Why Impression share is important

The impression share of a particular advertiser is the estimated percentage of ad impressions compared to the total volume of searches for that keyword. In layman's terms, it means the number of times the ad is going to be displayed compared with the number of times a keyword is searched for on the major search engines. It's a crucial factor when evaluating the performance of a PPC campaign keyword, since a low ad impression share may mean that the ad isn't being displayed as many times as the search volume would indicate, and why it's not being as effective as it should be. Usually the focus when calculating the impression share of a particular advertiser is on ads displaying on the first page of search results, since most users won't ever reach the second page as they will find the results they want on the first one, or just refine their search.

Ispionage impression share report is designed to give accurate and comprehensive information about the advertising coverage of the other advertisers targeting the same keywords as your campaign. First of all, it calculates the average ad coverage by searching for every one of your keywords enough times to get an accurate estimate of the percentage of times competitor ads are triggered on the first page of Google search results. It then combines the estimated ad coverage for every keyword both you and your competitor are targeting with the estimated volume of searches for that keyword, resulting on the impression share for that advertiser. This number represents the chances that your own ads are going to be displayed alongside a particular competitor's ones, and gives you an idea of the particular type of ads and copy that yours will need to beat to be clicked by the user.

The impression share of a particular competitor is also affected by the average position their ads appear on a particular network, in this case Google. The higher the price an advertiser is willing to pay for a keyword, the higher it's placement will be on the search engine results page, and the higher the chances a user clicks on it before even seeing the other ads. In many cases, the ads that display above the fold (before the user has to scroll) have a much higher chance of being clicked than those displaying under it. However, that doesn't mean that ads on lower positions are useless since the user will keep on reading until they find something that answers their needs. By looking at the impression share report it's easy to get an idea of who are your strongest competitors and how well their ads are doing. In some cases, this may mean that a particular keyword may be removed from the list and the focus on other keywords with a similar volume of searches increased.

Keyword placement and ad impressions are only dependant on the number of searches by users and how high a price the advertiser is willing to pay for a click. However, the chances of a user clicking on a particular ad are defined by how good the ad copy itself is, compared with the competition, and how well it answers the question the user had in mind when searching. By using the information on the impression share report, along with other keyword research reports is easy to get an accurate idea of the competition strengths and weaknesses and improve your strategy to make your ads more competitive and focus your campaigns on the best keywords for your audience.