We hear customers talking about how they want to rank number one with their ads pretty often because they think that’s the best way to be seen. It’s not necessarily a bad theory but it also isn’t necessarily the most cost-effective way to get people visiting your website.

For all we know, the person ranked fourth is getting just as many clicks to their website as you while paying less money. Unfortunately, there’s no way to instantly find out what position will work best for you because there are so many variables including your product, your profit margin, your competition, the list goes on and on. The only way to really know is to test. If you see you’re getting decent traffic in a lower position, raise your max cost per click and see what happens. If you aren’t getting the sales to justify your increase, then you know what your optimal position is. There are a ton of AdWords management tools that you can use that will automatically find the best position based on your budget but it isn’t something that just happens overnight. Patience is necessary when it comes to maximizing your PPC budget.

Of course, if being the top dog is all you’re after, regardless of the cost, it’s easy to get your ad up there if you’re willing to pay the price. Just keep raising your max CPC until you’re number one!