| Preface | 2 | |
| Table of Contents | 3 | |
| 1. Introduction to Online Advertising | 6 | |
| The Necessity of Paid Advertising | 6 | |
| Branding vs. Direct Marketing Ads | 7 | |
| Types of Ad Payment | 7 | |
| Typical Ads You’ll Need to Write | 8 | |
| The Ad/Landing Page Two-step | 9 | |
| Achieving a Mini-Sale | 9 | |
| Functions of a Direct Marketing Ad | 10 | |
| 1. Attract interest | 10 | |
| 2. Present your offer | 10 | |
| 3. Select the audience | 11 | |
| 4. Get the click-through | 11 | |
| Who should design your ad | 11 | |
| 2. Ad Writing Basics | 13 | |
| People Buy for a Variety of Reasons | 14 | |
| Start with Realistic Assumptions | 14 | |
| Value Proposition and Unique Selling Proposition | 15 | |
| Avoid Hype | 17 | |
| Copywriting Formulas | 17 | |
| 3. How to Write a Great Headline | 19 | |
| Basis of Appeal | 20 | |
| The Purpose of Headlines | 20 | |
| Deliver a Complete Message | 21 | |
| Three Key Questions | 21 | |
| Customer Focus | 21 | |
| Consider Your Complete Offer | 22 | |
| Focus on Customer Benefits | 22 | |
| John Caples' 35 Headline Formulas | 23 | |
| Using Action Words | 26 | |
| The Principle of Scarcity | 26 | |
| Formatting Your Headline | 27 | |
| Headline Length | 27 | |
| 4. Supplemental Ad Copy and the Call to Action | 29 | |
| Other Ad Objectives | 30 | |
| Trust Builders | 30 | |
| Testimonials in Ads | 31 | |
| Incentives in Ads | 32 | |
| Call to Action - Get a Click-through | 32 | |
| Test Your Ad with Colleagues and Friends | 34 | |
| 5. How to Write a PPC Text Ad | 35 | |
| The 4 Parts of a Text Ad | 36 | |
| 1. The Headline | 36 | |
| Use Relevant Keywords in Your Headline | 36 | |
| Use Action Words in Your Headline | 37 | |
| Use Stand-Out, Eye-Catching Headlines | 37 | |
| Capitalization | 38 | |
| 2. The Description | 38 | |
| 3. The Display URL | 38 | |
| 4. The Destination URL | 39 | |
| How to Optimize Your AdWords Copy | 39 | |
| 6. How to Design a Banner Ad | 41 | |
| How Banner Ads Are Used Today | 41 | |
| IAB Standard Banner Sizes | 42 | |
| Banner Fatigue and Banner Rotation | 43 | |
| Design for Specific Sites or Demographics | 43 | |
| Billboard vs. Bulletin Board | 44 | |
| Sources for Graphics | 44 | |
| How to Select a Banner Ad Image | 44 | |
| Key message | 45 | |
| Call to action | 45 | |
| White space | 45 | |
| Animation | 46 | |
| Trick banners | 46 | |
| How to Optimize Your Ad File Size | 47 | |
| 7. How to Write Short E-mail Ads | 49 | |
| 1. Promotion to Your House List | 49 | |
| 2. Ad in an E-mail Newsletter | 50 | |
| 3. Solo E-mail Ad using a Rented List | 50 | |
| Subject Lines | 50 | |
| Text vs. Graphics in E-mails | 52 | |
| Make Copy Easy to Scan | 52 | |
| 8. How to Track Your Ad Campaigns | 54 | |
| Why You Must Know CTR, CR, CPS, and ROI | 54 | |
| Click-Through Rate (CTR) | 55 | |
| Conversion Rate (CR) | 55 | |
| Cost Per Sale (CPS) or Acquisition Cost | 55 | |
| Return On Investment (ROI) | 55 | |
| Don't Forget Your Landing Page | 56 | |
| Google AdWords | 57 | |
| AdWords Click-Through Data | 57 | |
| AdWords Conversion Data | 58 | |
| Google Analytics | 59 | |
| URL Tagging | 59 | |
| Goals and Sales Funnels | 61 | |
| Google Website Optimizer | 62 | |
| Affiliate Program Software | 62 | |
| Banner Ad Serving Software | 63 | |
| Appendix: References | 64 | |
| Books | 64 | |
| Websites | 64 | |