Ad copy testing is a crucial step in optimizing your PPC account
No Comments
Written by Atila on September 12, 2008 – 8:28 am
Ad copy testing is a crucial step in optimizing your PPC account for quality score. Good ad copy causes high click-through rates, and high clickthrough rates increase keyword performance quality scores. This leads to lower cost-per-clicks and higher ad ranking positions.
Naturally, you should make sure your ad copy is relevant to the keywords located in that ad group. You should try to use the keywords in the ad copy whenever possible. Searchers want to see that the searched keywords are somewhere in the ads they are presented.
Unfortunately, you are not given much space to work with when creating ads.
Google, for example, allows only a 25-character headline, followed by two 35-character description lines, and finally a display URL.
Because you have limited space to create an ad, use strong words that influence a searcher’s motivation to buy. Words such as “guaranteed” and strong calls to action like “order now!” motivate searchers to act. Value propositions such as free shipping or price matching are also important to consider when you analyze your marketing competition.
The Internet allows shoppers to easily find the best prices and offers online. If your competitors offer perks and values that you do not, you cannot really compete with them. Try to separate yourself as much as possible from your competition when you write PPC ads.
Test numerous ads at the same time, and monitor them closely for differences in click-through and conversion rates, the percentage of clicks on your ads that result in a sale. Although increasing click-through rates is important for quality score optimization, sometimes running ads with lower click-through rates but higher conversion rates is more profitable. Constant testing is the only way to find that perfect ad copy and keyword combination.
Your competitors can often provide some excellent advice for improving your ads without them even knowing it. Try testing different ad variations based on the other ads that appear when you search for one of your keywords. If your competition offers free shipping, so should you. If they claim to be “authorized” or the “official store,” see what you can do to gain the same credentials.
On the other hand, you may want to try to do what the competition is not doing. If none of the other ads on the page offers a coupon code, offer one yourself. This ad does not have to be different from the promotions you currently have running, but dressing it up and using a special code in the ad copy may work wonders. If the competition is already offering free shipping, try offering free 2nd day shipping. Always remember that Internet shoppers are looking for the best deal.
