Google Ad Rank - 6 Key Factors To Improve

Ad Rank is what determines where any particular advert is shown on Google ads.

If your ad rank is low then you won’t show up at all for a query, and if your ad rank is high then your advert will be shown.

In this article we're going to explain the key ranking factors that impact where your ads are displayed.

How Does Ad Rank Work?

During the Google ads auction, an automatic calculation takes place to determine ad rank. This tells Google exactly which adverts are eligible to show for a particular search query.

Ad rank is then re-calculated a second time considering all the remaining adverts that are eligible to show.

Of the remaining eligible adverts, those with the highest ad rank are more likely to be displayed on Google search results vs. those with a lower ad rank.

How is Ad Rank Calculated?

Google has clearly revealed that there are 6 key factors that determine your ad rank. 

👉 Remember, ad rank is calculated fresh every time your advert is placed in the auction, so it can change over time. 

The following 6 factors ultimately determine your 'ad rank':

1) Your Bid

If you're willing to pay a higher amount for each click, then you're going to have a higher ad rank.

However, it's important to realize that nowadays most advanced users prefer smart bidding as their preferred bidding strategy.

Smart bidding uses Google AI to automatically determine your bids. So instead, you'll tell Google how much you're happy to pay for a conversion, or how much return your want from your ad spend. 

Still, the advertiser with the largest budget who is willing to pay the most per conversion, is more likely to have a higher ad rank.

We strongly recommend that you pivot to using automated bidding strategies like Target CPA or Target ROAS to optimize your bids for maximum conversions. Just don't set your numbers too low, otherwise you'll be uncompetitive in the auction. 

2) Quality Score

Quality score is a significant factor that impacts your ad rank.

Fortunately, this is revealed to you completely within your Google ads account for each ad. 

Quality score is a scoring system between 1-10 based on your ad relevance, expected click-through rate and landing page experience.

Here are 3 tips to improve quality score:

1. Ad Relevance: Ensure your ad copy closely matches the keywords you're targeting.
2. Expected Click-Through Rate (CTR): Write compelling ad copy that encourages clicks, and avoid 'fluff' that doesn't mean anything. You should regularly test different headlines and descriptions for the best performance.
3. Landing Page Experience: You have to create high-quality landing pages that give the user a great experience and are actually relevant to the keywords you're targeting as well for your advert as well.  

3) Context of Your Ad

Google always consider the context of your advert when calculating ad rank.

They're looking at a huge amount of factors here to consider whether your advert is going to be a good match, such as:

• The person’s location
• Their device
• Time of search
• The nature of the search terms
• The other ads and search results that show on the page 
• Other user signals e.g. their search history, behavior 

It's difficult to optimize for this particular ad rank factor, but you can ensure you're targeting the right locations for your ads and also matching up similarly to other adverts that are showing for similar searches.

4) Ad Assets

Google Ad assets (formerly known as extensions) are the fourth factor that impact ad rank.

Example ad assets include:

• Sitelinks
• Callouts
• Locations
• Images
• Promotions
• Seller ratings

Google will choose exactly when to display these assets on your advert, so all you need to do is ensure you've added them within your account and your ads.

You can add as many as you'd like, and we strongly recommend adding a good selection of assets to maximize your ad rank! 

5) The Competition

The competition for each auction is a key factor in determining ad rank.

Out of two adverts, the one with higher ad rank will be more likely to win the position, but may also pay a higher cost per click for the privilege.

If two ads have a similar ad rank, they'll both have a similar chance of winning in the auction.

We recommend using auction insights to see exactly what competitors are also in the same auctions as you, and then you can conduct competitor PPC analysis to ensure your ads are up to scratch.

6) Ad Rank Threshold

Simply put, your advert needs to hit a minimum ad rank threshold to compete. 

This is the final factor that Google officially lists as part of their ad rank calculation.

So if your ad rank threshold doesn't meet the minimum required, you're out of the auction.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Not leveraging machine learning & automation.
• Neglecting Quality Score: Regularly monitor and improve your Quality Score components.
• Ignoring Competitive Insights: Use Auction Insights to stay ahead of competitors.
• Infrequent Bid Adjustments: Regularly review and adjust your bidding strategy.

Summary

In summary, to get your ad rank as high as possible, focus on the following three simple things first:

1. Create adverts which match up strongly to your landing pages
2. Ensure your quality score is excellent 
3. Don't set a budget or bid too low, otherwise you just cannot compete