6 tried and tested ways to improve your search ad-copies

Reading Time: 6 minutes

Search ads are a form of online advertising where ads are displayed alongside search engine results pages (SERPs) when someone searches using keywords relevant to the advertised products or services. The purpose of search ads is to drive more traffic to a website and increase brand awareness and conversions. Advertisers bid on keywords related to their products or services, and the highest bidder typically displays their ad at the top of the search results page. These ads are usually marked as ‘sponsored’ or ‘sponsored links’ to distinguish them from organic search results. 

Search ad copies are short written messages used in search engine advertising to attract potential customers to click on an advertisement. They typically include the main message or product/service benefit along with a CTA to encourage clicks. The copy is usually limited to a few lines, so it should be concise, attention-grabbing, and relevant to the target audience.

Here are 6 tried and tested ways to improve your search ad copies –

Non-Brand’s Responsive Search Ads

1. To improve the sequencing of ads

Observation:

1. In the above-mentioned references, the headlines & descriptions at the 1st, 2nd & 3rd positions are not connecting to each other. This creates a break between headline to headline & doesn’t convey a proper story.
2. Also, this may cause a repetition of the message i.e conveying the same message again & again. Whether it may be in the headline or in the description or both.

Recommendation:

The heading should not simply be a set of words. It should be written as a concise and understandable sentence. To do that we need to improve our sequencing of ads & make copies in the following way: 

1. While making RSA ads – to improve the sequencing of ads, group 14 headlines into 3 groups, each containing 4-5 headlines that convey a similar message. This way, any headline from one group can be paired with any headline from another group to form a coherent message when read in order. 
2. The same principle applies to RSA descriptions, which should be divided into 2 groups of 2 descriptions each, ensuring that any combination of descriptions from the same group forms a coherent message when read in order. 

2. Prepare the user in advance for the action we are expecting them to perform after clicking on the Ad :

Observation:

None of the headlines and descriptions have CTAs in them. This makes the user unprepared for the action he has to perform after landing on the website.

Recommendation:

1. Should add CTA at the end of the headlines & descriptions like the following:
   1. Sign-Up Now
   2. Book a 7-day Free trial now
   3. Buy Now
   4. Book Now
   5. Click to Sign Up
   6. Sign-up & enjoy a 7-day free trial
   7. First, try our 7-day free trial & then purchase if you like to
   8. Buy it only when you like it! Sign-up & enjoy a 7-day free trial
2. Adding some of the above as an ending note to the headlines & descriptions will help the user to give directions of action that he has to perform after entering the website.
3. Pin all the headlines & descriptions with these CTAs at the end, this would make the flow complete.   

3. A simple math trick to show all the 3 headlines every time on the search Ad

Observation:

Google ads show only three headlines sometimes and only two at other times in the search results. As you may be aware, each Google Ads headline has a character limit of 30 characters. If you type three 30-character headlines, Google will only display two of them.

Recommendation:

This is because Google only allows 60 characters space for showing headlines. To overcome this we need to make sure that the sum of the three headlines should be less than or equal to 60. Example: 19+22+18 equals 59. Hence, Google can show three headlines

4. Use Keywords in the Ad Text

Observation:

Most of the time, when searching with any particular keyword, despite our ad popping up there is no connecting keyword in the headline that helps people understand whether they are in the right place.

Recommendation:

1. Need to use keywords in the ad text. The ad text reflects what the user is looking for, and using keywords helps people understand whether they are in the right place.
2. Also, we shouldn’t copy-paste them on the headlines. An ad needs to contain maybe in between a sentence & should look like a meaningful phrase
3. To test how an ad works with different keywords to see which of them shows the highest performance.
4. Every ad should have the Keywords of the respective adgroup in which the ad is going to be used

5. Additional Recommendations

1. To increase the relevance of the Ad we must lower the CPC & increase the CTR, hence insert a word from the key phrase into the text whenever possible. Typically, this is the name of the category.
    For example, if your main key phrase is “Whatsapp API Integration”, you can say something like “WhatsApp API integration at fingertip” in the ad text.
2. Fill all the fields i.e headlines, description & all the extensions to the maximum. This applies to all Google ads – both in search and display networks. This way, the ad will occupy more space.
3. It’s possible to boost your RSA with emojis.
4. Focus on the actual service that you are helping to provide & help solve the user’s problem.
5. Show some Merits i.e
   1. Tell people about the industry and how trusted your brand is
   2. How many clients have you worked with
   3. If you have any awards to show, this helps build credibility
   4. The experience of years in the industry.
6. Search Extensions:

Sitelinks

Sitelinks are like the additional text and a link to sections of your site that assist you in supporting your main advertising message. They work like navigation on the site.

Observation:

1. All unique services have not popped up.

Recommendations:

1. Add CTA to the site links (Ex: Sign Up Now, Buy Now) & we shall direct them to the sign up/purchase page which will make it easier for the user to complete the action before even going to the website.
2. Also add CTA in the descriptions
3. Create headlines with legible sentences & meanings which make more sense & convey the exact meaning & landing page that site link is going to take to, conveying a story. 
4. Use site links to convey all the services that are available, all the USPs, and all the pricings.