Digital Marketing > PPC Agency

Optimising and A/B testing Adtexts is essential to increase click through rate, improve quality score and thus lower the average CPC. Assuming that you have well targeted, well matched keyterms in an adgroup and the content of the ad copy is relevant (as is the landing page), this article will concentrate solely on techniques that can be used to improve your CTR (Click Through Rate).

1. Capitalisation Of the First Letter of Each Word

This will make the ad stand out more than if you were to use lower case letters. This is pretty much standard practice for Adwords ads. Some advertisers choose not to do this, presumably if they want the user's attention to be drawn towards the Ad title instead of the body. Below is an example...



2. Use the Keyword in the Ad title / Body Copy / Display URL

Using the keyword that the user queried in ad is essential to gain a high CTR. Not only will it attract the user, but the words will appear in bold (when used in the title and / or the body). Below we have an example for when the user has queried "Cheap Beds"...



You can enter the keyword into the Display URL, it doesn't have to match the destination URL. If the word or domain is too long for the character limit, you can remove the "WWW" part.



3. Use Dynamic Keyword Insertion (DKI)

As mentioned inserting the queried keyword in the adtexts improves CTR, this can be done automatically by using the DKI function. However this should not be used as a way of avoiding creating highly targeted adgroups, as the keyword still has to be relevant to the rest of the ad. To use DKI simply type {KeyWord:Double Beds} in place of the word or phrase you would have originally used. Google will automatically insert the queried keyterm into the Ad title, body or even the display URL dynamically. If the query is too long Google will default the word that has been entered by the user, in this case "Double Beds".



4. Use Superlatives

Using superlatives will help draw attention to your ad. Be warned you cannot use absolutist words such as "The Best" or "The Greatest (unless you can verify this on your site). You can use words such as "Cheaper, Lower or Great" in relation to prices for example. Use them proportionally and only use them if the product or service reflects the adcopy.



5. Use a call to actions

This is essential to improving CTR and conversion rate and one of the most important ad copy techniques. Phrases such as "Buy Online Now", "Order Online Now" are suitable for e-commerce sites. If your site does not actually sell a product you can use phrases such as "Enquire Now" or "Find Out More"



6. Create urgency in the ad

People love to pontificate, especially when it comes to buying items online, why else do some people go shopping for 5 hours at a time? To help overcome this, it can be useful to create a sense of urgency in the user.



The urgency can be entirely fictitious, as long as you have competitively priced products you should still be able to make a good return. People LOVE to think they are saving money.



7. Call and Return / Empathy

Another way to get the user's attention is to pose a question in the adtext. This can relate to why the user would want to use your service or buy your product. This is known as "call and return".



This would be suitable for terms such as "Bad credit loan", because the likelihood is the user will want to loan to clear debt rather than the make a purchase.



8. Use Price lead creatives

Putting the price in the adtext will improve CTR and also help qualify the traffic as the user will know if your product or service is suited to the budget. Usually it is good to write the minimum price of your items or service.



9. Advertise the free element

If you have something that you can offer for free, then put it into adtext. If you are an ecommerce site, then offering free delivery will massively increase conversion and click through rates. If you're lead generation site, emphasise that a response will not cost the user anything - and that there is not commitment...



10. Stand out from the crowd

If all the of the ads look very similar you may want to try some novel ways to make your ad stand out. Here is an example.

See also: Top 10 Free Tools For PPC & Choosing A PPC Agency