PPC is a fantastic technique to bring in targeted visitors to your website, but it won’t work if no one clicks on your advertisements. Even worse, a poor click-through rate might raise your ad expenditures by lowering your quality score. Because of this, creating outstanding ad text is the most crucial paid search task you can undertake.
So, what makes ad copy stand out? It is the text that not only complies with best practices but also pays attention to the smaller elements that your rivals overlook.
In this tutorial, we will provide 10 tips for creating PPC advertisements that are captivating enough to get clicks, get high-quality Scores, and increase conversions while using less money.
PPC Ads – Anatomy of a Google Text Advertisement
We must first go through the fundamentals of developing text advertising for Google before we can go on to crafting our best ad copy (which are called Search campaigns). The parts are as follows:
URL: When consumers click on your advertisement, they will arrive at this URL, often referred to as the destination.
Display path: This is what is seen after the slash in the URL. Because it doesn’t have to be the URL of the page, it is termed “display.” It is what is presented as a component of the advertisement and is employed to give the user more information about the location of the link. In a moment, more on this.
Headline: The large blue text that displays below the URL is the headline. This is the most noticeable section of your advertisement and is most likely the only thing consumers read. Each headline in an advertisement might be up to 30 characters long.
Description: The body text that follows the headline and gives further information is called the description. These have a 90-character maximum.
Assets: formerly known as extensions, are extra components you may add to your advertisement to make it more appealing. There are sitelinks, contact details, pictures, offers, and more. Keep in mind that not every impression will result in them appearing. Our extensions/assets cheatsheet has further information.
5 Best Practices of Search Ad Copy
Okay, one more point of order since responsive search ads are the only kind of search advertisements you can make (on Google and Bing), and since these guys are sly little shapeshifters, they may be a bit tough to write ad content for.
And by “shapeshifter,” I mean a feature where you can enter a variety of headlines and descriptions, and Google will juggle them in various ways depending on the searcher, the search query, and other factors.
Therefore, you must enter headlines that may all be used in various combinations. This is the tough part, so you should be familiar with responsive search ad wording best practices. Additionally, you’ll discover that they mesh well with the PPC ad copy advice in the area below.
- Use several headlines. Use more than the bare minimum. Use eight to ten of the fifteen headlines, and at least three of the four available descriptions.
- Make sure your headlines are unique. Google won’t display comparable versions.
- Avoid using buzzwords in each headline. At least three of your headlines ought to be a feature, benefit, or CTA-focused rather than keyword-focused.
- Avoid overplanning. It might be alluring to lock down some or even all of the headlines, but doing so prevents Google from experimenting with other pairings and optimizing speed.
- different headline lengths. Not every headline needs to be 30 characters long. As a result, Google will be able to display certain advertisements with two headlines and others with three.
10 Tricks to Write Exceptional PPC Ad Copy
- Include Features & Feelings
Not every headline must contain the phrase you’re targeting, as we just taught above; some of them should offer features and/or advantages. Any type of marketing text must-have features and benefits, but all too frequently we forget to include the most crucial element: emotion.
Why does the user want to see the benefit? In the end, what is the positive emotion they’re aiming for or the negative emotion they’re attempting to avoid?
As an illustration, suppose you are running an advertisement for public speaking training:
Feature: Private tutoring Advantage: Improve public speaking
Feeling: Self-assurance
Title: Speak with Authority & Impact
2. Add a differentiator
You’ve now identified your major attributes and advantages. Great. Guess what, though? Your rivals offer the exact same ones. You can’t capture that in a single text ad, therefore for all intents and purposes on the SERP, in customers’ eyes, it’s all the same. Don’t worry, I know yours are different on a more granular and nuanced level.
Therefore, you must determine what makes you unique. This is the secret to a successful elevator pitch or situation when you have little room or time.
When you fit any of the above descriptions, this is simple:
- The original
- The official
- The only
- The fastest
- The first
- The lowest-priced
- The top rated
But even if you’re not any of the above, you can still differentiate your business from competitors with things like:
- Specific numbers (such as reviews and ratings).
- A particular endorsement.
- A “not your typical” or “not your average” statement.
- A “this, not that” statement.
- Show a Little Personality
Another way to differentiate your business from other ads on the SERP? Show a little personality. With no options for images or branding (image extensions don’t count), text ads give us little room for creativity, but it’s still doable.
Take a look at the SERPs. The same number of blue and black characters in every other ad, but the descriptions are unique for each. Like:
a) We didn’t invent professional copywriting, we just changed everything about it.
b) Enjoy artisanal content lovingly crafted by grass-fed, 100% organic copywriters.
4. Get competitive
Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, as they say. Keep an eye on the language your rivals use in their advertisements and adapt it for your own positioning. Let’s use A’s advertisement, which offers 500 business cards for $5.50, as an example. B’s $5.49 advertisement is directly over it.
Even though it’s a minor, perhaps somewhat cheap technique, does it attract your attention? Yes. Does this headline illustration also demonstrate Overnight Prints’ attention to detail? Yes, again.
Although it’s a risky decision, being competitive demonstrates confidence in your company, which inspires audience confidence. Additionally, the work has individuality because of its conversational tone.
- Include CTA
Although assuming that every searcher reads every ad in its full is foolish, headlines are hard to ignore. Therefore, don’t bury your call to action in the description; instead, make it obvious in your headline. Your CTR will likely increase as a result.
- Use display paths
The text that follows the URL for your ad is known as the display path. Two 15-character display pathways are available for your use. Should you leave them empty even if they are optional and there is no certainty that they will appear? Nope.
Use display paths to show:
- Keywords
- Branded terms
- Call to action
- Your USP
- Reiterate and reinforce
Yes, you should utilize the space in your advertisement that is given to you, and yes, Quality Score benefits from relevancy to the term. No, using the same words and phrases again and over won’t help you.
It should only need to appear once in your headline, display path, and/or description. Use the remaining area to include features, advantages, or associated keywords. The goal is to emphasize something without becoming repetitious.
- Use seasonal modifiers
Even if you provide your product or service year-round, consider utilizing a seasonal title in your advertisement. This may increase clicks by fostering a sense of novelty and urgency.
- Use the magic words while overcoming obstacles
Although the search intent to buy is rather strong, buyers are already preprogrammed with obstacles. Although they are particular to your good or service, they often fit into one of three categories:
- I cannot pay for it.
- It’s too troublesome.
- I don’t require it.
Fortunately, I have a few magic words (and synonyms) that work well as counterarguments to these claims. These are what they are:
- Free: No cost, low cost, save, affordable, as low as, % off, only, cheap, bargain.
- Easy: Fast, instant, easy, simple, just, in minutes/days/hours, immediate, quick, jif
- Worth it: Return on investment, used by thousands, game-changing, you’ll never turn back.
- Use relationships to evoke emotion
Going full circle, the most effective ad text tool at your disposal is emotion. Emotions have an impact on conduct, both positive and bad. And where can I find the finest emotive advertising copy? Relationships.
The Swiss Army Knife method of convincing ad text was created by Perry Marshall years ago. In the model for Blade #1, which focuses on relationships, there are six important players:
- The customer
- Your business
- Something they love
- Something they hate
- Their best friend
- Their worst enemy