Writing profitable ads for Google Adword Campaigns is not difficult if you follow a few copywriting secrets. The first key to successful advertising writing is understanding the concept of features and benefits. Features are qualities of the product or service. They are descriptive words like yellow, strong, big etc. Benefits tell the customer what’s in it for them. A benefit focused ad will mention phrases like will last long or easy to find when you need it.
When you begin writing an ad, write down a list of all of the features and then their corresponding benefits. Then put the major benefit of the product into a short sentence. Edit that sentence until you have a short phrase that conveys the same message. For example, if your product has a benefit of lasts a long time you can condense that same idea into the phrase long lasting. Delete unnecessary words in your ad like a, an, on and the.
Make sure to use the keywords in your headline. Google will put the keyword in boldface which will grab your reader’s attention. The headline of your ad should be about benefits to your customer and not the business name. In fact, if you use a business name as a headline your click-thru rate will be low and bid prices will be high. Your ad should focus on your customer and what they want. If you can, add keywords to the second and third line of the ad as well.
Use your space creatively. With only three lines in an ad, you can run the second and third lines together to create one statement. You can also use the headline with the second and third lines to make a longer sentence. Every word in your headline should be capitalized, but avoid using all caps. In the second and third lines, use normal capitalization. Avoid crazy punctuation and wild claims in your ads.
The following simple formulas can be used again and again to create winning headlines:
How to ________ and _________
What _______ doesn’t want you to know.
Get more _______ for less ______
Here’s a look at those headlines formulas in practice:
How to smoke and not suffer the consequences.
What the IRS doesn’t want you to know.
Get more fun for fewer dollars.
You must learn to “steal.” Look at other successful ads for inspiration. Study good examples from other advertisers and substitute your own wording. All the top copywriters do it. You can keep a collection of strong words and phrases that can be used for a variety of products.
Pay attention to your word choice. A single word change in your headline can make your click-thru rate go from .07% to 5%. Try using attention grabbing words (free, new, genuine) and call-to-action phrases (buy today, save 50%, download free trial, sale ends tomorrow, buy today and save 70%, offer ends soon, hurry before they’re gone). You can use action verbs (discover, retire, boost, increase, avoid, uncover, eliminate prevent), emotional words (cheap, sale, limited time, quick, easy, powerful, don’t, lose out), and motivational words (‘now is your chance,’ ‘you should know,’ ‘ discover your potential,’ ‘ make money now’).
You can also show how your product or service is unique with words like faster, wider variety, discount, most comprehensive and lowest price. Using 3rd party endorsements can also be helpful. For example, “blows away Toyota Camry” says Auto World.
Another way to increase clicks on your ad is to use numbers whenever possible. Instead of using Make Lots of Money try using Make $847 per week. The more specific you can be, the better. You can also be specific in the price. Mentioning the price in an ad discourages freebie hunters. However, if you have a free sample to offer that will eventually lead to a sale, use free but make sure to avoid capitalizing all of the letters or using an exclamation point (ie: FREE!!!).
It is essential to remember that the goal is not to be #1 on the ads page. Ideally, you want to be on the first page in position #2-#8. Why? There are lots of “tire kickers” who click the #1 ad spot just to click it and have no real intention of buying. Fewer people do that to #2-#8. Shoot for being on the first page, just not in the first spot. Anything below the first page is a waste of your advertising dollars.
Since Google doesn’t require you to list affiliate status anymore, you don’t have to designate that you are an affiliate. You’ll increase sales by removing your affiliate indicator, if you have one in an existing ad.
Finally, it is extremely important to test 2 ads simultaneously. Google will automatically rotate the 2 versions of the ad so you can tell which writing gets more clicks. When you have an ad that really works, try to beat it with another version of the ad. This technique is called “beating the control” in the advertising world. The goal is to strive for better and better sales copy and winning ads.
To increase your Google Adwords campaigns’ profitability use the above advice. You’ll be presently surprised by the results.
About the Author:
Chris Carpenter is the author of the best selling ebook GoogleCash which teaches people to use adwords to make money from home.
Google Adwords Writing Secrets you Need to Know
