad, landing page, or site is not particularly relevant to the keyword, so you're paying a premium to stay at your position compared to your competitors.
Poor Conversion Rate
Keywords that don't convert are generally not worth pushing to the top of the search results page even if they are generating a lot of traffic. Recently, Google noted that conversion rates don't vary much by position; so unfortunately, higher positions do not automatically mean stronger conversion rates.
Not Meeting Goals
The bottom line is that if a keyword doesn't contribute positively to your goals such as Return-On-Investment or Cost Per Acquisition, then it's time to evaluate whether it's worth keeping it in its current position.
While it's nice to be at the top in PPC, it's not essential in every circumstance. Smart marketers will take the time to analyze the performance of their keywords, instead of blindly pushing for position one.
