For a few months you have been able to see what Google estimates your bid needs to be to show on the top of the page. Now they’ve made acting on that information easier. This post explains how to use these bid estamates to optimize your bids quickly, and more accurately.
Should You Optimize to Show at Top of Page?
As always, some accounts/keywords perform better on top, and others on the side or bottom. In order to determine if you should optimize for Top placements, segment your view to see what ad position (Top Vs Other) performs best for you. If your analysis shows you want to be on Top, then enable the column Est. top page bid. This tells you what Google things you need to bid at auction in order to have the best chance to show at the top position.
From there, it’s pretty simple. Adjust your Max CPC bid to those estimates, and you are good to go. And Google has just made it easier to make these changes in bulk. They did this through an update to both the Automatic Rules and the AdWords Editor.
Using Automated Rules for Top of Page Bid Changes
- Click “All online campaigns” in the left panel of your account.
- Go to the “Keywords” tab
- Click the “Automate” button and select “Raise bids to top of page CPC when…”
- Fill in the details of the rule so it will perform as you desire.
Here’s a screen shot of creating an automated rule:
Using AdWords Editor 9.7.1 for Top of Page Bid Changes
The newest version of AdWords includes an option under the “Advanced bid changes” link when you are on the Keywords tab. Clicking on this option will bring up a dialog box. From there, you simply select “Raise keyword maximum CPC bids to their top of page bid estimates” and it does the work for you.
Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for more news updates from PPC Hero!
