Insanely Effective AdWords in Three Easy Steps
New to AdWords? Want an unfair advantage over search marketing competitors?
When we started writing search marketing ads for ourselves and clients, very few guides existed. So we experimented and read everything we could on the subject.
Since then, we've seen several credible, research-based guides published. A number of them are excellent. But for newbies and the time-starved, most are overkill.
So we set out to create this easy guide to help you create insanely effective AdWords. It's by no means the most comprehensive. But it is the simplest quick-start we've seen. Read it once and write better ads through osmosis. Follow it step-by-step and watch your click-through rates rocket.
Either way, walk this path to greater search marketing success:
Step one: Target your keywords
It may seem obvious. But since keywords trigger your ads, you should positively obsess about which you'll target—and how your ads will relate. In developing your keyword-targeting strategy, follow these steps:
Choose your keywords
What are your customers searching for? In our case, they're typically searching for writing or editing. So we target related keywords, such as "marketing writing" and "copywriting."
But your best-performing keywords aren't always apparent. Study your analytics reports to determine what keywords bring visitors to your site organically—particularly visitors who stick around and visit several pages. And use Google's keyword recommendation tool to find additional possibilities.
Doing this, we discovered two successful keyword phrases that we hadn't previously identified, "writing agency" and "professional writing." Looking at them now, they seem head-slappingly obvious. But we missed them. Some more tips for choosing keywords:
- See what keywords your competitors target; they might know something you don't.
- Consider common misspellings of keywords that you're targeting; they can generate additional traffic at lower costs, since fewer people bid on them.
Group your keywords
Once you've identified your keywords, you'll want to group them into categories. For example, we group all of our "copywriting" keywords separate from our "writing and editing" keywords. This step helps you organize your ads, refine their targeting and identify keyword opportunities. Once you've created your keyword groupings, you can convert them into ad groups, then target distinct ads at distinct keyword groups.
Identify negative keywords
As well as keywords that trigger your ads, you'll want to identify keywords that, when present, prevent your ads from showing. Then use the negative keyword tool to exclude your ads for these words. Why? Imagine that you are selling a cancer-preventing cocktail online. If you simply targeted the word "cancer," astrology buffs born in July might see—and click—your ad when looking up their horoscope, but be unlikely to convert. So, in this case, you could improve your ad performance by excluding the keyword "astrology." In this way, negative keywords might reduce your clicks. But they can improve your conversion rate.
Step Two: Write Your Ads
Now that you've developed and grouped your keywords, you'll need to write your ads. Follow this simple process:
Boil down your benefits
Often, clients call us to improve their website's performance and we find it full of product features and very few benefits. Many people fail with AdWords and other search marketing initiatives for the same reason. Prospects care only how well your offering meets their needs. They don’t care what it does. They care what it does for them. So what's the difference between features and benefits? Consider these two examples:
Large Coffee Mug
Ceramic With Round Handle.
Holds 16 Ounces of Liquid.The Mug for Coffee Lovers
Insulated, Easy to Hold.
Easily Keeps Two Cups Fresh!
The latter should feel more appealing, because if (like us) you love coffee, it converts properties of the mug into things you actually care about, which resonates at an emotional rather than rational level.
Admittedly, communicating benefits in the tiny space available with search marketing can be a challenge. But if you don't try, you won't achieve your greatest possible success. So make it easier on yourself:
- Write out your offering's benefits in a paragraph.
- Refine this paragraph into a sentence.
- Refine this sentence into a search ad.
We used this simple process to create our own search ads for Mastercopy, our outsourced copywriting service. Continually refining our benefits lead us to this top-performing ad:
Outsourced Copywriting
Inform. Educate. Influence.
You Speak. We Create. They Buy.
Write to keywords
With your benefit-touting ad and your keywords, you're ready to take the next important step to a higher click-through rate. For each of your keyword ad groups, you'll want to create highly targeted ads. Google lets you to do this dynamically, using the structure {keyword:backup word}. But there are dangers to this approach—for example, if you target a misspelled keyword, you probably want the correctly spelled version appearing. Regardless of how you do it, though, you'll want to be sure that your keyword-targeted ads attract the attention of readers by reflecting their search queries. For example, for users searching for "editing" services rather than "writing" services, we would display:
Outsourced Editing
Inform. Educate. Influence.
You Speak. We Create. They Buy.
Choose your approach
Got a few keyword rich, benefit-touting ads down? Great. Now experiment with different approaches exploiting different means of attracting attention and influencing action. Here are some common approaches:
- Question: "Like Hot Coffee?"
- Command: "Get a Better Mug"
- Story: "I Once Drank Cold Coffee"
- Secret: "Latte Secrets Revealed"
- Extremes: "1000% Stronger Espresso"
- Authority: "9/10 Baristas Agree"
- Compare: "Better than Starbucks"
Consider your audience's emotional state
Finally, let's talk state of mind. What’s your audience thinking while searching? How do your prospects feel? Considering their emotional state will help improve how your ads resonate. Prospects in a rush? Focus on time-savings. Comparison shopping? Focus on variety and price. Consider, for example, the difference between these hypothetical ads:
Last-minute Gift?
Perfect Mug for Coffee Lovers.
1-click, 30-sec. Checkout!Perfect Gift for Coffee Lovers?
Our Overflowing Inventory Makes
Finding it Easy. Don’t Miss Out!
Okay, these aren't the greatest ads in rotation. (Heck, they may not even fit within word count limits.) But you should see, at a quick glance, the importance of considering emotional state.
Step Three: Optimize, Optimize, Optimize
Now that you have keyword-targeted ad groups and several ads to test, it's time to optimize. For those obsessed with words and measurement, this can be quite fun, as AdWords provides almost instant feedback on the effectiveness of your changes. So what can you do to increase performance? Try a few of these changes at a time to see which will rocket responses:
- Use title case: For some reason, possibly because it appears to increase authoritativeness or simply because it catches the eye, title case tends to beat proper (sentence) case. For example, don't write "Our coffee tastes great." Write, "Our Coffee Tastes Great."
- Insert quotes: Using a headline with quotes around it catches attention, in part because it can appear like an endorsement. For example, "Tastes Like Heaven."
- Convey an endorsement: Similarly, endorsements—even in such a small space as AdWords—can compel action. "Doctor Recommended," for example, can work just as well in AdWords as it does in other media.
- Use your display URL: While most AdWords advertisers typically use just their headline and description to promote products, they miss out on additional opportunities to market within their display URL. Don't just put your company’s website, such as "company.com." Use the display URL to back your proposition and drive clicks. For example, "company.com/FreeCoffee."
- Use numbers: Rather than write out numbers—such as "eight"—use characters—such as "8." This allows you to convey information in less space and adds visual variation that can attract the eye. Find ways to get interesting, compelling numbers into your copy. For example, "100% Guaranteed," "1/2 Price," "9/10 Experts Agree," "Buy 1 Get 2 Free." But, unless you're marketing text messaging, you should probably avoid cheesy attempts such as "Try it 2Day!"
- Use symbols: Just as numbers provide visual variation, so do symbols. When your ad's up against many others, this variation can often provide an edge. It can also add to your credibility and authority. For example, insert a trademark (™), registered trademark (®), copyright (©) or similar symbol.
- End with ellipses: Research has shown that adding ellipses to the end of your AdWords description can increase click-throughs, possibly by making people realize that there's much more information on the other end. For example, "See Results Now…"
- Use trigger words: There are many emotional trigger words and phrases that can, through simple inclusion, dramatically increase your click-through rates. Here's a list to get you started:
- Advantage
- Amazing
- Astonishing
- At last
- Breakthrough
- Download (because it often implies "free")
- Free
- Easy
- Ends soon
- Enhanced
- Guaranteed
- Immediately
- Innovative
- Instant
- Irresistible
- How to
- Limited time
- Money back
- Now
- Phenomenal
- Powerful
- Proven
- Revolutionary
- Sale
- Scientific
- Secret
- Shocking
- Special offer
- Spectacular
- Time-sensitive
- Tips
- Today
- Tricks
- Try
- Unbeatable
- Unique
- Unforgettable
- Unlimited
- Urgent
- You
And there you have it: a quick-and-dirty guide to a higher click-through rate.
Of course, getting clicks is just the start. Once you start generating traffic, you'll want to be sure that your landing pages are performing and converting visitors to customers.
But that, of course, is a topic for another article.
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