5 Tips for Improving Your PPC Campaign’s Click-Through Rate

May 13, 2014

5 Tips for Improving Your PPC Campaign’s Click-Through Rate

While a lot of advanced metrics can help you better understand whether you’re running a successful pay-per-click (PPC) campaign, the one number that really matters is clicks. The number of clicks an ad receives directly correlates to how much new business your campaign is generating. If your Adwords or Bing PPC campaign suffers from a low click-through rate and has received limited conversions, it may be time to reconsider the ad copy you have in place.

With only 25 characters allowed in the headline and 35 allowed per each of the two description lines, crafting a compelling PPC ad in only 95 characters takes a degree of skill and knowhow. Transforming average ad copy into compelling text that draws potential customers to click on your ads can greatly improve the number of conversions a campaign receives and the revenue it generates.

Fortunately, you don’t need a SEO background to write excellent ad copy for your PPC campaign. Just follow these five simple steps to get started:

1. Write ad copy that targets your customer base

Whether writing an ad for online or print, generic copy that doesn’t have a target audience typically fails to attract any audience at all. Highlighting special benefits or services that appeal to your client base in a way that pops out in the ad text can help to attract potential clicks, especially those on the fence about whether to click on your ad at all.

Feel free to use special terminology and phrases your target audience will understand and don’t worry about using lingo lost on those who don’t need your services or know your business. The more relevant your ad text is to the business or niche you’re servicing, the higher your quality scores will become, the more impressions your ads will receive and the more clicks you’ll get.

2. Overcome objections in your ad copy

Anticipate what objections your customer base may have about the product or service you’re offering and address those objections in your ad copy. Keyword terms such as “no risk,” “certified” or “guaranteed” can help your customer base reach an immediate level of comfort. If you take the initiative and answer possible objections or questions a customer may have in your ad copy, you could see a boost in both the number of clicks your ads receive and conversion rates.

3. Create attention-grabbing headlines

The headline, or title, of your ad ranks as the first thing search engine users will see. A quality headline that draws the customer’s attention has a higher chance of having the rest of the ad read and earning a potential click, while a poorly worded or confusing headline will most likely get glanced over. While you might offer sterling services or outstanding products, you’ll have a hard time getting noticed online if the headlines of your advertising don’t shine, as well.

4. Test, test and retest

To create the most successful PPC campaign possible, you will need to test multiple versions of ad copy, keywords, headlines and targeting demographics before you find what leads to the highest click-through rate and number of conversions. While you might think that the work is over once a PPC campaign has been initially created, a truly successful campaign needs constant adjusting, optimizing and testing in order for it to reach its peak performance. The more effort you put into optimizing a PPC campaign, the more revenue it will generate.

5. Consider special offers

If you follow the steps listed above and still find that your click-through rate or number of conversions hasn’t improved, you need to reconsider your offer. A fundamental truth of advertising, customers respond well when offered a special price or reduced fee. Whether you decide to offer a percentage off on sales or a free consultation, trying to entice consumers will a special offer could help to bring more visitors to your website and revenue to your business.

If you do extend a special offer, make sure you test varying ads, keywords and even different offers, as mentioned above. Don’t just settle on one promotion, as sometimes the smallest change can results in a sudden improvement of campaign performance. Overall, the campaign’s ad text and offer all need to work in harmony to produce the most successful PPC campaign possible.

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