Google AdWords Series: Ad Positions and Ad Copy Quality

March 30, 2017 by Christine

Today in our fifth and final installment of our series about the most common Google AdWords mistakes and how to avoid and/or resolve them, we focus on a pair of issues that surprisingly get overlooked quite often: not testing optimal ad positions, and writing low-quality copy for your AdWords advertisements.

Let’s take a closer look.

The mistake: failing to test the optimal position for your advertisements

It might surprise you to learn that being in the top one or two spots in ad positions (as listed on search results pages) will not necessarily give you the best results.

If your main goal is to increase your brand image and reach, then being in the top couple spots to get the best visibility is absolutely a goal you should have. However, there are some cases in which it might actually help your business even more to rank in the third or fourth position.

The general principle here is that only people who truly care about finding the best possible result will click your ad and go to your site. After all, they will have to look over to the side of their screen, then go through several other results (if you rank in spots three to give).

If you do not test these ad positions appropriately, you can never be sure about whether you are actually in the position that works best for your business. Sometimes the first couple spots work great, but you might get a better return on your investment in positions three through five. You may be getting fewer clicks, but those clicks will be higher quality, meaning you are spending less for better leads.

We strongly recommend you raise or lower your cost per click bid every now and then, just to see what happens. Track your results whenever you do this. If you manage to get good results while paying a lower amount, then there’s really no need for you to worry more about how your ad ranks in the listings.

The mistake: not focusing on writing high-quality ad copy

Every digital marketer has heard the mantra “content is king.” Most of the time, this is referring to the kinds of long-form content we put on our websites or blogs, or the kinds of content we publish on social media. However, you need to be focused on creating outstanding copy for your AdWords ads as well. After all, your offer should be enticing enough to convince people to click and see what you have to offer.

Keep in mind that you have very limited space, so every word counts. You can use ad extensions to increase the amount of space you have to work with, but even then, there is a limited amount of space, and you have a very limited amount of time to connect with people who might be reading your content before they move on to something else.

You should start by having a compelling headline. This headline should be simple and clear, giving users a good idea of exactly what you can offer them.

For example: let’s say your business sells clothes, and you have a sale on jeans for $20 a pair. You could have a headline that looks something like this: “$20 for Jeans? Yes! | YourCompany.com.”

The headline highlights the deal you have going on, is extremely simple and clear, and instantly attracts the attention of the reader.

Then, in the content of the advertisement, don’t just repeat the offering. Instead, insert a call to action, something like “Take a look at which great styles you can get for this low price.” Again, it doesn’t have to be anything extremely creative—it should be brief, yet effective.

Have you ever seen any AdWords mistakes we have not covered in this series? Contact us and let us know, we’d be interested in hearing how you have overcome your business’s AdWords dilemmas!

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Viral Solutions LLC is a Digital Marketer Certified Partner, an Infusionsoft Certified Consultant and a Google Partner – Certified in AdWords.

Filed Under: Analytics Tagged With: google adwords