It sounds crazy to say that being number one isn’t always best for your business. But in actual fact, it’s true. Depending on your budget and the aim of your campaign, it can actually be more advantageous to be number two or even three. In this article I will be explaining why you don’t have to be ranked 1st.
1: Higher Cost
Being ranked 1st can cost a lot over time. Being the top search result increases the odds that your ad will be clicked, which is great if you can get there in a cost effective manner. Some people can become slightly obsessed with being the top result, spending a substantial amount more than the campaign is making them. Keep to a strict budget and set a realistic max CPC (cost per click). A bidding war between you and your competitors only serves to make Google even wealthier. Keeping costs down can increase your ROI as every new customer generated has cost you less to gain.
2: Bounce Rates
Would you rather users clicked your ad just because it was at the top or because they read your ad and felt it was the right choice for them? Not all traffic is good traffic, someone who has taken the time to read the ads and selected yours is generally a much more qualified lead than someone who just clicked the first thing they saw. This can sometimes lead to higher bounce rates, as when the user reaches your landing page as they didn’t have a genuine enough interest in what you had to offer.
3: Value Of Your Product Or Service
For some products, being number one is extremely important. This generally applies to smaller purchases or products that the user will have no real attachment to. For example if someone is looking for a 10 pack of pencils, generally they will pick one of the first things they see. However this doesn’t apply to larger purchases as people tend to do more research and invest themselves in the buying process a lot more. For example if someone was searching online for a new bathtub, they are far more likely to commit to quite a bit more research. Being number five can have it’s advantages in cases like this as the customer has become a very qualified lead by the time they reach your ad.
There is no clear answer as to what position is best for your business. It varies greatly depending on your budget, the quality of your landing pages and the perceived value of what you have to offer. Test out different max CPC’s to show up in different spots, keep track of your results and you will be able to tell which position is most effective for your business.