First Page Bid (FPB) is the estimated minimum bid amount for your ads to display on the first page of Google search.
Your ads should display on the first page, it is very important because on average, ads on the first page or above the search results get more clicks than ads that appear on other search results pages.
If the first page bid is too high, you need to improve your Quality Score as the ad rank is the result of the formula CPC (Cost per click) bid multiplied by Quality Score.
To improve your chances to get your ads on the first page, ensure you match up users’ searches with your keywords and check your ads and your website quality is not poor.
Below first page bid
An example of a keyword marked ‘Below first page bid’.
In this case, ads are likely to show only occasionally.
When a keyword is marked ‘Below first page bid’, its status shows you in brackets what bid is required for your keyword to appear on the first page and start triggering ads.
Est. first position bid | Est. first page bid | Est. top of page bid
Select your keyword to get estimated first position, first page and top of the page bids.
Keywords > COLUMNS > Modify Columns > Attributes.
Check Est. first position bid | Est. first page bid | Est. top of page bid.
Google Ads gives you an estimation of bids and positions.
Automated rule
If you want your ads to show at the top of the page, you can set an automated rule to raise your keyword bids to the top of the page.
Keywords > MORE > Create an automated rule.
Change keyword bids.
Select the keyword and the Action | Raise bids to top of the page CPC.
Set a Max. bid limit if you want to limit your cost per click.
Apply a Condition according to your results. For example, a minimum number of conversions required per keyword.
Define the frequency to run your action. For example, once, daily, weekly, monthly, and choose which time frame data should be used.
Click Preview.
The Preview shows your selected keyword(s) new bids to get to the top of the page.
Watch video.
Watch it on YouTube (Larger version)
Target impression share
– Recently, Google has launched a new Smart Bidding strategy: Target impression share. to target your ads to on first page.
There are three options for this strategy.
– Absolute top of the results page – the first position at the top of the first page of search results.
– Top of the results page – among the ads at the top of the first page of search results.
– Anywhere on the results page – anywhere on the search results page.
Watch video.
Watch it on YouTube (Larger version)
Best practices
Quality Score
Be on the first page depends on bids and Quality Score. If your keywords do not appear on the first page, find more closely related keywords and create thigh themed ad groups to improve your Quality Score.
Bidding
Raising your bid does not guarantee you the first page position.
With a higher bid, you are likely to get more impressions and clicks, but not necessarily more conversions.
If you raise your bids, ensure your keywords and campaigns remain always profitable.
Bidding Strategy
Your ad rank is influenced by your CPC (Cost per click) bid, your Quality Score and other factors.
However, your bid should not just be based on clicks and impressions and positioning.
Your bidding strategy should be based on your goals, such as conversions, conversation rate, profit, ROI, ROAS, etc. instead, and these should determine your best position.
Analyse and compare your historical data to evaluate how much revenue your keyword generated and if it is worth increasing or decreasing its bid.
Ultimately, bid for the position that converts the most.
Keywords
Delete high-cost non-converting keywords even if these are top of the results page.
Extract from my Book ‘Making Google Ads Work’.
