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Putting The "Ad" Into Adwords 
By Peter Astley-Sparke (c) 2008

When you're new to AdWords, it's tempting to devote far too
much time and energy in trying to craft that "killer" ad. But
the truth is that writing ads is a science, not an art. Here
are a few of the rules.

1) Never Fly Blind...

In over five years developing AdWords campaigns, we've never
seen a profitable example that didn't track conversions.

AdWords Conversion Tracking is simple to install and a "must"
for measuring ad performance. Remember, by itself the
Click-Through- Rate (CTR) of an ad tells you nothing about
the ROI it's delivering. We've seen many examples of ads with
a lower CTR, but higher conversion rate.

Google Analytics obviously adds a great deal more data,
but takes time to master. However, one feature worth using
immediately is its ability to tell you which ad position
yields the best results.

Finally, don't forget the AdWords Reports section. This has
improved significantly over the past year, and the Search Query
Performance report is a real asset in optimizing keywords and ad
copy.

2) Cut out the Middle Man...

In this case, the "middle man" is Google. When developing and
testing your ads, it's vital to put yourself in control as far
as possible:

Delivery Method: By default, Google spreads the delivery of
your ads evenly throughout the day, ensuring you don't exhaust
your daily budget (and they get to spend as much of it as
possible). However, it also serves to mask the true demand for
your product or service. We have seen many cases where ads are
more profitable at certain times of the day. If you have a
limited budget, spend it when you'll get the best return. We
recommend running campaigns using Accelerated delivery. Keep an
eye on your daily budget and adjust accordingly.

Ad Serving: If you're running multiple ads, Google will
automatically start favouring the one with the highest CTR once
a certain volume of clicks have been received. We never use the
default Optimize option, and recommend you select Rotate for ad
serving.

We have AdWords campaigns for some of our clients that have
been running for over three years, but we always maintain at
least two ad variations per ad group. Even if there's only a
single word difference, one ad will ultimately prove superior
and deliver an improved ROI.

The Rotate option also gives you more granularity when testing
ad variations. Say you want to do a 1/3-2/3 split; you simply
create two copies of ad "A" and one of ad "B". Using the same
principal allows you to create 60/40 and 70/30 splits, which are
very useful in some circumstances.

Network Options: Start your testing using Google's Search
network only. Uncheck both their Partner and Content networks.
Once you have some solid data from mainstream search traffic,
you can add their Partners. Google's partners are a pretty
"mixed bag", and you may decide to exclude them altogether (we
often do).

Finally, enable the Content network and Content Bids. Never run
on the Content network with the same bid as Search - you're just
handing Google money. By default, we set Content Bids at 1/10 of
that on the Search network: so if your Search bid is 0.50p, set
your Content bid to 0.05p for openers.

If you find your product or service has "traction" on the
Content network (true in about 25% of cases in our experience),
it may be worth running separate campaigns for Content searches.

All these options can be set from the Campaign Management tab
in your account. Select a campaign and click the Edit Settings
button.

3) A Stitch in Time...

It's important to optimize your ads (and separately your
keywords and bids) to a fixed schedule. By default, we run a
three-month cycle: Every three hours for the first day. Every
day for the first week. Every week for the first month. Every
second week for the second month. At the end of the third month.

You can adapt this schedule to suit your click volume, but make
sure you have a schedule and stick to it. You'll learn more
about your target audience, and employ your time more
efficiently. Don't forget to take weekdays, weekends and
seasonal trends into account.

4) Study your Competition First...

Before writing your first ad, take time to study your
competition using a selection of core keywords and phrases.

This is particularly important if you're thinking of using
Google's Keyword Insertion feature. This is becoming
increasingly popular and can be counter-productive; making your
headline look identical to the competition.

5) All for One and One for All...

Achieving a good Quality Score, and providing visitors with a
rewarding experience, means treating your keywords, ads and
landing page as a single unit.

Ensure your most popular keywords appear in your ad's headline
and copy. If you cannot accommodate core keywords in your ads,
segment your ad groups further.

Make sure core keywords follow-through to your meta data and
landing page copy. Try to write ad copy that flows naturally and
qualifies visitors to your site. If you sell software for
Microsoft Outlook, for example, a headline such as "Using
Microsoft Outlook?" will help avoid Apple users, who might find
your product of interest, but are unlikely to become customers.

6) Simplicity Sells Harder...

Capitalize letters and words in your ad copy for emphasis (not
all the time). Capitalizing the first letter of every word in
your copy actually makes reading more difficult.

Be honest and don't use words like "free" unless you're really
giving something away for free within 3 clicks of your landing
page.

7) Understand what Matters...

According to research undertaken by Google in 2005, the
headline of your ad represents 40% of its impact. The first line
of copy accounts for 25%, the second line 20% and the Display
URL 15%.

AdWords' power comes from the ability it gives you to intercept
prospects at the exact moment they're looking for what you sell.
The basic PPC ad format is simple, and works best with a single
clear message and a strong call to action.
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Peter runs AdWords Magic (http://www.adwords-magic.biz), one of
the UK's leading AdWords training and campaign management providers.
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