Writing solid pay per click ads

Like writing compelling website copy, there is an art to writing pay per click (PPC) ads. What are PPC ads? They’re the links labeled as “sponsored” that pop up near the top of your search engine results. Basically, individuals and companies have paid money to be listed at the top of those search results. Not to be confused with straight search engine optimization, how prominently the ads are featured is a combination of how much the person has paid and the click through rate.

You’ve purchased the ad through the search engine of your choice. Now what do you do? How do you get people to click through?

The ads are small – just a few lines – but you have a lot of freedom in what you can put in them. First of all, like with any marketing endeavor, you need to think like your customers. When they’re searching for the service you offer, what are they typing in? You can look at your web search log to give you a good indication of what they’re searching for, but remember: Those are the people that are finding your site. What about the people that aren’t? What can you include in the limited space you have to capture their searches, too? After you’ve determined what your audience is searching for, sprinkle those keywords in liberally.

Make sure your PPC headline is an attention-grabber. This should go without saying, but the headline is what will most likely grab the reader’s attention.

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So you’ve grabbed their attention, and their finger is hovering over their mouse, trying to figure out if they want to click on your link or not. Make sure that your headline and your copy plainly states something substantial to appeal to your target audience. People might click on a headline because it’s intriguing, but what good does it do if they look at your website, determine that it’s not for them, and close the page out out? Bottom line: The quality of click-throughs is important, too.

Good copy in this instance does not equal long, eloquent sentences. Be aware of how much space you have. Don’t jeopardize your click through rate by gobbling up what space you have with unnecessary words. Be concise and tell you audience what they really want to know: What will you do for them?

Which brings me to my next point: Make sure that what you’re saying you’ll do for them is actually what you’ll do for them. If you say you offer a service at a more affordable rate than your competitors, make sure that’s the truth. If it’s not people will jump ship pretty quickly, and will be too disgruntled that you misrepresented yourself to ever come back to you.

One more thing: If you’re advertising one particular service or product of yours, direct the link traffic to that product or service’s page. Don’t direct them to your homepage and let your potential customers flounder around trying to find it. Believe it or not, those extra clicks make a difference.