Google makes it really easy for anybody to create an ad in seconds and start getting clicks really quickly; however, that doesn’t mean your ad will be profitable.

In this post, I’m going to share some tips on how to write a great Google ad.

Let’s start by talking about why you want a great ad in the first place.

1) More traffic. If you write a great ad, more people will click it, and you’ll get more traffic.

2) Cheaper traffic. If your ad gets clicked more often than your competitors’ ads, you’ll enjoy a lower cost-per-click (CPC). That creates a virtuous cycle, where you can afford to buy even more traffic. That’s one of the steps to dominating your market.

3) Better qualified traffic. A really great ad not only attracts a lot of clicks, but attracts the RIGHT clicks. Since you’re paying per-click, you don’t want to waste money on the wrong prospects. Great ads pre-qualify your visitors, so they’re more likely to buy.

What do I mean by a great ad? I’m defining a great Google ad as one that compels highly-qualified prospects to click your ad more often than your competitors’ ads.

Here’s how I go about creating Google ads…

Imagine The Conversation

I recommend you think of advertising is like a conversation between yourself and your prospect. This concept comes from ad man Robert Collier, who wrote that advertising should “enter the conversation already taking place within your prospect’s mind.”

So what’s the conversation already taking place with your prospect? Well, when your prospect searches a keyword, she is asking a question. Your ad is then responding to that question, essentially saying, “Here’s how I can help you with that,” or “Here’s why I’m the best choice.”

Also, in terms of style, I recommend you keep your ad copy conversational, using the words that your prospects can easily understand. Otherwise, you’ll sacrifice clarity. And people can’t buy your products if they first don’t understand what you’re selling.

What’s The Big Idea?

Google gives you a limited number of characters to work with — 25 characters for the headline, and 35 for each of the description lines — so you need to choose your words very carefully.

Again, I’m stressing the importance of clarity. You may have several selling points you’d like to cram into your ad, but resist the temptation to squeeze it all in. Instead, focus your ad around 1 big idea.

Your big idea may be the big benefit your product or service provides, or it may be the 1 big thing that differentiates you from your competitors.

Writing Your Ad

When possible, match the keyword in the headline. This will typically improve your click through rate.

Use the next two lines to communicate your big idea. And if possible, urge your prospect to take some sort of action.

Here’s An Example

We recently launched an ad campaign in Google for our local search engine optimization (SEO) course, The Local SEO Formula.

This product is unique in the market place because it’s a do-it-yourself course, while almost every other advertiser  is offering done-for-you SEO services. The big idea I’m communicating in the ad is that business owners can save money by doing it themselves.

Here’s an example of an ad that we’re running right now:

Local SEO: Do-It-Yourself
Don’t Hire an SEO Company!
Do It Yourself & Save – Here’s How
www.TheLocalSEOFormula.com

By making “do-it-yourself” the focus of the ad, we are also qualifying our traffic. We’re specifically attracting people who are interested in doing it themselves, rather than hiring an SEO company. And as a result, we’re achieving strong conversion rates once people click through to our landing page.

Here’s What To Do Now

1. Brainstorm Selling Points

Make a list of all of your potential selling points that you could use as the big idea for your ad.

2. Have a Conversation

Have a conversation with someone who fits your target customer profile.  Ask them what  they consider to be the most important or persuasive selling point(s).

3. Study Your Competition

Do some Google searches and see what selling points your competitors are using in their ads. How can you differentiate?

4. Draft Some Ads

Remember the character limitations (headline = 25, description lines = 35). I like to draft ads in Microsoft Excel, so I can clearly see how many characters I’m dealing with (by using the LEN= command to count characters).

5. Test

The only real answer is to test it. If you test a few big ideas against each other, you’ll soon enough find the winner. Then, dive deeper, and test different variations of the big.

Good luck with your ad campaign!

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to post them below and we’ll do our best to help you out…