For most PPC adverts, the advert copy is the only tool available to attract attention,
convey a message and entice action. This is why writing effective advert copy is
such an important skill for search advertising.
People who are searching for something usually have a specific intent – they are looking for information, guidance, comparisons, tools, or solutions to their problems. It’s important to understand why somebody would look for your brand or product – and what keywords they would use to find it – when crafting your search ads. Look at the considerations for choosing keywords that are covered in the Search Engine Optimisationchapter – these often overlap.
Use compelling and well-crafted Calls to Actionso that users know what to do and what to expect: ‘try now’, ‘sign up now’, ‘buy now’.
Many advertisers test offers in the advert copy, such as a discount or limited- time voucher. Product or service benefits make for good advert copy, such as free shipping, secure shopping or fast delivery.
If you are running many ads at once, it can be quite a lot of work to create unique copy for each one. Dynamic keyword insertion (inserting the search keyword dynamically into the advert copy that appears) or using the keyword in the advert copy can help. Dynamic keyword insertion takes the keyword in your campaign that matches with the user search query and inserts it into the ad automatically. This way, the ad looks more relevant to the user than a generic ad. The search engine will mark words that match the search term in bold, making the advert stand out a little bit more.
The downside of using dynamic keyword insertion is that you have less control over when an ad is shown to a user, and the results may not be as good as with a standard SEM campaign. The goal is to generate as many clicks as possible, but sometimes the advertiser is better off with fewer, high-quality clicks that generate actual sales.
The long tail
Moz, a respected SEO blog, asserts that 70% of searches on the web are unique (Moz, 2012). This means that the sum of searches that are unique is higher than the sum of non-unique searches. Looking a little more closely at search terms will show a small number of high-volume searches, and then a large number of lower volume searches stretching out to those unique searches.
This is sometimes referred to as the long tail of search. Discovering these low-volume, niche search terms can do wonders for a search advertising campaign. Generally there is not much competition for these search terms, and the search term itself is very much targeted, so it will likely be cheaper to bid on and may yield a high conversion rate. While long-tail phrases are generally cheaper and lead to a higher rate of conversions, you will need to use a much larger number of them to make up for the lower traffic volume that they generate.
Also consider that search engine users may be at various stages of the buying cycle, and it could be worthwhile to craft a long-tail keyword strategy targeting those who are at the end of the buying cycle and know specifically what they are looking for.
For example, if you sell cameras, targeting the term ‘camera’ may not bring in much targeted traffic (since someone searching for ‘camera’ may be looking for information, pictures, price comparisons, or even something completely unrelated). But someone looking for ‘buy Canon DSLR camera in London’ has a clear intention in mind and could be a great target for advertising.
People who are searching for something usually have a specific intent – they are looking for information, guidance, comparisons, tools, or solutions to their problems. It’s important to understand why somebody would look for your brand or product – and what keywords they would use to find it – when crafting your search ads. Look at the considerations for choosing keywords that are covered in the Search Engine Optimisationchapter – these often overlap.
Use compelling and well-crafted Calls to Actionso that users know what to do and what to expect: ‘try now’, ‘sign up now’, ‘buy now’.
Many advertisers test offers in the advert copy, such as a discount or limited- time voucher. Product or service benefits make for good advert copy, such as free shipping, secure shopping or fast delivery.
If you are running many ads at once, it can be quite a lot of work to create unique copy for each one. Dynamic keyword insertion (inserting the search keyword dynamically into the advert copy that appears) or using the keyword in the advert copy can help. Dynamic keyword insertion takes the keyword in your campaign that matches with the user search query and inserts it into the ad automatically. This way, the ad looks more relevant to the user than a generic ad. The search engine will mark words that match the search term in bold, making the advert stand out a little bit more.
The downside of using dynamic keyword insertion is that you have less control over when an ad is shown to a user, and the results may not be as good as with a standard SEM campaign. The goal is to generate as many clicks as possible, but sometimes the advertiser is better off with fewer, high-quality clicks that generate actual sales.
The long tail
Moz, a respected SEO blog, asserts that 70% of searches on the web are unique (Moz, 2012). This means that the sum of searches that are unique is higher than the sum of non-unique searches. Looking a little more closely at search terms will show a small number of high-volume searches, and then a large number of lower volume searches stretching out to those unique searches.
This is sometimes referred to as the long tail of search. Discovering these low-volume, niche search terms can do wonders for a search advertising campaign. Generally there is not much competition for these search terms, and the search term itself is very much targeted, so it will likely be cheaper to bid on and may yield a high conversion rate. While long-tail phrases are generally cheaper and lead to a higher rate of conversions, you will need to use a much larger number of them to make up for the lower traffic volume that they generate.
Also consider that search engine users may be at various stages of the buying cycle, and it could be worthwhile to craft a long-tail keyword strategy targeting those who are at the end of the buying cycle and know specifically what they are looking for.
For example, if you sell cameras, targeting the term ‘camera’ may not bring in much targeted traffic (since someone searching for ‘camera’ may be looking for information, pictures, price comparisons, or even something completely unrelated). But someone looking for ‘buy Canon DSLR camera in London’ has a clear intention in mind and could be a great target for advertising.
