When you start digital advertising campaigns, it’s important to maximize your Google Ads impression share. This helps you get the best return on your investment. Impression share tells you how often your ad appears compared to how often it could appear. Boosting this metric can lead to more engagement, higher ad placements, and ultimately better results.
If your ads reach only a small part of your target audience, check your impression share. This is a great place to start. A higher impression share increases the chances of being shown at the top of the Search Engine Results Page (SERP). This can lead to more clicks, leads, and conversions.
This guide will explain what impression share is. It will cover the different types of impression share. You will also learn the best strategies to improve your ad campaigns for maximum visibility.
What is Impression Share?
Impression share is the percentage of times your ad shows up. This is compared to how often it could have shown.
It is calculated using this formula:
Impression Share (%) = (Your Ad’s Impressions / Total Eligible Impressions) × 100
Each time your ad is displayed on a webpage, it counts as an impression. The more often your ad is displayed, the higher your impression share.
Why Impression Share Matters
- Maximizes Visibility: Higher impression share means more people see your ad, increasing brand awareness.
- Improves Competitive Positioning: Tracks how your ads perform relative to competitors and helps you adjust bids accordingly.
- Enhances Budget Efficiency: Helps you determine whether your budget is restricting your ads from showing.
- Increases Clicks and Conversions: More impressions lead to more opportunities for engagement and sales.
If your impression share is low, you could be missing out on valuable ad placements that could drive traffic and revenue.
Types of IMPRESSION SHARE IN GOOGLE ADS
There are several types of impression share metrics, each offering unique insights into your ad performance:
Search Impression Share
Measures how often your ad appears on Google Search and search partner sites relative to the total available impressions.
- Limited by Budget: If you have a low daily budget, your ad stops showing once you reach your limit.
- Impacted by Ad Rank: A low ad rank means fewer impressions, even if you have a high bid.
Display Impression Share
Tracks how often your ad appears across Google’s Display Network, which includes millions of websites, YouTube, and apps.
- Influenced by Ad Placements: More placements can improve impression share but may require a higher budget.
- Can Be Adjusted by Audience Targeting: Focusing on specific audiences can improve efficiency without increasing costs.
Target impression share
A bidding strategy that automatically adjusts your bids to achieve a specific impression share target.
Useful for Competitive Niches: Helps you maintain a dominant ad presence in competitive industries.
Customizable Settings: You can bid for a specific page section, such as the top of search results.
Exact Impression Share
Compares how often your ad appears for searches that exactly match your target keywords.
- Useful for Keyword Optimization: Helps refine which keywords are driving results.
- Can Identify Missed Opportunities: If this share is low, consider increasing bids on high-converting keywords.
Search lost impression share
Shows the percentage of impressions lost due to budget constraints or low ad rank.
- Search Lost IS (Budget): If this number is high, your budget is limiting your campaign’s potential.
- Search Lost IS (Rank): If this percentage is high, your ad rank needs improvement (better Quality Score, higher bids, etc.).
Google ads impression share bidding strategy
setting your goals
Before adjusting bids, define your target impression share based on your business objectives:
- Brand Awareness: Aim for a high impression share to ensure your brand is frequently seen.
- Lead Generation and Sales: Focus on balancing impression share with conversions rather than maximizing visibility.
- Competitive Positioning: If a competitor is bidding high on your keywords, you should increase your impression share. This will help you stay visible.
Choosing the right bidding techniques
- Use Target Impression Share Bidding: Automates bid adjustments to achieve your impression share goals.
- Increase Bids on High-Value Keywords: Prioritize keywords that drive the most revenue or leads.
- Adjust Bids Based on Performance Data: Regularly analyze impression share metrics and adjust bids accordingly.
- Use Dayparting: Increase bids during peak hours when your audience is most active.
Analyzing impiression share data
Tracking key performance metrics helps determine whether your impression share is benefiting your campaign:
key metrics to monitor
- Search Impression Share: Percentage of total available impressions captured.
- Search Lost IS (Budget): Percentage of impressions lost due to budget limits.
- Search Lost IS (Rank): Percentage of impressions lost due to low ad rank.
- Click-Through Rate (CTR): Helps determine if higher impression share leads to more clicks.
- Average Position and Cost-Per-Click (CPC): Measures bid effectiveness.
best tools for analysis
- Google Ads Reports: Provides insight into impression share loss.
- Google Analytics: Tracks the impact of impression share on conversions.
- Third-Party Platforms (SEMrush, Ahrefs, etc.): Benchmarks impression share against competitors.
optimizing for target impression share
best practices to improve impression share
✔ Increase Your Budget: Raising your ad spend can help you capture more impressions.
✔ Improve Your Ad Rank: Focus on ad relevance, landing page experience, and expected CTR to boost Quality Score.
✔ Target High-Intent Keywords: Bid on terms that generate strong engagement and conversions.
✔ Use Ad Extensions: Features like sitelinks and callouts increase CTR and ad quality.
✔ Adjust Location and Device Targeting: Shift budget to high-performing regions and devices.
Common mistakes to avoid
🚫 Ignoring Low-Performing Keywords: Regularly review which keywords are draining your budget without conversions.
🚫 Neglecting Ad Quality Score: Even with high bids, a low-quality score can limit impressions.
🚫 Not Testing Ad Variations: Run A/B tests to find the most effective ad copy and creatives.
🚫 Overlooking Competitive Bidding: If competitors are outbidding you, consider adjusting your max CPC or focusing on long-tail keywords.
Conclusion
Mastering Google Ads impression share bidding is crucial for maximizing ad visibility and driving better results. By setting clear goals and using good bidding strategies, you can make your campaigns competitive and cost-effective. Analyzing your data regularly will help too. The goal isn’t to chase the highest impression share but to optimize it for your business objectives.
The digital advertising space is highly competitive, and every missed impression is a lost opportunity. Improving your ad quality, budget use, and bidding strategies will help you manage your Google Ads campaigns better. This way, you can get the most from your investment.
need expert help managing your google ads?
At Shorecraft, we specialize in Google Ads management, helping businesses optimize their campaigns for maximum visibility, conversions, and ROI. If you want to increase your impression share, lower your cost per click, or improve ad quality, our team can help.
Let’s take your Google Ads to the next level. Fill out our quick contact form HERE and let’s start optimizing your ad strategy today!
