How To Rank #1 On Google With PPC

Last updated

by

Daniel Wade

 / 

July 28, 2022

This article may contain affiliate links where we earn a commission from qualifying purchases.

Pay per click is the fastest route to top rankings, warmer leads, and increased sales. PPC is great because it saves time, and may work more effectively for your seasonal sales. Even so, your competitors are more than likely to use it too. Let's help to ensure that every dollar of your budget propels you higher on the search engine results pages (SERPs).

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PPC ranking on Google Search

Even pay per click ad results get ranked on Google searches. Your ad ranking can be higher or lower, depending on your PPC strategy. If you get a higher ad ranking, the result will be a higher click-through rate. For that to happen, however, we must first understand what influences Google ads ranking:

Keyword relevance: Many of your targeted keywords must be an exact match to a user's search query for ranking to happen. The more specific your keywords are to the search query, the higher your ad ranking will be.

Ad copy relevance: Google is increasingly focusing on providing meaningful search results. So apart from keywords, the content and meaning of your Google ads copy must also be relevant to the search query.

Expected click-through rate: When you set up an ad, Google estimates how that it can perform in terms of click-through rate. That prediction is based on the past performance of that keyword and the holistic relevance of your ad to the intended audience.

The bid amount: Although it's not always about the money when all ranking factors have been exhausted, the search engine will consider the ad with the highest bid for top rankings. Even so, there are many times that our low bid ads have outranked higher bid ads. Quality score matters more than bid amounts.

Quality of your landing page: When a user clicks on the ad, they are directed to your page. With a good landing page, the user will spend a long time on the page. A higher bounce rate, on the other hand, could indicate to the search engine that your page quality is low, and that could result in a lower ranking in the subsequent searches.

How to Rank No. 1 on Google with PPC

There are many simple ways to get to the top. Most of the solutions we are about to share entail enhancing the quality of your ad's score. You can do it yourself, but when we do it for you, it's a guarantee that you will get to the top spot and remain there.

Focus on ad relevance

For anyone new to PPC marketing, bidding more may sound like the best strategy to outrank competitors. But when you consider the factors that determine Google's PPC ranking, ad quality supersedes bid amounts every time. Then also, you must think about costs, ROI, and your bottom line.

Money may be the easiest route to top rankings, but a more relevant ad never disappoints. For saving your budget, that is what we focus on.

Use ad extensions

Google says they consider "the prominence of the extensions or formats" of your ads when ranking you in the SERPS. Using ad extensions, they say, can increase click-through rates by between 10 and 15 %. And when that happens, it's guaranteed that Google will adjust your ranking upwards.

Some of the extension formats you can leverage for better rankings include site link extensions that place links to your pages below the ad text. Such an extension makes it easier for users to choose exactly which page on your site to go to. It could be the inventory page, contact pages, or about us.

Another equally important extension is location extension, which displays the address, map marker, and contact information on your ad copy.

For better sales from your campaign, you can also utilize call extensions that invite users to call before they even get to your landing page. Placing a call button with your number on your PPC ad could save your time, especially if the ad copy is already detailed enough.

Another critical extension, the call-out extension provides additional info that's not in your ads, such as free shipping, discounts, or the decades of experience you have in the industry.

Make your ad clear and specific

Clarity and specificity may improve your relevance for the keywords in a user's search query. In the end, you will get precise ad placements that can result in more clicks and more sales. We can help you keep your ads relevant to keywords or get keywords that are relevant to your ads.

Making your campaign highly relevant requires not only an in-depth understanding of your offerings but also knowledge on the target customers. Part of this strategy involves product segmentation and focusing ads on specific buyer groups. Creating individual campaigns for your different products and services, for instance, works better than bundling them all up in one campaign.

It would help to start with highly targeted keywords. If yours is a Dubai travels site, for instance, don't just bid on "Dubai tours." You probably don't have that many keywords to block off irrelevant traffic that such a broad keyword can attract. Bidding on "3 nights 4 days Dubai tour package," on the other hand, captures searchers whose intention and relevance for your product/ service are higher.

Sell benefits, not features

Most marketers aim to get more clicks by improving their ad rankings. Seasoned marketers, on the other hand, can start from the top, getting more clicks first, closing sales, and then increasing ad rankings to sustain the momentum. One way to go about that is to highlight the benefits of your products, as opposed to just listing features in the ad copy.

What will make your customers choose you over the competition? Perhaps for the tour company that could entail a flexible itinerary to personalize the travel experience, free airport transfer for safety and time saving, a book now pay later option for cost savings and so forth. Such an ad will sound more appealing to someone looking for a relaxing and affordable Dubai trip, probably for a weekend with their family. You will get more clicks and subsequently improved rankings.

Customize and make your landing page specific

As seen earlier, Google considers several factors in PPC ranking, and many of these variables fall out of your ad copy. By having a quality landing page, for instance, you can get users to spend more time on your site, which positions you as a relevant and reputable provider of the product/ service. One tried and tested technique here is matching up copy between your ad and the landing page.

In most cases, marketers do it in haste. A user clicks on an ad, and they land on a page that is not what they expected. It is often extremely frustrating for users, and it can generate an alarming bounce rate that could lead to poor rankings. Your Google ads and their landing pages should say the same things. They should both be highly specific.

Do not use your home page as the landing page

Your potential customer searched a precise term for your ad to show up. It wouldn't be fair then to teleport them to a place where they have to do another search to get what they want. The landing page should have information that is clear and 100% in sync with the keyword in the search query.

The landing page is where you make your first impression and start a conversation that could earn you loyal customers.

And if competition for keywords is tight, your only way to get an edge in the market is to create a landing page that is captivating and convincing. We can help with that.

Use negative keywords

Negative keywords are a strategy for attaining relevance and specificity. These keywords will save you money and time. If you have a local bakery ad, for instance, adding 'free shipping' to your ad cancels out search queries that are geared towards walk-in local bakeries. It automatically shows users that yours is an online business.

Use remarketing

Target your subsequent PPC campaigns to users that were not ready or willing to make a purchase decision for the first time. This strategy can increase your page rankings and sales volume and save you time and money at the same time. You can go about it by using cookies on your site to help track users based on their cookie IDs. You can then focus on adding these people to your remarketing list for better outcomes.

Test frequently

You should be able to flexibly adjust the direction of your campaign if its current performance is not satisfactory. Use A/B testing to find different approaches, including keywords, spending, and targeting, that could lead to better results. Remember, too, that SERP rankings are not permanent. They fluctuate a lot. Regular testing can help to keep your campaign on track.

When it's time to bump up your ad raking, there are many factors to look at, from keywords relevance to the quality of ad copy and landing pages, among others. These things can be a lot to juggle for a lean marketing team. That's when we come in with our time-tested techniques and analytics that help us to maximize your ROI for every dollar spent.

All in all, ranking #1 on Google with PPC can take a lot of work, and constant supervision. For many businesses, hiring a google ads agency can help save time and increase profits. If you're looking for some help, simply submit a request for a free proposal.

How To Rank #1 On Google With PPC

About THE AUTHOR

Daniel Wade

Daniel Wade

After working for multiple digital advertising agencies and managing hundreds of client accounts and spending millions of dollars via Google Ads, Facebook Ads, Native Ads and Direct Media Buying, I took things out on my own and started SparrowBoost. Now, my tight-knit team and I continue to get smarter and more efficient at running our own campaigns and we share our knowledge with you.

Learn more about SparrowBoost