Whether you want to have a high-quality score, higher traffic, or want more visibility on the web for your product ads, the first step is to increase your Click-through Rate!
But one thing that should be noted here is that by trying to increase your CTR, it is possible that instead of increasing your conversion rate it may lead to the opposite. Here are a few things that you should keep in mind to avoid such a scenario.
In this post, we are discussing a few ways that can help increase your CTR. And since we are not covering how these steps affect other metrics, you will have to test these steps and observe to see whether they are working or not.
Add an Extension
The first thing that you need to do is add an extension. By doing this you can add extra information about the product (and this is always a great thing to do as it reflects positively on the conversions).
Also, adding more extensions gives more visibility to your ads on the search pages. However note that, for the ads to show, your ad should qualify minimum AdWords rank. On the basis of what your goals are, you can choose the extensions – call extension, call-out extensions like ‘free delivery’, message and location extensions – to meet your objectives.
– Review Extension:
This is totally different from the star rating; this extension allows you to input a snippet as a review.
– Callout Extension:
It consists of texts that you can add to your advert copy. Note that per ad, only 4 callout extensions can be shown, however, Google allows you to input more than four extensions, which it later uses alternatively depending on the search query and the performance. Each callout extension is given a 35 character limit.
– Structured Snippet Extensions
If you want to show some data below your data description, a snippet, is what you need. For every snippet you can add up to 10 values.
– Call Extensions
Adding a call link to your advert makes it is really easy for the people to contact you. The best part is that people can click on the call button to call you on their mobiles and in case of desktops they can do so via Skype. Also, it is a great way to make your advert catchy!
Make Sure Your Ad Copy is Captivating – Use Calls to action & Symbols
Devote quality time in framing an Ad Copy which is unique in its own sense. Study what your competitors are doing and try to come up with something which is not out there and is, still engaging, with enough strong calls to action. Experiment and use your unique selling points to the optimum. Use symbols like exclamation signs, @ and other special characters to make your Ad copy more attractive and eye-catching!
Your Ad Copy Should Have Your Top Target Keywords
We know this seems like a no-brainer, but it is still our duty to remind you, again! Using top target keywords in your advert copy will make sure that your CTRs are great and you do not have to pay more than what is required.
Make Sure You Are Adding Related Keywords to Your Ad Group
On Google AdWords, one is encouraged to add 20+ keywords to the Ad Groups. It is a good thing to do if all the keywords are working hand-in-hand with the advert text. That is, if the keywords for which people are searching for your ad group are not matching with what they see in the adverts that appear, this will affect the CTR adversely. So make sure that you are listing the right keywords and the advert copy is also using the keywords at least twice.
Make the best Use of Sitelinks
Though Sitelinks is an extension type, yet there is a big ‘difference’ that makes it more than just an extension. While other extensions show only one extension with the ad, with Sitelinks you can show various links on the ad through which you can take people to the different specific pages on your site.
Extended Headlines
The best way to get it done is by making sure that the description line 1 of your ads which are to be shown above the organic result ends with a punctuation mark. By doing so Google treats it as the part of the headline, and just because of that the ad stands out among the rest.
Consider these 3 ads:
While the first two ads have longer headlines, the third one doesn’t. But in the third ad, it can be achieved & the description can be converted into an extended headline by just adding a period after ‘Low Fare Guaranteed on All Flights’.
Use Display URL Effectively
By displaying the site URL on your ad, you can give the online shoppers an idea of the place where they will be directed on clicking it. Moreover, if your ad’s root domain is same as your website’s URL, the display URL doesn’t need to be an actual URL, therefore you can customize it to make it easier to understand.
In the display URL, the use of characters is limited to 35, so make the optimum use of the space. Name of the product, benefits, important features – there are many things that you can add to your URL to make your ad more impressive.
Seasonal Headlines
Every merchant should take the best possible advantage of US holidays like Halloween, 4th of July, New Year and Christmas. This can be done by adding seasonal headlines to your campaigns that specifically refer to an event; such a thing makes your ads look current and hence increases the chances of conversion. And since that makes the ad more relevant, it also leaves a positive impact on your CTRs.
Go for Title Capitalization in Your Advert Copy
By doing this, your titles will look catchier and be instrumental in playing a major role in increasing your CTRs.
Use Trademarks
Make sure that you are using names of the brands that you are selling online in your ad copy. This is because most of the online shoppers being brand conscious tend to search the name of the brand somewhere in the ad headline or description. Therefore, adding trademark or brand name can clearly have a positive effect on conversions.
Prefer Discounts to Prices in Your Ads
Another thing that you should avoid is the direct use of Price in the ad copy. Instead of using the price it is better to use the discount. Where price reminds the user about the amount of money they will have to spend, discounts take their attention to the amount of money that they can save. What is more appealing? ‘Spend $50’ or ‘Save’ $20? Obviously the discount!
Therefore removing prices actually helps in improving CTRs; it has also been seen that in many countries, ads that use discounts are known to have outperformed ads that use prices.
If Possible Give Away Something Free-of-Cost
Getting something for free with the product is always a great thing from a consumer point of view. So if possible, make sure that you are offering something for free with your product – like a free gift, or schemes like buying one get one free etc.
Keep an Eye on your Bids & If the Need Arises Re-adjust them
It is known that low bids usually result in bad CTRs, therefore, it is advised that one should regularly review the bid prices to make sure that their CTRs are not suffering. It is also a good habit because by regularly checking your bids’ performance – like whether they are keeping you high on the search pages or not – you get the chance to rectify the issue before it hurts the campaigns’ overall performance.
Test It and Act Accordingly
Though it is true that these methods work, yet sometimes they don’t. So it is your responsibility to observe whether they are working or not, and if not, don’t hesitate to revert to the original.
For instance, adding ‘free’ to the ad can be both rewarding and disappointing. So if the addition of ‘free’ is not working, remove it and see whether that action is helping or not?
Therefore, all we can say is that these steps are just a way to start, after that it is up to you what to do next. Certainly, no one knows what actually happens in your account, right? So, take them as test cases and act accordingly on the basis of results. Higher CTR means you keep the changes, and a decline means that you need to do something about it – remove the changes, but remember you need to keep trying new things!
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