The best way to improve your PPC campaign performance is by ensuring the below
Ensure that you target the right keywords.
Ensure that you are targeting the right regions.
Ensure that your ad is compelling.
Ensure that you have, a well designed Landing Page.
WHAT AD POSITION WILL MY PPC ADS APPEAR ON SEARCH ENGINES?
With a majority of search engines the highest pay per click bid wins the top spot. So basically you can make your ad appear on any desired rank if you are willing to match the bid.
However, having the highest rank may not guarantee a higher click through rate (CTR). It could be possible that an ad appearing on rank 3 has a higher CTR. If the ads have a higher click through rate at rank 3 rather than rank 1 you will save a lot of cash and also have an increased traffic flow to your website.