ppc

5 Tips for Writing Better PPC Ads

Pay per click advertising is still one of the most effective ways to drive highly targeted traffic to your website so you can generate leads and make sales. An effective PPC campaign can generate a great return on investment, but as you probably know, running a profitable PPC campaign takes some hard work.
One of the most important pieces of your PPC campaign is your ad copy. Your ads are what will attract attention and drive clicks to your landing page. If you don’t have great ads, you won’t get the clicks you want, you may attract untargeted traffic, and your competitors will outperform you.
But what does it take to write a great PPC ad?

First, you need to understand what a good ad does. A good PPC ad attracts attention, is highly targeted, offers value, is credible, and has a call to action. With that in mind, here are 5 tips that will help you write better PPC ads:

1.    Avoid broader, generic ads—For a PPC campaign to be profitable, it must attract targeted clicks. Remember, every time someone clicks on one of your ads, you have to pay for that click. So, it’s your job to make sure you’re getting high quality, targeted clicks. That’s why it’s so important to write targeted ads. For each specific keyword, you should have unique ads that speak directly to that search term and the intent behind it. Stay away from broad keywords that will attract low quality clicks, and don’t use the same generic ad for every keyword.

2.    Speak to your customer’s need—What is it that your customer needs? What is there pain point? When they’re searching the web for something, they’re looking for a solution to a problem. That’s what they want—a solution. Your ad needs to show them that you have the solution. You have to let them know you will solve their pain points. You’ll want to test out different ads that speak to different buyer needs to determine what works best.

3.    Understand where the customer is at in the buy cycle—When a customer searches for a specific keyword, what is their intent? What stage of the buy cycle are they in? Are they in the very early stages where they’re looking for broad information and just want to explore their options? Or are they at the point where they’re ready to buy? Understanding where your customer is in the buy cycle will help you tailor your ads and your calls to action accordingly.

4.    Be different—I highly recommend that you check out the types of ads your competitors are putting out there. I’m willing to be that most of the ads are pretty much the same. They have the same basic pitch and call to action. You need to be different. You need to give searchers a reason to click your ad instead of one of your competitor’s ads. Be different. Have a different tone in your ad copy. Focus on a different selling point. Stand out!

5.    Make sure your ad copy matches your landing page—Finally, it’s important to make sure that the messaging in your ad copy is consistent with the messaging on your landing pages. If someone clicks your ad expecting something that your landing page doesn’t deliver, you’ll lose that potential conversion. The messaging has to line up. A unified message will let visitors know they’re in the right place and it will help you guide them toward conversion.

Always Be Testing

71 Ad Tests You Can Try in Your AdWords Campaigns Today - Infographic

Infographic courtesy of: whitesharkmedia.

No matter how great you think your ads are, you should always keep testing different copy. Test different ads per ad group so you can see what gets the most clicks and conversions. There are all sorts of different variables you should be testing, such as the headlines, offers, selling points, calls to action, and so on. Always be testing so that you can continue to make your campaigns generate a better return. Don’t become complacent.

What are some of your best tips for writing PPC ad copy?

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