OTHER ARTICLES

Evan Magers, iSearch Media


The ads you see on Google today remain pretty much exactly as they were first conceived to be:

Headline: 25 characters max
Description line 1: 35 characters max
Description line 2: 35 characters max
Display URL: www.YourWebsite.com

Doesn't seem like it leaves a lot of room to play, does it? You can do more in this limited space than you might realize. I'll tell you everything I know, all I was taught during my time at Google.

Let's start with one basic rule. Actually, if you take what I'm about to tell you and really absorb it, you can skip the rest of this article and still do just fine. This is really the Golden Rule of writing ad text. It's a phrase that's tossed around all the time at the Googleplex, and with darn good reason. Ready for it? Here it is:

The Golden Rule of AdWords Ad Text:

Think like a user.

Keep this thought in mind every time you write an ad, and you know what? You'll do okay. Pretty simple. Think to yourself: if I typed in such-and-such a keyword, and such-and-such an ad appeared, would I click on that ad? What's going through a Google user's head when he or she searches for a certain query? If you choose that query as a keyword, does the ad it triggers say something that's likely to appeal to that user? Does it say it in a way that's likely to inspire that user to click on the ad and visit your site? Get into the head of your target customers. Try to understand everything you can about them. If you keep them in mind whenever you write an AdWords text ad, you're ahead of the curve already.

The following seven rules should be viewed almost as sub-rules under the all-encompassing umbrella of the Golden Rule. Some of them are logistically quite helpful, however, and not necessarily intuitive; they're based on comprehensive, complicated studies Google and others have done about what features within text ads psychologically inspire people to click on those ads. Enjoy.

  Rule #1: Include keywords in ad text

This is a recurring theme throughout these articles, and for very good reason. In fact, this is the number-one piece of advice I can give you, and it relates to just about every facet of your AdWords account. This is an AdWords fundamental - actually, it's the fundamental.

How do you make sure your keywords show up within the ad text? Easy. Remember, ad text is set at the ad group level, which means that all keywords within a particular ad group will trigger the same text ad or ads. This is why before you start writing ad text, you need to generate and organize your keyword list. Make sure that only very similar keywords are grouped together within ad groups.

You need to divide out synonyms, even close ones: imagine you own a car dealership in Toledo and you want to run on keywords related to sport utility vehicles. Don't put the keywords 'toledo sport utility vehicle dealership' and 'toledo suv dealership' in the same ad group. In fact, don't put 'toledo suv dealership' and 'toledo s.u.v. dealership' in the same ad group either. The AdWords system regards periods in a keyword as blank spaces, therefore your Quality Score for a particular ad will be different for an 'suv' term than it will for an 's.u.v.' one. 'suv' keywords should trigger ad text like 'Toledo SUV Dealership'; 's.u.v.' keywords should trigger 'Toledo S.U.V. Dealership'.

So Rule #1, which actually is Rule #1 for succeeding in AdWords in general, isn't so much about writing ad text as it is about preparing to write ad text. Segment out your keywords, keeping only very closely related ones in the same ad groups together.

Once you have your keywords grouped properly together, write ad texts unique to each group of keywords. The more precisely your keywords show up in your ads, the higher your Quality Score will be for the ad group, which means lower CPC's, higher page position, and lower cost per conversion. Also, when part of a Google user's query matches exactly with part of an ad that it triggers, the matching words will show up in bold text in the ad. This is an added bonus that leads to a higher click-through rate. It's something you really want to work to achieve.

  Rule #2: Accurately describe what you offer

Don't say something sensational just to grab attention and attract clicks, if it gives your potential customer an inaccurate idea of what he or she will find on your website. This is simple common sense. Drawing clicks that don't lead t sales is a waste of money. Granted, there are a few wacky websites out there that value all clicks equally, never mind how qualified the visitor happens to be. But these sites are anomalies. Chances are, your business is one of the 99.99% that benefit from the most valuable attribute of AdWords: that it allows you to pre-qualify your customers and, if you're smart, to pay only for clicks that are likely to lead to sales. Let your potential customers know what kind of site they'll go to if they click your ad. Better that your ad text help an unqualified user realize she's not interested in your site than it is to pay for a click that has no hope of turning into a sale.

  Rule #3: Write for clicks, not impressions

Many advertisers believe they can beat the system by writing ads for branding purposes alone ads they actually hope will not be clicked on. They figure that if they can finagle it so that their ads draw impressions but not clicks, their company name will get free exposure. This strategy almost never works (not once have I seen someone successfully pull it off), so don't waste your time. If your ads don't get clicks, their Quality Score will plummet and your keywords will be deactivated. The AdWords system will tell you to increase the relevance of your ad to your keyword (in other words, make it so that people will click on it), or else raise your minimum bid (often by outrageous amounts - the system raising a minimum bid from $0.10 to $10 is not uncommon at all).

This tactic seems pretty clever to a lot of novice AdWords advertisers, but in reality it's hopeless. Don't try it. Your goal for your ads needs to be for them to attract clicks.

  Rule #4: Include special offers

Free shipping on online orders? 10% off purchases over $50? Promotional giveaway while supplies last? Tell the people about it. Free happens to be far and away, hands down, the single word that drives the most clicks in the AdWords system. Google has done studies on it. If you can find a way to use the word, use it. It will make a difference. Make your potential customers feel like they're getting a deal. This is nothing more than a simple sales principle.

  Rule #5: Use call-to-action phrases

Google no longer allows you to say "click here now," since so many advertisers were using that phrase that it started to dominate the AdWords landscape. But there are plenty of other ways to give yourself that same psychological edge with your customers, that old Jedi mind trick of telling them what to do. "Place your order today!" "Buy Now While Supplies Last!" "Find It Here!" - all of these are considered call-to-action terms, phrases that tell a Google user to click on your ad, instead of asking them to do so. Pushy though it may seem, it's a strategy that works.

Note: As with all of these rules, before just applying them blindly you should consider your particular business and your target customers, the kinds of ad copy by which they're most likely to be moved to action. This leads to...

  Rule #6: Consider your customer carefully

Let's takes as an example a decision I have to make every time I write a text ad. Do I end it with the more stoic, serious article of punctuation (a period), or do I go with the flashier attention-grabber, the exclamation point?

Here's one way to look at it, which illustrates rule #6 pretty well:

The lower the IQ of your average customer, the more inclined you should be to choose an exclamation point over a period. You're selling ring tones, for example, or driving leads to payday advance loan providers. I don't mean to be offensive here. But if you're offended by a sweeping demographic judgment like that, the chances that you'll be an effective advertiser are next to none. Generalization and stereotyping is an advertiser's entire livelihood. The more you understand about the common tendencies and traits among the group of people at large who are in the market to purchase what you're selling, the better you'll do, plain and simple. The attention of less experienced or intelligent people probably can be grabbed and held onto by an exclamation point. But more discriminating, knowledgeable, mature people are likely to be wary of such an obvious attention-getting article of punctuation. Depending on the nature of your business, an exclamation point might undermine your credibility, at least a bit. It's something to consider.

This is one of dozens of examples I could use. It's only meant to illustrate the point that you need to devote mental energy to understanding the psychology of your customer. Again, we're talking Sales 101 material here, basic stuff. But it's really important, and many advertisers forget it.

It's pretty obvious, but this rule is really just another way of thinking about the Golden Rule. Keep that Golden Rule in mind at all times. Tape it to your bathroom mirror or something. Maybe say it while you meditate. That kind of thing.

Think like a user, think like a user, think like a user...

  Rule #7: Vary and experiment

Critically important. At least two unique ads in every ad group, no exception. One of the nicest features of the AdWords system is that it makes experimentation so easy, by rotating the ads within an ad group in a sort of survival-of-the-fittest manner, over time showing the better-performing ads more often than the ones clicked on more seldom. In the AdWords interface, each ad text displays its own unique performance data; this enables you to see very easily which ads appeal to your customers and which ones don't.

You should experiment tirelessly, endlessly. I recommend that you write three ads per ad group, let the three duke it out over the course of a few weeks, then delete the worst-performing ad and write a new one in its stead, one that challenges the champion, so to speak, either by taking a completely different sales angle, or by varying one small aspect of the ad in order to test that aspect's effect. Let those ads compete for a while, until they gather enough impressions and clicks to provide reliable information then delete the worst one and try something new.

Successful AdWords advertisers are diligent, and for them, this ad experimentation process never ends. There's simply no reason not to try out different ads continuously. In case you run out of ideas for aspects to vary and test, here are...

  Some ad text aspects to experiment with:

1. Punctuation - does an exclamation point or a period drive the better CTR or conversion rate?
2. Capitalization - capitalize every word vs. capitalize only nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs (leave words like 'and', 'but', 'in', 'the' lowercase) vs. capitalize only the first word of each line of text.
3. Display URL - www.iSearchMedia.com vs. iSearchMedia.com vs. www.isearchmedia.com vs. iSearchMedia.com/articles. The AdWords editorial rules allow all of these, so they're each worth testing.
4. Landing Page - won't affect CTR, but if you're tracking conversions (and you certainly should be), testing different landing pages might make an enormous difference. It also makes a big difference in terms of your Quality Score.
5. Keyword Insertion - I test this in nearly every ad group. In many cases it's the difference between a 0.5% CTR and a 4.5% one.

  Test them by:

Writing two identical ads for the same ad group. If we're testing punctuation, end one with a period, one with an exclamation point. You could also try a third ad, with no punctuation at all ending description line 2. The key is to test the variations properly, by keeping them in the same ad group and making absolutely everything else about the ads perfectly identical. I like to see at least 1000 impressions before I'm comfortable acting on any judgments I make.

  In Summary:

Rule #1: Include keywords in ad text
Rule #2: Accurately describe what you offer
Rule #3: Write for clicks, not impressions
Rule #4: Include special offers
Rule #5: Use call-to-action phrases
Rule #6: Consider your customer carefully
Rule #7: Vary and experiment

And again, most importantly, the Golden Rule: Think like a user.