How to Write A Good Google Ads Copy: A Guide from Paul Our Resident Google Ads Expert
Why Is The Copy For A Google Ad So Important?
If you want to write a Google Ad copy without experience or guidance you’ll likely blown through your ad budget like no tomorrow with little return. It is priority number 1 for a business that is looking to go it alone or hire a PPC agency to start pay-per-click (PPC) advertising campaigns to understand the skills and methods needed before they begin. I am someone who has worked with Google Ads over many years and seen a lot of changes in that time. I can tell you that the keywords you choose and how you write in your ad will directly impact your success. You need you ad copy to be clear, direct and relevant to the searchers intent. This will increase the likelihood of not only getting a click but will also improve your ad position and overall reduce the cost you are going to pay per click.
What Is A Google Ads Copy?
A Google Ads copy is the text that appears in your ad on Google. An ad must have a headline, description and a display URL. The aim of any ad copy I write is to grab the persons attention and give them reasons to click through to your website. So you need your copy to stand out amongst the rest that are advertising above and beneath you. Having an effective copy will help you squeeze the most from your ads budget. If you don’t compete with a good copy your giving the best traffic away to your competitors.
How Can You Write Google Ads Copy That Works?
1. Always Start By Researching Keywords
Before you even put pen to paper and start writing your ad, you must understand the keywords your potential customers would be typing in to Google. Use a free tool that purpose build for Google Ads such as Google Keyword Planner. It will give you a shed load of keyword ideas in no time, more than you can possibly brainstorm on your own as well. Pick the ones most relevant to you that focus on commercial intent. When you have your list of keywords make sure to integrate them naturally into your ad copy without keyword stuffing. You can make use synonyms as well or NLP practices to avoid keyword repetition. This will increase the relevance of your ads and make them more likely to be clicked.
Here is a great example, we are a local SEO Company in London, so we would use keywords in our copy like “best SEO agency near me” or “SEO Consultant in London”. When we use these terms in our headline and description it makes our ad more targeted to what people are actually searching for.
2. Create Clear and Engaging Headlines For Your Ads
A headline is the first thing people see on an advert. Every marketer knows this, so make sure you do too! It is very important to make it stand out, it should be directly related to the user’s search query and satisfy their curiosity enough for them to click through. But it must not mislead them! Otherwise your just burning credits. Definitely include your primary keyword in the headline to make your ad stand out. So if someone is searching for “affordable SEO services”, a recommended headline could be “Affordable SEO Services That Work and Convert”.
3. Write Descriptions That Encourage Positive Action
The description section of a paid advert is where we expand on the headline and provide more even more details. This is our chance to explain what makes our product or service different (In a good way) and why the people searching should choose us. A pro call to action (CTA) will make a big difference. For example, “Get expert SEO services at an honest price. Improve your Google rankings and get more traffic from today. Call us for a free consultation!” This tells the person what they can expect and also tells them what to do when they reach our website by contacting us to get a free consultation.
4. Make Sure To Match Your Ad Copy with The Landing Page
One of the biggest mistakes I often see is when the ad does not match the landing page it links to. It is a cardinal sin. If your ad promises “20% off all products”, make sure this offer is slap bang in the main hero section of the landing page and they haven’t got to scroll up and down for it. Consistency improves user experience and helps to increase conversion rates, it is a no brainer-so get it right.
5. Use Ad Extensions to Add Value
Google Ads allows us to include extra info via ad extensions. These extensions make the ad more useful and attractive as they include sitelinks, callouts and structured snippets. These all offer users more reasons to click on the given ad. For example, if you run a restaurant you could use sitelinks to direct users to your menu or reservations page.
What Are The Best Practices When Writing A Google Ads Copy?
1. Make Sure You Align The Ad Copy with The User Intent
An ad copy should always match the intent behind the given search. If someone is searching for “emergency plumbing services” your ad should be relevant to this with a headline like “24/7 Emergency Plumbing Services Get a Quick Response”. This will make the ad relevant and increase the chances of a click.
2. Avoid Generic Phrases – They Do Jack All
If you use played out phrases like “Call us today!” or “Best in the business!” then don’t expect any special results. They don’t tell the user anything… instead focus on what makes your service unique. A solid example is, “Get a Same Day Service – Affordable Local Plumber 10 Mins Away”. This example provides specific information that is time sensitive for people with emergencies and will definitely be more appealing that generic white wash statements.
3. People Love Social Proof, So Use It
Social media is bigger than ever, nearly everyone is on it and people love reading what other people think about a business. By including social proof in your ad copy you can easily build trust. All you have to do is mention things like “Rated 5 Stars by 1,000+ Customers” or “Award-Winning SEO Service”. Social proof will reassure the user that your business is reputable and worth their attention. All those people can’t be wrong can they?!
4. Know When To Create Urgency Where Appropriate
If you create a sense of urgency in the right way you will prompt the reader to act on it. I often use phrases like “Limited Time Offer” or “Sale Ends Tonight” as it can encourage the reader to click on the ad immediately rather than delaying their decision. Just make sure your landing page also translates into the same urgency.
5. Always Test and Optimise Your Ads
It doesn’t matter how well you think you have written your ad copy there will always be room for improvement. We continuously test different versions of our headlines, descriptions and CTA’s to see what works best with our audience. A/B testing is necessary here to compare the performance of different versions and refine the ads based on the data at hand.
What Are The Common Problems To Avoid With Google Ads Copy
If you are running Google Ads these are the mistakes to avoid:
1. Do Not Overload Your Ad with Keywords
Too many keywords can make your ad sound unnatural and forced When your writing focus on sprinkling in your main keyword in a way that fits naturally.
2. Definitely Don’t Make Unrealistic Promises
Never make promises in your ad copy that you wont be able to fulfil. If your ad offers “Free Shipping”, then make sure this is available to all customers. A misleading ads might get clicks, but they won’t convert well, damage your brand’s reputation and put you in deep water with trading standards and get your account blocked by Google..
3. Stop Focusing Solely on Click-Through Rates
For sure a high click-through rate is up there in terms of importance but it is not the only thing that matters. Ultimately we want users who click through to the ad to then become customers. If the ad has a high CTR but low conversion rate then that is a tale tale sign that the ad copy might be attracting the wrong audience, setting the wrong expectations or the landing page is not optimised for conversions.
4. Not Segmenting Your Audience
It isn’t rocket science that different people respond differently to the same ad. So an ad that works well on mobile might not translate and do as well on desktop. You are missing a trick if you are not segmenting your audience & creating a bespoke ad copy to match the needs & behaviours of each target segment.
Advanced Tips You Can Use for Google Ads Copywriting
Once you have got the basics nailed down you should start considering using advanced techniques:
1. Use Dynamic Keyword Insertion
Dynamic Keyword Insertion (DKI) will enable you to auto update the ad copy to include the exact keywords that the person is searching for. This will do wonders to make your ad more relevant to individual search queries. It is important to use this feature carefully to avoid clunky awkward and unnatural looking headlines.
2. Personalise Your Ads with IF Functions
When you use IF functions in Google Ads it will allow you to customise your ad copy based on specific conditions such as the user’s device or audience segment. So you could show a mobile user a different offer to a desktop user or provide a special discount to a returning customer.
3. Add Countdown Timers for Limited-Time Offers
Countdown timers work like a charm by creating urgency in the ad copy. They are good for promotions or sales that are ending soon. If you opt to use a countdown timer make sure it matches the date and time the offer expires to avoid customer confusion.
How To Bring Everything We’ve Talked About Together
We aren’t putting together a checklist you can just follow as it’s not that simple. You need to understand your target audience and test different approaches in your ad copies. If you want better results you need to continuously refine your ads but not too often that you tear up the script and the machine learning can’t kick in. Here’s how to bring everything we’ve talked about together to create a great ad copy:
1. Keep Testing and Improving Your Ad Copy
The first time you write an ad copy may not be your final polished product, but that’s alright. Rome wasn’t built in a day. The key is to keep testing different variants of your ad headlines, descriptions and CTAs to find what is working and giving you the best result. Always be data driven, collecting statistics to refine the ad and improve its results.
2. Ensure Consistency Across All Your Customer Touchpoints
All the top marketers ensure that their Google Ads copy is aligned with the messaging on the landing pages and other company marketing channels. This creates a seamless experience which serves to increase trust and improve conversion rates.
3. Monitor Your Ad Campaigns Regularly
By keeping a close eye on the performance of your Google Ads campaigns. you can look at important indicators to see how well they are doing. Metrics like CTR, conversion rate, Quality Score, and CPC help you to make informed decisions about how to optimise your ad copy and overall strategy.
Final Thoughts From A Google Ads Specialist On The Ad Copy
First you need a clear understanding of your target segments and audience. Then you need thorough keyword research and integration. Then you need to A/B test and continuously monitor your performance and make tweaks where required By following my tips and being aware of common mistakes you can create high performing ads that get clicks and convert. success with Google Ads comes with staying flexible, refining your approach and looking at the data for ways to improve.
As you can probably tell this article was written by a human for once. If you need anything content writing or SEO based be sure to contact us directly. We don’t cut corners!
