Being visible on Google’s search engine, and even more so with your Google Adwords campaigns, is a key issue for a large number of companies and ecommerce businesses looking to improve their visibility: whether you want to display your ads, sell products (e-commerce) or offer services (lead generation), you need to be on the first page and ideally in the top positions of Google’s search results.
Google Ads campaigns offer serious advantages for rapidly increasing qualified traffic.
But as you know, you’re not the only one positioning your ads via Google Ads campaigns. Keeping an eye on the competition is therefore essential if you don’t want to lose valuable traffic and audience for your business.
This is what we’re going to show you in the following points. Which competitive indicators should be monitored and analyzed? Which indicators ensure that you maintain your visibility with a given budget? When do your competitors take over, and what can you do to avoid this?
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Impression rate: make sure you’re visible
Definition: “The impression rate corresponds to the number of impressions presented by the number of impressions you could have recorded.”
When analyzing the impression rate of a Google Ads campaign (Shopping or Text), there are in fact 2 indicators to take into consideration to know if you have the upper hand over your competitors:
- printing rate (IS)
- the number of impressions in absolute first position.
1. How to use and analyze the “impression rate (IS)”?
If your impression rate is high, it means your ads are performing well in user searches.
Conversely, if your impression rates are low, you have the potential to reach more users. In this case, you’ll certainly need to increase your bids and your budget.
- Advice :
- Increase your campaign budget to increase the frequency of your ads.
- Increase your bid to win the bidding for your ads
- Improve ad quality so that future customers click on your ads rather than your competitor’s.
To find out more about Impression Rate strategies and objectives, we recommend you read our article on Google Ads smart bidding and “Impression Rate” versus “Maximizing Clicks” .
2. How to use the “rate of impressions in absolute first position” information?
Definition : “The absolute top impressions rate (ATIS) corresponds to the percentage of impressions of your Shopping ads published in the most visible position (Shopping campaigns).
There is only one “absolute top print” per auction.
Consequently, the corresponding rate is an important indicator of your overall prominence.”
The top positions are always the most sought-after and therefore the most expensive.
However, in the context of performance and return on investment, this higher cost is often highly commendable!
To recap a bit of history, the absolute position impression rate replaced the “average position” indicator at the end of 2019, which showed where your ad was positioned in the search results.
Overlap rate: who is present at the same time as you?
Definition: “The overlap rate indicates how often your ad and another advertiser’s ad have registered an impression at the same time.”
Why is this indicator important and why should it be analyzed?
Whether you’re an e-business or a service provider, it’s important to know who’s present at the same time to make the difference.
After all, your competitors also have advantages and attractive offers, and their ads may be more appealing than yours. And you’ll need to ask yourself the following questions: Are their catchphrases better than mine? Are their prices more competitive? Do they offer a more interesting promotion?
All these elements can impact your traffic and cause you to lose sales.
Analyzing the overlay rate will enable you to anticipate and identify new players entering Google Adwords that you hadn’t previously identified as competitors.
Overpricing – What’s your competitive edge?
Definition: “The outranking rate shows how often your ad was ranked higher than another advertiser’s during the auction. It can also indicate whether your ad was shown, but theirs was not.”
Maintaining a competitive edge and making sure you’re visible more often enables you to capture more qualified traffic than your competitors, and therefore more business.
A higher upgrade rate is your guarantee of maintaining your competitive edge.
But don’t forget your priorities!
Maintain a high overlay rate on the campaigns and ads that have generated the most growth and profitability for you.
The upgrade rate is not an end in itself 😉
We are of course available to discuss your Google Ads strategy and acquisition projects with you.
Adenlab theGoogle Ads agency for retailers
