When searching online today, consumers see hundreds of text ads as they scroll through the search engine results pages. So, how do you make sure your text ad is the one that grabs attention and entices people to click? And on top of that, how do you make sure the right people are clicking on your ad? The digital landscape is always changing and with it the best practices for building and running your search campaigns. Here are some text ad mistakes you can stop making that will help your search campaign performance.
Save Your Jingle for the Radio
You have a limited amount of characters in your text ad lines, even with Google’s new expanded ad format. You don’t want to waste valuable space with things like company slogans, taglines, or jingle lyrics. This is your space to to tell potential customers what specials you offer, what makes your business stand out from your competitors, and add in relevant keywords. While taglines and slogans are good for brand recognition, they don’t help the performance of your text ads. You can always use an ad extension like sitelinks or callouts to include some of this branding.
Remember: Location, Location, Location
Whether your business has a storefront or you provide on-site customer service, including a locations in your ads is critical. Location extensions provide an easy way to show up in map listings and a simple way for users to click for directions on mobile. But, you should also include a location within your text ad, too. Ad extensions are not a guarantee and depend on placement. The only guarantee you have is the actual text of your ad. Locations within text ads will help keep your traffic relevant to your geographic and service areas. Even with a specific targeting setup, search history can play a factor in search engine results for a consumer. You don’t want to waste valuable clicks on people not within your service area.
Skip the Abbreviations & Symbols
Abbreviations can be a savior when it comes to getting that last character to fit on a text ad line, but you can go too far. If you’re going to use abbreviations, stick to commonly used and recognized ones like “appt” for appointment. Never invent your own abbreviation like making Toyota “toyo.” This will make your ads look unprofessional and reflect poorly on your business. Your text ads need to be clear, concise, and follow publisher guidelines. Also, avoid using symbols in place of text. Instead of @ use “at,” and don’t use the dollar sign instead of “cash” or “money.” Using text rather than symbols will greatly improve the look of your text ad, which should help click-thru rate and Quality Score.
Keep it Consistent
Your brand should be consistent across all marketing channels – including your text ads. Any specials on the radio, TV, print, or other channels should match your text ads. When you are advertising across these other mediums, you want to make sure your online ads state the same information. Whether it is a 20% off special or a free consultation, consumers want to see the specials promised to them when they search for your business. Matching your ad copy to the specials on your website also helps with your Quality Score, and a better Quality Score can lower your cost per click.
Best practices for text ads are going to constantly change. But, these four tips should help steer you away from some common text ad mistakes people make today.
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