Paid Search video

How to Write the Very Best PPC Ad - with Joseph Kerschbaum (5:32) Dr. Ralph F. Wilson , Web Marketing Today - Feb 7, 2012

In this video interview, paid search expert Joseph Kerschbaum offers several tips that will help you write an effective PPC text ad.

When people type in a search, says Kerschbaum, they have a question. They're actively looking for an answer. So start with relevancy. Think about your audience: What would they want to see when they search? Make sure you display the keyword of the search query in your headline and in your ad to show maximum relevancy. Also try to show really great benefits, rather than emphasizing features.

Once you've written an ad, the best way to improve it is with ad testing. Test 2 or 3 ad variations. Make them quite different and test the same kinds of things side-by-side. Finally, tell people what you want them to do when they get to the landing page.

Here's the process of ad testing: Try 2 or 3 ads and see which one rises to the top -- the "champion ad." Then try to figure out why it was working. Next, try to determine how to beat the "champion ad" with variations. While testing, keep the variations limited to one element at a time: the headline, the ad text, the visible URL.

If you continually try to challenge your best ad, you'll increase your click-through and conversion rates substantially. And, as you improve your click-through rate, you improve your Quality Score, raise your ranking, and lower your cost-per-click.

One tip: Within AdWords campaign settings, select the 'rotate' option, which allows time for an adequate test on all your ad variations, rather than fixing upon one winner too early.

Joseph Kerschbaum is vice president of Clix Marketing (www.clixmarketing.com), a search marketing agency that focuses on everything paid -- AdWords, adCenter, Twitter, Facebook -- to help advertisers optimize it and get better results. This interview was recorded at the SES Conference in Chicago on November 15, 2011.