Ad Ranking Deconstructed

 

A search ad’s rank is influenced by how relevant and compelling the ad is combined with how much you’re willing to pay per click. The good news is that you can influence all of these factors. When you make your ad more relevant—by fine-tuning the ad copy, choosing more relevant keywords, making a great landing page, or creating strong calls-to-action—your ad is more likely to perform better, potentially converting more of those searchers into your customers.

 

So how do you actually improve your ranking? You adjust until you find the sweet spot. First, take a look at your ad. Can you rephrase it, make the offer clearer or provide a stronger call to action? Be sure to also check your landing page as well. Often, changing the creative or ensuring the copy on the landing page is as relevant as possible to the ad will help. Or it might even be as simple as changing your matching criteria.

 

Basic Matching Criteria: Microsoft adCenter applies industry standard, distinct matching types.
Match Type	Definition
Exact	Only the exact keywords purchased exist in the search and appear in the exact order specified by the advertiser.
Phrase	All keywords exist within the search term and appear in the exact order specified by the advertiser.
Broad1	All keywords exist in the search term and appear in any order.

 

Basic Matching Examples: Search term = Bahamas travel packages
Match Type	Match	Non-match
Exact	Bahamas travel packages	travel packages to the Bahamas
Phrase	best deals on Bahama travel packages	best deals on travel packages to the Bahamas
Broad	great travel packages to the Bahamas	travel to the Bahamas (missing packages)

 

You could also take advantage of Microsoft adCenter’s optional targeting features to help improve the positioning of your ad. Microsoft adCenter allows you to select the country or city in which your ad will appear, as well as what time of day or which day of the week you want it to be displayed. You can even select the age range and gender of your desired audience. You can add up to 100 percent more than your base bid for age, gender and location target options, increasing the chances that your ad will be seen by an even more qualified audience.

 

By making your ad more relevant—and putting it in front of a more relevant audience—your chances of converting more searchers into customers may improve. The best practices for improving ad ranking discussed here are detailed with examples in our Ad Ranking Best Practices (202 KB) report.

 

Learn more about optimization techniques in our FAQ section.

 

It’s easy to start your Live Search ad campaign—simply provide your contact details and pay a one-time, $5 fee to create your Microsoft adCenter account. Sign up now to see what adCenter can do for you today.