Setting and Managing AdWords Bids

Setting AdWords Bids

The bid you set is up to you. Your maximum CPC or CPM bid represents the highest amount that you're willing to pay per click or thousand impressions, respectively, on your ad. You can set a bid at the ad group level, or for individual keywords and placements. If you don't specify a maximum CPC or CPM bid for a given keyword or placement, the ad group maximum CPC or CPM bid will automatically apply. If you have both keyword-level and placement-level bids within an ad group, and an ad shows on one of the placements for which you've set a bid, the placement bid applies.

Your maximum CPC bid must be at least US$0.01. Your maximum CPM bid must be at least US$0.25.

When setting your CPC or CPM bid, consider the following:

•The value of a click. How much is a visitor to your website worth? How likely is it that a click will turn into a conversion (sale, signup, etc.)? If a click has a high value to you, then you might want to set a high bid. If it has a low value, lower the bid. You can get conversion statistics by setting up conversion tracking or by using Google Analytics. Also, keep in mind that higher bids can increase click volume, but they can also result in more expensive clicks. Lower bids can decrease your volume but also get cheaper clicks. Consider this tradeoff between price and volume when you're setting your bids.

•Your daily budget. Be sure that your daily budget is higher than your CPC or CPM bid. Otherwise, your ad won't show.