When I set up my ads, I can set the minimum to $0.01 / click. There are no other adwords ads for my keywords if I search on google for my main keywords. Will I get the same amount of impressions if I set my minimum bid to $0.01 or $0.05 ? Edit: In adwords when I look at my ad groups, it says: "Bid is below first page bid estimate of $0.40", but when I search for that keyword on google, there are no ads at all showing up. Isn't that strange?
And the sad thing is, even if you made the bid of 0.40 then over time the estimate would increase on a gradual basis. The first page estimate really is an estimate and don't take it too seriously. Just bid as low as you can while testing to see whether your ad shows and then stop increasing the bids once they all show.
agreed that first page estimate isn't always accurate. keep bids low and monitor your average placement.