On paper, your PPC advert looks great. It’s got the phrase that people were searching for in the title, it makes some compelling arguments for why people should click on your advert, and you’re anticipating a great clickthrough rate.
So you put it live, and it bombs. Your clickthrough rate is horrific, and you’re left wondering why….
The problem is that your advert looks good on paper, but adverts don’t run on paper. Your advert may be great in the middle of a blank sheet of paper, but how does it look, when there are ten other PPC adverts surrounding it? And what about the ten natural search results just to the left? Does your advert still stand out?
Suppose that you’re an injury claim solicitor. Your unique selling points, like those of all your competitors (!) are that you pay out 100% of the compensation, and you have a policy of ‘No Win, No Fee’. Clearly, these points need to go into your advert.
Actually, you’re in a no-win situation here. If you don’t put these points in, nobody will click on your advert. And if you do, your advert will look just like everyone else’s adverts. This was what a search for ‘injury compensation’ returned a couple of years ago:
So, unless your advert was top, nobody was ever going to click on it. The solution is to be more innovative with your adverts. It’s likely in this case that searchers will assume that they’ll get 100%, with no win, no fee. If so, then highlight another selling point – something that does make you stand out. This is what the same search displays now:
Some advertisers, such as injurylawyers4u and accidentsdirect are still running the same adverts they did over 2 years ago. Others are trying new messages such as including a location in their advert (National Accident Helpline), indicating how quick and easy the process is (Injury-UK, Injury-Direct), or asking questions to try to interact with the searcher.
There are many clever ways to make your advert stand out, but before putting your advert live, it’s essential to consider where your advert is going to appear, and what everyone else is saying.
There is one further point that must be made here. It’s very tempting to make your adverts stand out by sensationalising them. This will improve your clickthrough rate, but bear in mind that PPC is a bit like paying people to enter your shop. Every visitor that you pay Google for, that doesn’t buy anything, is a waste of money. Make false or misleading promises, and you’ll just end up wasting money.
The perfect PPC campaign would attract anyone who is seriously considering buying, but nobody else. This would not maximise your clickthrough rate, just your campaign’s profitability.
Some advertisers, such as injurylawyers4u and accidentsdirect are still running the same adverts they did over 2 years ago. Others are trying new messages such as including a location in their advert (National Accident Helpline), indicating how quick and easy the process is (Injury-UK, Injury-Direct), or asking questions to try to interact with the searcher.
There are many clever ways to make your advert stand out, but before putting your advert live, it’s essential to consider where your advert is going to appear, and what everyone else is saying.
There is one further point that must be made here. It’s very tempting to make your adverts stand out by sensationalising them. This will improve your clickthrough rate, but bear in mind that PPC is a bit like paying people to enter your shop. Every visitor that you pay Google for, that doesn’t buy anything, is a waste of money. Make false or misleading promises, and you’ll just end up wasting money.
The perfect PPC campaign would attract anyone who is seriously considering buying, but nobody else. This would not maximise your clickthrough rate, just your campaign’s profitability.