Comments on: Ad Position Doesn’t Affect Conversion http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2009/08/ad-position-doesnt-affect-conversion.html Internet Marketing News Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:00:40 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Andrew Miller http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2009/08/ad-position-doesnt-affect-conversion.html/comment-page-1#comment-81541 Andrew Miller Fri, 21 Aug 2009 11:04:01 +0000 http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/?p=12301#comment-81541 @Jordan - I couldn't have summed it up better myself. @Jaan - Would I rather sell 3,000 or 300 units? It depends on the profit margin. High CPC's for the #1 ad slot can actually make it UNprofitable to sell via PPC. However, if I can make higher profits by spending less per click, I might actually make MORE money (profit) by only selling 300 units. .-= Andrew Miller´s last blog ..<a href="http://www.yoursearchadvisor.com/blog/google-ppc-ad-position-doesnt-affect-conversion-rate/" rel="nofollow">Google: Ad Position Doesn’t Affect Conversion</a> =-. @Jordan – I couldn’t have summed it up better myself.

@Jaan – Would I rather sell 3,000 or 300 units? It depends on the profit margin. High CPC’s for the #1 ad slot can actually make it UNprofitable to sell via PPC. However, if I can make higher profits by spending less per click, I might actually make MORE money (profit) by only selling 300 units.
.-= Andrew Miller´s last blog ..Google: Ad Position Doesn’t Affect Conversion =-.

]]> By: Jaan Kanellis http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2009/08/ad-position-doesnt-affect-conversion.html/comment-page-1#comment-81513 Jaan Kanellis Thu, 20 Aug 2009 23:40:31 +0000 http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/?p=12301#comment-81513 I know Jordan so depending on the business you want to sell your product 3000 times or 300 times??? .-= Jaan Kanellis´s last blog ..<a href="http://www.jaankanellis.com/bing-shows-shared-ip/" rel="nofollow">Bing Shows You Who Is On Your Shared IP</a> =-. I know Jordan so depending on the business you want to sell your product 3000 times or 300 times???
.-= Jaan Kanellis´s last blog ..Bing Shows You Who Is On Your Shared IP =-.

]]> By: Jordan McCollum http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2009/08/ad-position-doesnt-affect-conversion.html/comment-page-1#comment-81500 Jordan McCollum Thu, 20 Aug 2009 22:07:37 +0000 http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/?p=12301#comment-81500 That's not what it says. It's not saying the number of sales is even comparable. It's not saying the traffic is comparable. It's saying that when the same ad appears high in the rankings, it converts the same percentage of clicks to sales as when it appears low in the rankings in a different search. Let's say this awesome ad in position one gets 10,000 clicks and 300 buyers—3% conversion rate. On another search, this same ad is down in position ten. Let's say they get 100 clicks down there. They only need 3 buyers to get the same 3% conversion rate. We've seen studies that point to a fairly standard conversion rate across the web by industry/vertical for years. That’s not what it says. It’s not saying the number of sales is even comparable. It’s not saying the traffic is comparable.

It’s saying that when the same ad appears high in the rankings, it converts the same percentage of clicks to sales as when it appears low in the rankings in a different search.

Let’s say this awesome ad in position one gets 10,000 clicks and 300 buyers—3% conversion rate.

On another search, this same ad is down in position ten. Let’s say they get 100 clicks down there. They only need 3 buyers to get the same 3% conversion rate.

We’ve seen studies that point to a fairly standard conversion rate across the web by industry/vertical for years.

]]> By: Jaan Kanellis http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2009/08/ad-position-doesnt-affect-conversion.html/comment-page-1#comment-81499 Jaan Kanellis Thu, 20 Aug 2009 21:54:19 +0000 http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/?p=12301#comment-81499 Jordan no way position 8 gets as many sales as position 2. Sure conversion rates will differ, but to put out a study basically saying your position on the first page doesnt matter for traffic or more importantly sales is truly bunk. .-= Jaan Kanellis´s last blog ..<a href="http://www.jaankanellis.com/bing-shows-shared-ip/" rel="nofollow">Bing Shows You Who Is On Your Shared IP</a> =-. Jordan no way position 8 gets as many sales as position 2. Sure conversion rates will differ, but to put out a study basically saying your position on the first page doesnt matter for traffic or more importantly sales is truly bunk.
.-= Jaan Kanellis´s last blog ..Bing Shows You Who Is On Your Shared IP =-.

]]> By: Jordan McCollum http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2009/08/ad-position-doesnt-affect-conversion.html/comment-page-1#comment-81492 Jordan McCollum Thu, 20 Aug 2009 21:10:14 +0000 http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/?p=12301#comment-81492 Jaan—It's not about whether or not you get clicks, it's about whether or not people actually buy. According to this, although more people click on higher positioned ads, the same percentage of people are buying. Obviously higher positioned ads get more raw clicks and raw conversions—but, as Andrew says, they're also getting more curiosity clicks, which pushes down their conversion rate (in his experience, even lower than lower positioned ads). Jaan—It’s not about whether or not you get clicks, it’s about whether or not people actually buy. According to this, although more people click on higher positioned ads, the same percentage of people are buying. Obviously higher positioned ads get more raw clicks and raw conversions—but, as Andrew says, they’re also getting more curiosity clicks, which pushes down their conversion rate (in his experience, even lower than lower positioned ads).

]]> By: Jaan Kanellis http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2009/08/ad-position-doesnt-affect-conversion.html/comment-page-1#comment-81489 Jaan Kanellis Thu, 20 Aug 2009 21:07:32 +0000 http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/?p=12301#comment-81489 This is bunk. Position of your ad is VERY much part of why you are clicked or not. Anyone spending money on adwords knows that. Anyone with positions in the top 3 organically versus positions in 3-9 know that. They just want you to happily buy those keywords regardless of your position. .-= Jaan Kanellis´s last blog ..<a href="http://www.jaankanellis.com/bing-shows-shared-ip/" rel="nofollow">Bing Shows You Who Is On Your Shared IP</a> =-. This is bunk. Position of your ad is VERY much part of why you are clicked or not. Anyone spending money on adwords knows that. Anyone with positions in the top 3 organically versus positions in 3-9 know that.

They just want you to happily buy those keywords regardless of your position.
.-= Jaan Kanellis´s last blog ..Bing Shows You Who Is On Your Shared IP =-.

]]> By: Jack http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2009/08/ad-position-doesnt-affect-conversion.html/comment-page-1#comment-81467 Jack Thu, 20 Aug 2009 18:08:07 +0000 http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/?p=12301#comment-81467 This just reinforces what the priority is...creating an ad with the right content/look to attract your target audience. The location doesn't really matter...online. .-= Jack´s last blog ..<a href="http://domusinc.blogspot.com/2009/08/conversion-rates-and-ad-position.html" rel="nofollow">Conversion Rates and Ad Position</a> =-. This just reinforces what the priority is…creating an ad with the right content/look to attract your target audience. The location doesn’t really matter…online.
.-= Jack´s last blog ..Conversion Rates and Ad Position =-.

]]> By: Andrew Miller http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2009/08/ad-position-doesnt-affect-conversion.html/comment-page-1#comment-81456 Andrew Miller Thu, 20 Aug 2009 17:01:23 +0000 http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/?p=12301#comment-81456 Surely I'm not the only one that has seen evidence to the contrary? In my experience, higher Average Positions (within the right column of Sponsored Results) usually have lower conversion rates because they attract more "window shoppers" that are just browsing. It varies by industry and by website type (e-commerce, informational, etc.) but I have a hard time believing the Google data is universally accurate. The bottom line is, test this hypothesis to get your own results using the "Position Preference" feature in AdWords campaign settings. Your mileage may vary, so find the Average Positions that are most effective and efficient for your business without trusting the fox that happens to be guarding the henhouse ;) .-= Andrew Miller´s last blog ..<a href="http://www.yoursearchadvisor.com/blog/google-ppc-ad-position-doesnt-affect-conversion-rate/" rel="nofollow">Google: Ad Position Doesn’t Affect Conversion</a> =-. Surely I’m not the only one that has seen evidence to the contrary? In my experience, higher Average Positions (within the right column of Sponsored Results) usually have lower conversion rates because they attract more “window shoppers” that are just browsing.

It varies by industry and by website type (e-commerce, informational, etc.) but I have a hard time believing the Google data is universally accurate.

The bottom line is, test this hypothesis to get your own results using the “Position Preference” feature in AdWords campaign settings. Your mileage may vary, so find the Average Positions that are most effective and efficient for your business without trusting the fox that happens to be guarding the henhouse ;)
.-= Andrew Miller´s last blog ..Google: Ad Position Doesn’t Affect Conversion =-.

]]> By: Google: Ad Position Doesn’t Affect Conversion — Your Search Advisor, LLC http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2009/08/ad-position-doesnt-affect-conversion.html/comment-page-1#comment-81444 Google: Ad Position Doesn’t Affect Conversion — Your Search Advisor, LLC Thu, 20 Aug 2009 13:29:16 +0000 http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/?p=12301#comment-81444 [...] (hat tip Marketing Pilgrim) [...] [...] (hat tip Marketing Pilgrim) [...]

]]>