Pretty much.
The best reads come with a perpendicular placement over the antenna.
Check out this post, it should answer a few questions and give you a couple of reference pics and suggestions when it comes time to use it
And also yes, the range on the PM3 is not great, but still enough for what we need.
Often, readers in the wild are “better” than the PM3, but not always.
You may or may not have gone deeper than reccomended, but if it is reading, not causing pain or discomfort, “she’ll be right mate”, as @Aoxhwjfoavdlhsvfpzha said, just leave it for now, at least until you have a reason to remove it.