Improve Your Google Adwords Search Engine Ads

by Marcia Yudkin

Published on this site: July 3rd, 2006 - See more articles from this month

The haiku-sized blocks of text that show up when people hunt for information on Google or Yahoo can cost-effectively deliver perfect prospects day after day to your site. For instance, one pay-per-click ad I wrote sends its owner all the $2,000 clients she can handle for just $39.88 a month.

But when I look at search engine ads both when I'm searching for information and when clients ask me for help with their Google advertising campaigns, I'm shocked at how flabby, vague and boring most of the ads out there are.

If you've tested thoroughly and the most mind-numbing ad copy gets the best response, fine. But too often, all the ads tested were equally tedious and uninspiring. Here are some suggestions for creating ads with spunk and magnetism.

1. Think your way into the mindset of your target market. What is the problem that sent them searching on Google? For instance:
   
   Language learning is hard?
   Not with NL Lessons. Native speaker
   tutors you online. Makes it fun!
   
   
2. Now inject some emotion into your ad, the emotion felt by your potential customer or client. How can you capture their problem in unexpected, dramatic words?
   
   Foreign language torture?
   Learn French, Spanish, Swahili thru
   jokes, music. Painless, guaranteed!
   
   
3. Imagine several different types of buyers and create ads tuned into each one.
   
   Diplomacy Made Easy
   U.S. Foreign Service certified
   tutors for worldwide languages.
   
   Inlaws speak Spanish?
   Or German, Japanese, 120+ others:
   Fun, easy online language lessons.
   
   Pass PhD Language Exams
   Graduate-level online tutor makes
   passing German, French exams easier
   
   
4. Paint a vivid picture of the results buyers enjoy after purchasing your product or service.
   
   Speak Spanish pronto!
   Converse like a native for fun,
   travel, business. Online tutors.
   
   
5. Mention either unusual or popular examples of what you offer.
   
   Japanese for Business
   Specialty vocabulary: health, tech,
   finance, any industry. Online tutor
   
   
6. Emphasize what makes you different from other vendors or service providers - differences that matter to customers. Sample headlines:
   
   Easiest language lessons
   No grammar drills!
   Unlimited live tutor time
   
   
7. Edit, edit, edit. Google forces you to be concise by allowing only 25 characters (letters, punctuation marks or spaces) in the headline and 35 characters in each of the two succeeding lines. Get rid of all unnecessary or repeated words. Try shorter variants of key words. It's ok if the ad then turns out slightly ungrammatical so long as the meaning comes across clearly. You can leave off final punctuation if there's no more space at the end of the ad. Readers understand that ad constraints force you to compress your thoughts.

Google makes it easy to test different ad versions against one another, and now you'll have more powerful candidates to see how they perform.

Marcia Yudkin - [email protected] helps business owners and corporate managers compellingly and tantalizingly communicate their strengths. See a sample makeover of one ineffective Google search engine ad into five dynamic ones at http://www.yudkin.com/sample10b.htm . Sign up for her free weekly newsletter on creative marketing at
http://www.yudkin.com/markmin.htm .