AdWords, also known as Pay-Per-Click, can create an immediate boost in website traffic for your site. You’ll see them whenever you run a search query on Google. Businesses create ads that appear higher on the SERP than their competitors organic search results. High quality Ads are the first thing a potential customer will see.
A successful Ad in gaining sales is ultimately down to how engaging your landing page or site is when the customers arrive. But firstly, you need a compellingly written ad to get the clicks you need to gain traffic to your website in the first place.
Writing AdWords ads can be tricky. With 25 characters for the headline, 70 for ad text, and 35 for the URL, you won’t be able to fit all your company’s features in the tiny space provided, so you have to get creative.
Check out these top tips to give you the edge when writing your killer AdWords.
Keep your customers end goal in sight.
You may notice many of your competitors in your field using dynamic keyword insertion, and bidding on the same keywords. Many of their ads will end up looking pretty similar as a result.
With all this competition for the same keywords, it’s easy to get lost in the crowd. Many advertisers end up losing sight of what their customers are after, and the subsequent search queries they are typing into Google. This is the “end goal” – what people want to achieve with the help of your service.
For example, if you are a pest control service, your potential customers will be typing into Google, queries such as: “help get rid of pests”. Therefore your headline shouldn’t be something like “Suffering from pests?”, because you already know that they are, as the advertiser. Instead, appeal to their end goal with something like: “Eradicate your Household pests”. Don’t use precious headline space on common knowledge both you and your customer share.
Make use of Googles Countdown timers
Not many people are aware of the psychological phenomenon “loss aversion”. This tells us that people are far more motivated when it is perceived that they may be losing out, rather than gaining something.
Google makes use of this with the recently implemented countdown timer. Simply add “{= “within your headline or description. A pop up will appear, asking you to set an end date. A countdown in real time will appear on your ad, motivating customers with the fear of loss, to click your ad before time runs out.
Are your Ads up to date?
Ads that are relevant are bound to get more clicks. They are “of the moment”, and in tune with your customers current needs. For example, let the customer know how many people you “helped” last week. The more specific you are with this, the more believable you appear to the customer. Specific figures, as opposed to rounded ones, are favourable as they look far more likely to be true. In short, if you decide to include a number, don’t round it up and make it pretty!
Make your Ads personal
Don’t fall into the trap of talking about how great your company or product is, focus on the customer’s needs. Use the power of “you”. “Words like “us” and “I”, don’t work as hard to engage the customer, and won’t stand out amongst your competitors. Use phrases like “get your free valuation today” and “All you need to get started”.
You should also note the importance of Quality Score when writing AdWords. This is an estimate of the quality and relevance of of your ads and keywords. Your quality score is used to determine your CPC and ad rank. A higher quality score means a more relevant ad. When you garner high click through rates for relevant ads, Google will reward you with higher ad rankings at a lower cost. You will therefore get more for your money for a more relevant ad campaign and landing page regarding the targeted search query.
In summary, make personable, relevant ads that utilise countdown timers and keep your customers goal in sight, and don’t forget that optimising your Quality Scores will ensure you see a higher ROI.