Why Your Search Engine Results Page (SERP) Placement Matters

Whether you’re a local nonprofit reaching individuals in a small community or a national organization reaching individuals across
the country, Google Ad Grants can help tap into thousands (or even millions) of people who use Google’s search engine every single day.

Being found on Google gets harder — and more expensive — each year. And getting to the top of the search engine results page (SERP) is an even more daunting task. 

Unfortunately, your organization isn’t going to be the only nonprofit working hard to appear toward the top of the SERP. Tens of thousands of pages are coming online every minute of every day, jostling for the attention of your supporters.

Average web users don’t go past the first five search results, let alone click through to the second page of search results. Research has shown that the websites that appear on page one of the search results receive almost 95% of web traffic. Think about it. How often do you go beyond the first page of search results? The first page is where you need to be.

Appearing in the sought-after number one spot on the SERP isn’t based solely on how much an organization is willing to bid, although that is factored in. Google’s algorithms help identify reliable sources from the billions of pages in their index and combine hundreds of various signals to determine which results show for a given query. Some factors, though not all, that Google takes into consideration include:

• The freshness of the content
• The number of times your search query appears on the page
• Ad relevancy
• Cost Per Click Keyword Bid: The maximum bid you are willing to pay for someone to click on your ad for a certain keyword
• Quality Score: A 1-10 score that represents the quality of your ads, keywords, and landing page’s relevance to the user’s search

Google processes over 40,000 searches every second, resulting in more than 3.5 billion searches per day. The majority (86%) of online searches are from people who are looking to increase their knowledge by learning something new or important. What this data signifies is that while “search” to the advertiser is about being found, “search” to the end user is about content discovery. Every time a user enters a search query, organizations are presented with an opportunity to engage with a potential donor.

Need a Quick Refresher? Here's a 1-Minute Summary of Google Ad Grants:

Google Ad Grants are part of the array of products offered in the Google for Nonprofits program. Google Ad Grants allow nonprofits that fit certain criteria and follow grant policies to create campaigns that show text ads on Google’s search engine results when users search on a query related to your nonprofit. Google provides the eligible nonprofits with an in-kind donation of $10,000 in monthly AdWords funding, equating to $120,000 annually. 

Ready to master Google Ad Grants? Here's a helpful fundraising resource:

Now that you understand the factors that influence your ad placement, are you ready to put Google Ad Grants to work for your charity? Check out our new white paper “Google Ad Grants Without the Stress” to learn more about how Ad Grants (with diligent management) can provide a high return on investment.