9 Tips to Get Better CTR on Your Adwords
Getting people to click on your adwords ads can be pretty tough in some of the more competitive markets.
With click through rate (CTR) playing a roll in how Google ranks your ad, it is important to know some strategies to get those clicks.
Of course, you need to remember that the most important metric is profit, so writing ads that get high CTR a the expense of profit is pretty silly. Anyone can get a high CTR on their ads by making misleading and attractive claims, but such ads usually don’t convert to leads or sales. Even so, you can still get a reasonable CTR in most niches by writing ads that accurately describe your product or service (ie. don’t be misleading) and also by implementing some of the following tips.
1) Target Target Target - The more relevant your ad is to the keyword you are bidding on, the higher your CTR will be when people search for that keyword. If you are bidding on the keyword “green tables” then make sure your ad is targetted specifically to people looking for green tables. Having a generic ad will usually lower your CTR.
2) Captilise The First Letter Of Every Word - This really helps people clearly see the words in your ad. Look at the following examples.
get cheap widgets online
Get Cheap Widgets Online
The second example is just that little bit easier to read so it’s worth taking the time to capitalise every word in your ad.
3) Use your keywords in the ad copy - Very much related to the first point, but if someone is searching for “green tables” and your ad has the words “green tables” in it once or twice, then you are far more likely to get the click when you are competing with other ads that only mention “tables”. It’s even better if you can get the keyword into your title as well as the copy.
4) Social Proof - People like knowing that others use products that they are interested in. If some well known individual or group uses a product that you are promoting, then don’t be afraid to mention it. All things being equal, who would you rather hire - a “personal trainer” or a “personal trainer of the Miami Dolphins”? What would you rather buy - a “wrist watch” or a “wrist watch as worn by Pierce Brosnan”?
5) Left Right Left - Here’s a little visual trick. When someone types in a keyword into Google and that keyword is in your ad, it will be shown in bold. That is an opportunity for you to use a strong visual element to draw the human eye to your ad. By using the keyword at the beginning of the first line, the end of the second line and the beginning of the third line, you create an arrow that draws the eye to your ad. Here’s an example, if someone were to type “Omega Seamaster” into Google. Your ad would look like this:
Omega Seamaster Online
Cheapest Online Omega Seamaster.
Omega Seamaster as Worn by Pierce Brosnan
www.YourSite.com
Notice how the bolded words form an arrow that points to the right? Like >>. That can help draw the eyes from the left of the page to the right where your ad is. Hopefully it helps you get a slightly better CTR too.
6) Captilalise keywords in your display URL - It’s difficult to read keyword rich URLs. But if you can allow your audience to easily see the words in your URL, you are at an advantage. So rather than having a display URL that is www.mygreatsite.com, change it to www.MyGreatSite.com so it’s easier to read.
7) Put www in the display URL - People just seem to trust it more. Having a www before your display URL draws more clicks. www.MyGreatSite.com beats MyGreatSite.com
I don’t really know why. It just does. I suppose more people associate www with the web and so are more trusting of sites that begin with it. But really, I am just speculating on a reason.
Put your keyword after the display URL - If you are writing seperate ads for targetted groups of keywords, then I have found that putting the keywords in the display URL helps CTR. For example if the keyword you are targetting is “gree tables,” then www.MyGreatSite.com/Green-Tables will get a higher CTR than www.MyGreatSite.com in most cases.
9) Copy your competitor’s ads - There are times when you want to compete in a crowded marketplace. If you are competing in an older and established market, then chances are that the big guys have already done some of the hard work for you. If when you type in your keywords, the ads that show up at the top are all basically the same, then there is probably a reason for it - those ads make the most money. Don’t be afraid to borrow what they are doing and split test it with your own ads.
A key point to remember here is that these tips are general guidelines. They won’t work in every scenario, but they are a good starting point to split test with your other ads.
