Last Updated on 2020-10-12 by ppcguybklyn
In my opinion, two of the most time-consuming tasks for a paid search specialist are keyword research and copywriting. We can utilize all kinds of keyword research tools to deal with the former more efficiently. For copywriting, however, there’s really no easy way around it other than facing the task head-on. This article will introduce the components of PPC ad copies and some tips that can make our ad copies better.
Components of PPC ad copies
Using search ads of Google Ads as an example, the ad copies consist of headlines and descriptions. The number of headlines and descriptions will depend on the ad types. Currently, the most common search ad requires at least 2 headlines and 1 description and can have the option to add another headline and description. If we are using a responsive search ad, we can have up to 15 headlines and 4 descriptions. The purposes of headlines and descriptions, and things we need to be aware of while writing them are of the following:
Headlines
The character limit of headlines is 30 characters. Being the most eye-catching part of the search ad, headlines are the most important component when it comes to copywriting. Considering that sometimes the audiences will only read the headlines before clicking on the ads, we will have to include a complete summary of our products and services in the headlines that can present the appeals of our brands. This way the audiences can understand what we are selling in a very short period of time. Because of the 30-character limit, how to write the most attractive headlines while not exceeding the character limit is one of the critical measurements of being a good copywriter of PPC ads.
Descriptions
The character limit of descriptions is 90 characters. Descriptions allow us to include the contents that are too long for headlines in our ad copies. Because of the higher amount of characters we can put in, sometimes when we are writing descriptions we might not be using the full 90-character limit. How to come up with engaging and detailed content to invite our audiences to click on our ads, is the most important thing when we are drafting our description.
Whether it’s headlines or descriptions, when we are writing ad copies we have to make sure that our contents are unique and not repetitive to diversify our PPC ads. This can ensure our ability to test the reaction of our audiences to different content. Having diversified ad copies can also improve our click through because we will have a better ad rotation. This is even more important when we are drafting responsive search ads. Each of the 15 headlines and 4 descriptions must have its own uniqueness so that when the system is automatically rotating these ad copies our ads won’t look like they are saying the same thing over and over.
Copywriting TIps
After introducing the components of search ad copies, now we will discuss 4 tips I believe to be very useful when it comes to copywriting.
Check your grammar and phrasing
Whether we are writing our ad copies in Chinese or English, this is the basic of the basics. We need to double-check if there are any grammatical errors in our copies, especially the 90-character descriptions. It would be easier to make grammar mistakes in the descriptions because of their lengthy nature. Using inappropriate grammar will make us appear unprofessional in front of our clients and our audiences. That’s why even though sometimes checking grammar can be annoying, it is still worth the efforts.
As for phrasing, we need to check if our ad contents speak to our brand images. For example, if we are advertising luxury goods, then we should avoid using words that might make the products sound cheap like “guaranteed quality ”. On the other hand, if we are advertising average priced or cheap products, then we will want to focus on the extra value these products could bring with their prices compared to other brands in the market. Fortifying the correlation of our ad contents and brand images is definitely the most important thing when we are choosing the words for our ad copies. If we can spend some time discussing with the clients on this issue before we start drafting our copies, it can save us a lot of trouble.
Put Keywords In Headline 1
The most important thing when we are writing our headlines is to include the keywords we are using in our ad groups in the first headline. This way not only can our audiences find the keywords they are looking for more quickly and increase our CTR, it can also improve our quality scores for the keywords that are put into the ad copies. The more relevant our headlines are to our keywords, the better the chances of we getting higher quality scores.
Put Call To Action Into Descriptions
Because of the higher character limit of the ad descriptions, we will want to add more words that can attract conversions. This is when call-to-actions come in. Call-to-actions are words that encourage the audiences to take conversion actions such as “Shop our products now!” or “Click to learn more!”. If the audiences are willing to take the time to read our ad descriptions, then call-to-action could effectively attract their interest and have a positive impact on CTR and even conversion rate. Therefore we would want to add call-to-actions in the descriptions after putting the details of our products and services into our ad copies.
Utilize the character limits of headlines and descriptions
As mentioned earlier, the character limits for headlines and descriptions are 30 and 90 characters. It would be easier to exceed the character limit of headlines but most of the time we will not use up all of the character limits for our ad copies. We should be pushing towards the character limits as best as we can. Otherwise, we will be wasting an opportunity. For example, if we only put 50 characters in our description, then we waste the rest 40 characters that could be used to promote the details of our products. Controlling the length of our ad copies and letting them be around the exact amount of the maximum character limit, is one of the must-dos of drafting PPC ad copies.
Conclusion
Drafting ad copies is time-consuming and tiring, especially writing English copies for non-native English speakers. How to utilize the limited ad spaces to create copies that can attract the most views and even conversions, is definitely a skill a PPC specialist wants to spend time polishing.
