Most people think that having their website in the first pay-per-click position means they will get more clicks and sales.

With highly competitive keywords, it is normally recommend to place the ad at the second through eighth position (just making sure you are on the first page). This strategy has been found to be very effective, and can definitely save you some money.

This is how MOST people CASUALLY search on the Internet. For Example:

1. Sam goes to his favorite search engine (Yahoo!, Google, AOL, etc.) and types in what he is looking for.
2. Sam glances at the first PPC ad to see if his search term is in the ad’s description. This assures him that the ad will have some information on what he is looking for.
3. If Sam is in a hurry, he may not even read the description before clicking on the ad.

The first ad people see on the PPC listing is like an “auto click” ad. Most people will automatically click on the first thing they see. In reality, however, in most cases the first three ads get the same exposure – the only difference is the order you see them in on the search engine results page. Here’s why.

If the ad Sam clicks on gives him good information/prices, then he will probably click on the next one to see if the information/prices are better. This cycle will be repeated until the opportunity cost of searching for what he is looking for outweighs what he will save by continuing this search.

If the ad Sam clicks on gives him bad or irrelevant information/prices, then he will probably go back and pay more attention to what the ads say and/or consider typing in a more specific search term. It’s faster and easier just to click on the first ad you see, but you don’t always get the desired results.

Most of the time, people realize if they need to narrow down their search term or just be more selective on which PPC ads they choose after they click on the first ad. Consequently, the first ad could be considered the test website for the user to see how accurate and useful the search results are.

If you have the budget, you want your ad to be no lower than the third position. The top three PPC ads get the most exposure. If you don’t have the budget, just make sure you are on the first page of the search results for your keyword(s). YOU MUST AT LEAST BE ON THE FIRST PAGE, or there is really no point in putting your ad up. When was the last time you (the reader) looked at PPC ads on the second or third page of search results?

When you are deciding what position to put your ad in, you need to ask yourself if you can afford and/or want to have your ad in the first position. Just keep in mind that if you are in the first spot, your site will be the test site for the user to determine if the search results are what he expected, and you risk depleting your financial investment because of the “auto click” reaction.