Ad copy is one of the most important components for the success of your Google Ads campaigns. There are many elements whose correct combination creates a quality campaign, including the keywords you chose, the landing pages you direct users to from the ad, the calls to action you choose to include, and of course the ad copy you need to write. In this article, we will go over the ways to write quality copy for Google ads in order to improve CTR, drive more traffic with the same budget, and improve the quantity and quality of conversions you receive when you choose to advertise on Google. But before we begin, it is important to know the terms and metrics in Google that help us create the perfect ad:
Optimizing for Users and Optimizing for Google's Engine
When thinking about writing copy for a new ad, there are several key considerations we make beforehand and several best practices to use. When I think about writing an ad, I want to make sure I optimize both for the users who will be exposed to the ad and for Google’s engine. There is a lot of overlap between what works well for users and what works well in Google’s eyes, but it’s not always a perfect match. The Quality Score of our ads is made up of ad relevance, click-through rate (CTR), and the landing page user experience. Therefore, when we make improvements to our ad copy, we will try to find the balance between presenting the ad to users in the best possible way, while maintaining the core principles of creating an ad on Google, including using the system’s recommendations (if necessary).
Ad Relevance
Ad relevance in Google Ads essentially measures how directly your keywords are related to the ads you write. If your keyword is “cocktail bar for events”, you will want to include the specific keyword and other terms from the same field within the ad at least once or twice. Matching keywords to ad content is critical for creating relevant ads on Google.
Expected CTR of an Ad
The expected CTR for your ads depends on the users exposed to the ad. This metric measures / predicts the percentage likelihood that your ad will be clicked – how many people clicked on the ad out of all the people who saw the ad. To achieve a good Expected CTR score, you need to create compelling copy for your ads to get people to click and reach your landing page. An ad for an mobile bar for events written like this: “Mobile Bar for Events – Northern Area” might get a high score in the ad relevance metric, but this wording is not persuasive enough to get users to click.
How to Create an Effective Ad in Google Ads?
Now, after going over some of the technical metrics found within the Google Ads system, let’s go over the best practices for creating quality copy for a Google ad. Use these five tips to improve every aspect of your current campaigns and the new campaigns you create:
1. Keyword Accuracy
As we mentioned earlier, keyword matching is critical to the relevance level of your ads in the process of advertising on the Google platform, which also constitutes a key part of the ad’s Quality Score. Although it is not the most important part of ad copy, I placed it as the first section because it is one of the easiest and most impactful things to do when writing copy. Adding relevant keywords combined with the right content should improve your ad relevance.
2. A Clear, Unambiguous Offer
To write compelling ad copy for users, the kind that gives them the feeling they must click on it to see what’s behind it, you must highlight your offer and emphasize it so that no user misses or misunderstands what you are offering, whom you are addressing, and what pain point you are solving. Think about what makes your offer stand out and what differentiates you from competitors running ads on the exact same keywords. If you have special offers or information that will be a game changer for people hesitating between you and the competitors, include them in the ad copy.
3. A Sharp and Clear Call to Action
A key part of ad copy, and in general in the marketing world, is a clear call to action that directs users to a specific action you want them to take. A call to action can direct your users to any type of action you think would be relevant. In Google ads, it is recommended to use a CTA for the most immediate action the user can take – meaning, if the ad’s goal is to get users to visit the landing page, do not write a CTA that tries to convert them or sign them up for a newsletter.
4. Using Ad Extensions
Ad extensions are separate parts of the ad that integrate into the ad, above it, or below it. I like to think of ad extensions as extra real estate that you can get and utilize in the ads you create. Ad extensions like call extensions, Sitelinks (additional links from the site), callouts (key benefits), and more give you an excellent opportunity to add more information to the ads and also take up more space in the search network. Sitelink extensions will be effective for you to increase the options for landing pages that users can navigate to from your ad (if your main URL points to an “Event Cocktail Bar” page, then the links in sitelinks can direct to other relevant pages like a non-alcoholic cocktail bar or an About page that tells about the company and the people behind it).
5. Trial and Error
Finally – tests, tests, and more tests. You never truly know what will work with your audience until you run ads and test audience behavior. Fortunately, in the digital marketing world, you can test things all the time. Within the Google Ads platform, you can run multiple variations of ad copy in each ad group to see what works. To perform ad copy testing, enable Ad Rotation optimization, and that way Google will test your ads against the audience and frequently display the top-performing ads.
In Conclusion
Working properly with Google Ads while adhering to the principles you read in this article will help you create relevant ads for your audience. Although ad copy is only one part of your Google ads, it is a key component that directly impacts users and their actions, and it is crucial that a potential customer exposed to your brand for the first or second time clearly understands the message you are trying to convey.
About the Author
Dvir Naaman, 27 years old, graduate of the Digital Marketing course at HackerU College. Experienced in building WordPress sites, PPC advertising across Google, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok platforms. Specializes at Fialkov Digital in organic search (SEO). Has extensive experience in eCommerce and dropshipping, and is the owner of Merchant Center – a website that aggregates information on eCommerce systems and advanced marketing platforms to increase business conversions, with an emphasis on eCommerce store sales.
