Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Ad Copy Quality For Your PPC Campaign

By Brian Basch

There are many different concerns relating to how to make an ad campaign work well on PPC. The right keywords is the surest place to start. Bidding for them can be costly if you go for the really popular ones, then you've still got to get them to work for you. Pay attention to what goes into your ad. It's your point of contact and the words and phrases you choose to sell your site can really be the difference between success and failure.

These three lines of text might be small, but they're the springboard for the rest of your campaign. They have to be noticeable, encourage potential customers to read, and then to click on them. If that doesn't work, then all the best plans will be worthless.

It would be great if we could fit in a really long story about all the good things we sell and why people need them, but there's only three lines to entice them with. You have to get attention and get a click with those three lines, so make them good. Making a PPC campaign work is all about getting off to a good start and those three lines are all you have to work your magic with.

There's an 80/20 rule that applies for this. The majority of an ad's impact is in the headline - which makes up about 20% of the ad itself. This is true in many other forms of writing and it's very much true in pay per click advertising. So make it good, because there's nothing worse than a bad headline.

Be sure that everything about your ad is appealing. Trying to get the right words is a chore, but you can do it with some careful thought. Good spelling and punctuation is a good start, there's nothing more unappealing than an obvious mistake in advertising. It just cries out for the customer to turn away fast. It's almost like a form of shame.

Make sure you get the customer's attention. Remember, you're competing against other ads here, so maybe do some research and see what the others are doing. Standing out in a crowd can be difficult, but when you do everyone notices you. Concentrate on that headline and grab the customer's attention, then make them need to know what's on offer when they click.

Keyword placement is another important factor and shouldn't be neglected. Try using your keyword phrase in the headline and see what sort of results you get. Make sure that next line is just as eye-catching, too. Don't use phrases like "quality service" or ramble on about how long you've been servicing the area. "Great products and services" is a great sign for a shop window, but will get you nowhere in pay per click.

The last line of your ad is just as important as the rest of it and can easily make the sale on its own. Inform the viewer why your product is the best option for them. Maybe you could put in a special offer or a special deal. Ads with this type of content increase their chances of a clickthrough and sale conversion. A word of warning, though. Avoid the use of deceptive wording to try and get more clicks. It's likely that you'll end up paying for an expensive campaign that gets very few sales.

PPC ads are shorter than conventional types of ads but there is a definite science to making them work emerging amongst its advertisers. Make sure that your ads stand out and demand attention, keep the text clear and concise as well as effective - you can stand out from your competitors for some really big sales.

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