Do you ever feel like your Google Ads campaigns aren't reaching their full potential, but you don't know where to start to try to fix it?
That's how "Jason" felt. He's an in-house PPC manager for a travel company. He was running ads and getting some clicks, but his conversions weren't where he wanted them to be (or where his boss wanted them to be).
When we dove into his Google Ads account on our first call, one metric immediately jumped out: Search Impression Share.
Jason's campaigns had a very low impression share of just 9%, meaning his ads were barely showing up for relevant searches.
Think of it like this: if 100 people search for your keywords, and your ads only appear for 9 of those searches, your Search Impression Share is 9%.
While there's no "good" or "bad" impression share - metrics are morally neutral - it's not ideal to not even be showing up 91% of the time when potential customers are searching for exactly what you offer.
We discussed how a low Search Impression Share can be caused by several factors. In Jason's case, we determined that it was likely a combination of a limited budget and low Quality Scores.
Jason was using Maximize Conversions bidding, which meant that Google Ads wouldn't proactively tell him if he was missing out on impressions due to budget. However, by comparing his average CPCs to his average daily budget, and sense checking his auction insights report, we saw that there were MANY more searches out there that he simply could not capture with that budget.
Then, we examined keyword-level Quality Score, and Jason was particularly concerned about a few of his keywords with low Quality Scores that were crushing his visibility. We discussed specific strategies for improving his Quality Score, such as refining his ad copy and improving the landing page experience.
By focusing on these adjustments, Jason increased his impression share and gave his Google Ads campaigns a much better chance to reach their full potential.
Here's what you can do to increase your impression share, like Jason:
- Increase your budget: It's the no-brainer, so we've gotta mention it first. If your budget is too low, your ads may not show up for all relevant searches. Remember, when you're on a "Maximize" bid strategy, increasing your budget means the system can start increasing your bids, too.
- Improve your Quality Score: Focus on ad relevance, expected CTR and landing page experience (in that order). Refine your ad copy to be laser-focused on your target keywords, and ensure it's relevant and engaging to your target audience.
- Review your Auction Insights: You're not advertising in a vacuum. See how you stack up against competitors, so you can identify opportunities to increase your impression share.
Don't let low impression share get you down. Let's optimize your Google Ads campaigns together to start achieving results that'll get your boss off your back.
One more thing...
Want to know how to succeed with Google Ads in 2025 and beyond?
Join me for Google Ads Beyond Search - my new, live SMX Master Class on March 5th and 6th!
We'll tackle Audience Targeting, Performance Max, YouTube, Demand Gen, Generative AI and more, plus tons of time for Q&A.
Learn more and secure your spot today - get 15% off with code JyllVIP
