Using the keyword positions report in Google Analytics

In the continuing series about Google’s Analytics reports, this month’s newsletter takes a look at the Keyword Positions Report. This valuable tool within Analytics tracks the performance of individual keywords within a Google Ads (AdWords) campaign in relation to their ranking positions and gives advertisers feedback on which position is the most cost-effective to help them adjust their bids and ranking positions.

The Keyword Positions Report enables advertisers to view the number of visits and conversions (amongst other data) that result from the different positions that a particular keyword’s generated advert appears in the PPC ranking results. For example, an advert displayed in position number 1 for the keyword “product” may have resulted in 80 visits and 3% conversions, whereas it may have resulted in 90 visits and 4% conversions when appearing in position number 4.

An analysis of such data may demonstrate, for many advertisers, that a lower position in the PPC rankings may be more cost-effective for a particular keyword than one higher up. Therefore it can be decided whether it is fruitless to bid for a position on the top left side of the results when it isn’t proven to be as effective over time for that keyword than when it appears in the sponsored links on the right side.

This data gives a value to the keyword and can make it work more effectively for a lower cost by saving advertisers from excessively bidding for a high positions. It can also help to save an advertiser a significant level of spend within a large campaign consisting of numerous keywords and a high budget, by being able to focus on the most cost-effective positions and to adjust their bids accordingly.

This Analytics report isn’t perfect however – for example it can’t differentiate between search terms that are targeted as broad, phrase or exact terms, nor can it give an overview of trends by particular groups of terms. Having said that, the ranking of the ad slots as an average over the campaign can also be viewed by using the new “Advanced Segments” reporting function. This can provide a good comparison of how the left or right-hand side ranking positions produce results over the campaign as a whole.

The Keyword Positions Report can be very effective, especially as it can be used alongside the ‘Position Preference’ function in Google Adwords which allows advertisers to target a particular ranking position or range by automatically adjusting the bid levels.

If you’d like to know more about how this specific report, or how Google Analytics could be used to enhance your website’s performance, please contact us for further information.

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