20 Tips for Writing Great AdWords Copy

Posted on 29. Jun, 2010 by in Blogging, Internet

Copywriting for AdWordsMake no mistake. Copywriting is the glue that holds an AdWords campaign together. You can have the right keywords, place the right bids, and even have great products and services, but if you don’t have powerful copy, your campaign stands little chance of being successful.

When it comes to writing AdWords copy, there are 2 main components: copy for the ads and copy for the landing pages. Below, you’ll find 20 tips that will help you improve your copy so you can get more clicks and more conversions.

PPC Ads

1.       Use strong words- Searchers need to be snapped out of their passivity. You need to sell them some sizzle. Use powerful words that grab their attention, like: free, guaranteed, discover, today, limited time, improve, increase, exclusive, and you.

2.       Place keywords in the right spots- When you include keywords in your ads, the keywords searched for will be bolded in your ad copy. This allows your ad to get noticed. Include keywords in your headline, ad copy, and even display URL.

3.       Sell the benefits- The only thing customers want to know is what’s in it for them. How does your product or service benefit them? Explain this clearly and briefly.

4.       Have a strong call to action- Searchers need to be motivated to click on your ad. Simply put, you need to tell them what to do. Your call to action should be simple and clear, like “Get Your FREE Consultation Now!”

5.       Include your USP- What makes you different from the competition? What’s the one reason people should buy from you? Focus on your unique characteristics to make your ad different.

6.       Harness the power of ellipses- Those 3 simple dots can entice readers to click on your ad to get more information. For example, “Read This Before You Hire a Houston Electrician…”

7.       Try keyword-rich display URLs-I mentioned it earlier, but it’s worth repeating. Instead of using a generic URL, try putting the target keyword in there, like this: www.yoursite.com/keyword. I’ve seen many split tests where this simple change garnered a lot more clicks.

8.       Include seasonal offers- Seasonal headlines make your ad feel current and relevant. They also create a sense of urgency. Even if your product isn’t seasonal, you can still use this technique effectively. “Home AC Installation Memorial Day Sale. Free install on all orders.”

9.       Ask a compelling question- A question can grab the searcher’s attention and help make your ad more interactive. “What’s the secret to making $10,000 in 2 weeks?” Or “Want to get out of debt fast?”

10.   Always be testing- Never stop testing out different versions of your ads. The smallest changes can make the biggest impact.

Landing Pages

1.       Start with a strong headline- The headline is the first thing someone sees after clicking on your ad. This is your chance to hook the new visitor and to keep them moving forward to conversion.

2.       What is a conversion?-Speaking of conversion, what do you consider a conversion? Do you want people to place an order now? Do you want them to schedule an appointment? Sign up for your newsletter? Identify this action so you can measure the results of your AdWords campaign.

3.       Keep your call to action short and clear-Now that you know what you want people to do when they come to your landing page, you need to tell them to do so. Conversion determines call to action. Also, try repeating the call to action about once every screen view so that people can always take action no matter where they are on your page.

4.       Use bullet points to highlight key benefits-Online users tend to scan content rather than read it word for word. By placing the most important information in bullet points, you make it easy for the reader to instantly see what’s in it for them.

5.       Place the most important information above the fold-According to a recent Nielsen study, people spend about 80% of their time above the fold on websites. In other words, they don’t like to scroll down. So, put your offer up top where everyone sees it immediately.

6.       Start paragraphs with main idea-To further accommodate scanners, you should start each paragraph with the most important information. This helps to put the key points up front, rather than burying them where most people won’t read them.

7.       Include testimonials- Online customers have their scam detectors turned all the way up. They don’t trust you. But they do trust their fellow customers. Use testimonials from satisfied customers to gain credibility.

8.       Eliminate risk-Again, customers are always fearing they’ll be scammed and ripped off. That’s why you need to remove as much risk as possible. Offer a strong money-back guarantee that helps them feel they have nothing to lose.

9.       Beware of choice paralysis-Too many choices actually cause the customer to get overwhelmed, making no choice at all. Don’t give landing page visitors a lot of options. Keep it simple!

10.   Always be testing-Just like with your ads, landing pages also need to be tested. Try testing out slight tweaks to see what you can do to get more conversions.

What are some other AdWords copywriting tips you’d add to this list? Share your best tactics by leaving a comment.

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15 Responses to “20 Tips for Writing Great AdWords Copy”

  1. Supermarket Soap

    30. Jun, 2010

    Interesting post. I’m deeply interested in how words affect people, I mean, go into enough detail and people can almost experience what it is you’re describing. Not enough detail and people couldn’t care less. Could be off the mark here, but I believe it’s called rich language? A powerful example is I recently suggested to a guy where a hair in a sink may have came from, by the middle of my suggestion, he ran to the bathroom.

    Reply to this comment

  2. cleaning services

    30. Jun, 2010

    One of the other tips to save people a little bit of $$ is to sometimes throw in your business phone number into your ad thereby allowing people to call you directly before clicking through and you being charged for the click. Works sometimes and is worth saving a dollar or 2 whenever you can.

    I seriously spent ages searching for some pointers like this. I found quite a few but your level of detail and explanation was so much better than others.

    Reply to this comment

  3. aggelies

    01. Jul, 2010

    For a successful campaign don’t forget to review and consider negative keywords. These are the words you don’t want your ads appearing for.

    Reply to this comment

  4. Email Marketing Blog

    01. Jul, 2010

    I’ve seen studies where the ellipses has dramatically increased the clickthroughs due to the “unknown” factor of what is on the webpage.

    Reply to this comment

  5. viral marketing

    01. Jul, 2010

    I remember watching a few videos years ago about capitalizing first letter of every word and all that. I wonder if this is still works.

    Reply to this comment

  6. cleaning services

    01. Jul, 2010

    I also like your point about choice paralysis. Makiong a wrong choice is often better than making no choice. Sometime you just need to get in there and see the results and then alter your campaigns from there.

    Reply to this comment

  7. Escort Service London

    02. Jul, 2010

    These are highly recommended tips.

    Reply to this comment

  8. Outdoor Cat Enclosures

    02. Jul, 2010

    I definitely agree with your point about continually testing the ad copy. As I have found, a small tweak can drastically affect your profits and how successful your ad is. Some good points made here Adam.

    Reply to this comment

  9. Suggest link

    02. Jul, 2010

    Very nice tips, I tried many of these in a sales letter I’ve written in 2008 and the conversion was under 1% although I was using autoresponder as well, but that being my first sales letter I believe it was pretty good…now…if I’d be thinking at making and selling another product…I think I would make a pretty nice sales letter, but also I think that when you have a good income… you should pay a professional for this…you can be sure this way that the conversion will be high and that’s all that matters at the end of the day… to get as much money as possible from your work.

    Reply to this comment

  10. South Florida Pool Builders

    02. Jul, 2010

    This is so true, testing is the most important factor. It can be tedious and time consuming but if you don’t split test your ads, you might as well be throwing your money away.

    Reply to this comment

  11. Bidet

    04. Jul, 2010

    These are all great tips, thanks for sharing them. I agree with testing the most. You have to constantly test the landing pages to try and find better ones. You can always improve on them and through testing you will see what works and what doesn’t. The only way to know is to test out different pages.

    Reply to this comment

  12. Laptop Briefcases

    05. Jul, 2010

    Great tip about ellipses. That is sure to draw people in to find out more. Another good idea is to focus on emotional factors. Sometimes you can get people worried that they absolutely need your product or service. Or you can get people greedy about what they might gain by using your product or service. Emotional triggers get people to act much more readily.

    Reply to this comment

  13. Jason Webb

    05. Jul, 2010

    Great tips, thanks for sharing them. I agree with testing the most. You have to constantly test the landing pages to try and find better ones.

    Reply to this comment

  14. tires

    20. Jul, 2010

    In regards to testing, you definitely want to continue to test, there’s alot of wasted opportunity if you get too comfortable with a certain level, you never know what you might potentially be missing out for just a small test. It might be just a little bit of a gain, but you never know if that moment of your time for testing will actually be a significant step up, that’s why it never hurts to continually test, and tweak.

    Till then,

    Jena

    Reply to this comment

  15. Outdoor Cat Enclosures

    26. Sep, 2010

    Some great tips there.
    When I first started with adwords. Lost my budget in a day.
    Really got my fingers burnt.
    I’ll implement some of these tips.

    Thank you

    Reply to this comment

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