I did a search and know that I have to be specific and stand out but for someone starting out it just isn't enough.
Granted, you have to try, but I would certainly welcome suggestions for books that would help with writing very concise ad copy. I have read Tested Advertising Methods and learned a lot from it.
Other books, resources or tips posted here of via stickymail would be greatly appreciated.
1, put your self in the users shoes, what would they want!
2, look at some of the most competitive industries to see how they are tackling the problem.
3, try, try and try again, eventually enough fine tuning will get it right.
Shak
4. Always try to get the search term into the title and text.
...Unless all others have it there. Have a look at the context of your ad. When all eight ads on the page begin with Widget, make your title different.
Without a doubt being able to write good copy is the only way to be truly successful with PPC. So, for newbies such as myself what practical tips, advice, suggestions would you give?
A few very basic things, overlooked by a surprising number of advertisers:
* Take your time! Lots of advertiser want to create their campaigns at the speed of light, and then get on to the next thing - and they write their ads as if it doesn't matter how good they are. Believe me, it matters.
* Follow standard language conventions, for whichever language you are composing in.
* Make sure you ad is absolutely free of errors (yes it will be reviewed and perhaps disapproved if it doesn't meet the Editorial Guidelines), but it will also run for awhile before the review.
* Read the ad aloud to yourself - or have someone read it to you. Does it sound good? OK, this may be a little warm and fuzzy, but a lot of people sort of 'read aloud' to themselves. I really believe that your ad has to sound good.
* Does the ad 'look good' on the page? Yep, I believe this matters too.
BTW, Shak's first tip is invaluable. It is so good, here it is again:
1, put your self in the users shoes, what would they want!
To his advice, I'd add that, as you evaluate your ads, forget everything you know about your business and your site. All a user knows about you is what they see in your ad. So try to look at it from that perspective.
AWA
"Do you want something for nothing?" [Yes]
"Then click HERE!" [click]
Apologies for such a glib example, but I suspect you'll understand the idea? [YES]
Matt
[edited by: eWhisper at 12:38 pm (utc) on Nov. 29, 2004]
[edit reason] No URL promotions please [/edit]
My best ads are the ones that are relatively straighforward. Title is relevant to what they search on. First line generally qualifies them/describes what I'm offering, and second line I try some basic call to action.
So first line is:
fast and easy widget quotes online.
second line is:
run your own widget quote here.
And that's it. Where I test is stuff like "fast and easy' vs. 'easy and fast' or 'fast and easy online widget quotes'. That's where I find my magic - testing the simple stuff. Works for me - anytime I've tried to be a smarty pants and start to read the experts on copyright I tend to do poorly.
The key here is that people are looking to buy, not be sold. And the beauty of the web is that they have the choice - if you try and sell them, they'll move to the next ad.
