You’ve set up your AdWords account perfectly.
Your ad groups are made up of a few great and closely related keywords, your bids are competitive, and you negative keyword list has covered all your bases. But none of that will make any difference if you don’t write compelling ads. A well set up campaign will make sure the right users are seeing your ads, but if the ad copy isn’t intriguing, no one will click on them.
Here are five tips to make sure your ad copy is compelling and engaging.
1. Try to end the first description line with a period
When your ad is in one of the top two positions, the first description line of your ad copy will be tacked onto the headline if it ends with a period. This creates a longer headline which makes your ad stand out. Because of this, you want to make sure the first description line has your most compelling offer—like a sale or promotion—or unique selling point so it grabs users’ attention.
2. Spend time on the headline
A catchy headline will draw your audience in to read the rest of the ad copy. Try to incorporate the keyword that you want to trigger the ad into your headline. When someone searches for that keyword, it will be bolded which lets the user know that your ad it relevant to their search (and it grabs their attention).
3. Include a compelling call to action (CTA)
Let your audience know exactly what action you want them to take, and what they are going to get if they take that action. While the classics like “call now,” “click here,” or “buy now” are still fine CTAs, the more specific you can get, the better. “Call today for a free estimate” or “Click here for your free trial” are much more compelling than just “call today” or “click here.”
4. Enable ad extensions
Ad extensions only show if your ad is in one of the top two positions, but they are an extremely powerful feature. Ad extensions do just that: they extend your ad, meaning it takes up more space on the search engine results page with no extra cost to you.
5. Be as specific as possible
The point of having a small list of very closely related keywords in each ad group is so you can right very specific ad copy. The more specific your ads are, the more likely you are to get quality clicks that will become quality leads (which means more conversions).
Bonus tip:
6. Test, and test some more
One of the best ways to ensure that your ad copy is effective is to constantly A/B test. Tweak minor things, and then tweak major things. Run tests with your least effective ads and your most effective ads. Never change something in your ads without A/B testing first. Even if you think a change will make an ad more effective, test anyway. You might be surprised.