A Guide to Flexible Bidding Strategies in Google Adwords

Last Updated on: 6th September 2023, 01:24 pm

Until recently, AdWords agencies have been forced to use advanced search tools such as Kenshoo and Ignitionone, mainly for access to advanced bid algorithms. The tools allowed AdWords consultants to set rules for their bidding strategies.

They could automatically alter bids in order to target a certain ad position, or reach a certain CPA, freeing them up to get more done on their AdWords accounts.

But with the recent introduction to enhanced campaigns, we can now create all of these cool bidding strategies inside AdWords itself.

Let’s take a look at the different bid rules and how you can make use of them with your AdWords accounts.

    Maximise Clicks

 Want to drive as much traffic as possible to your site, whilst keeping inside a limited budget? This one’s for you.

It makes sense to use this as part of a brand awareness push. But if your focus is on leads or you are trying to drive the ROI up on your ecommerce store, it’s probably not right for you.

This upgraded version of the old “Automatic Bidding” will maximise the amount of clicks you receive within a set budget.

                                                Target the Top Position

One of the lesser used bidding strategies. It would probably get used more if you could target different positions, but it seems Google wants everybody to fight over the top spot. (What a surprise!)

I wouldn’t really recommend using this one at all. Maybe it could be useful if you wanted to be certain that you appeared in position one for any brand related search.

The advanced search tools I mentioned at the beginning actually work much better, as you can target different positions. It’s rarely profitable to gun for the top spot every time.

                                              Meet Your Desired CPA

This has got to be the best out of them all, and is especially useful if you have a figure in mindthat you are willing to spend on advertising in order to convert a new customer.

If you don’t, I suggest you spend some time and work one out. Automatically adjusting your bids to ensure that you don’t spend too much on getting a new customer will catapult your ROI from AdWords.

It means you can consistently achieve a set amount of profit.

                                                          Enhanced CPC

This option allows you to adjust your bids on the likelihood of you receiving a click. Basically, AdWords will make sure that they spend your budget every day.

This can be useful, but you will often see Google continuously raising your bid until you are in position one, which obviously is not ideal.

There are still a couple of features that the paid search tools offer yet AdWords itself hasn’t yet included. But it’s a good start.

Let us know how you get on with flexible bidding strategies in the comments below!

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