I’ve spent more time than I’d to admit creating and managing pay per click campaigns. From small, low-budget campaigns to campaigns that spend 500K plus per year, there’s one thing that all pay per click campaigns have in common: There’s almost no such thing as the ‘right way’ to run a campaign. What I mean by this is that, while there are trends and best practices to follow, I’ve found that testing new things is the best way to tweak your campaigns to peak performance.
First let’s look at a fancy diagram depicting a typical pay per click ad:
Typical PPC Ad
The title
The title of your pay per click ad can have up to 25 characters. Your title should grab the users attention. It should not make any false or misleading statements. Be upfront and descriptive with what you have to offer. Following this guideline will help you avoid unwanted click-thrus.
Additionally, most PPC networks offer keyword insertion which allows you to automatically insert the phrase searched for into your title tag. So, a user was search for dog leashes, my ad title would automatically appear as Dog Leashes. If a different user search for dog leash, the same ad title would appear as Dog Leash. It is thought that this tactic increases the chance that searchers will click on your ad. I’ve seen it go both ways but it’s definitely a strategy worth trying.
Tips:
* Use keyword phrase in the ad title, it will appear in bold when user searches for it.
* Abbreviations and some symbols are allowed in the title tag. Use them to save space.
The ad desription
Description lines 1 and 2 allow you to further expand on what your website offers. For each description line, you’re alloted 35 characters. Again, be straightforward with your description. The last thing you want to do is attract clicks from searchers who don’t know what they are getting. It’s usually a good idea to include an offer and/or call to action in your description as well.
Tips:
* Use keyword phrase in description, it will appear in bold when users search for it.
Display URL
The display URL gives you a chance to neatly write your URL. If your URL contains keywords relevant to your ad, it may attract more clicks.
Tips:
* Capitalize the first letter of each word in your domain name. For example, www.dogleashes.com should appear as www.DogLeashes.com. This is particularly effective when your domain name contains keywords that the user is searching for.
General Tips:
* Most ad networks let you rotate ads. Set up at least 2 completely different ads and watch if either ad attracts more clicks or converts better for you.
* If you get stuck on writing copy, search for the keywords that you’re bidding on and see what your competitors are doing. This is a great way to get copy ideas.
* Don’t get hung up on writing the perfect ad copy. Throw a couple good guesses out there and see what happens. Test, test and test again until you get it right.
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