When working with Google’s Call Only PPC ads, you need every advantage you can get. Although Call Only Ads generally have significantly higher conversion rates, their ad quality scores are generally lower than search ads. Lower ad quality scores are due in part to the limited real estate of Call Only ads versus conventional search ads which have more liberal character limits and ad extensions. There are currently 10 types of ad extensions in Google Adwords (see Figure 1). The good news is that you can use some of these extensions to boost Call Only campaign performance.
PPC Optimization
PPC Optimization: Early Warning
When testing new PPC ad copy, you can get an early warning on ad performance with the “phone calls” and “PTR” metrics. Using these metrics can give you an early indication of the performance of a text ad in call only campaigns. We’ll explore an actual example of using these metrics to optimize ad text copy.
PPC Optimization: Wordplay & Humor
Sometimes in advertising you need to think different(ly). In PPC advertising, standing out from the crowd is becoming more difficult as more advertisers join the fray. One way to stand out and attract short attention spans is to use wordplay and humor. We already covered strange attraction using unusual word or character combinations to boost performance. This time in our PPC optimization series we look at wordplay and humor.
PPC Optimization: Strange Attraction – ad text optimization boost performance
Continuing our series on PPC ad text optimization, we look again at minimizing the cost of PPC text ads. With apologies to the Cure, we look at using ad text that offers a strange attraction to viewers. Using letter and symbol combinations that attract the eye can both increase click-through rates and lower cost per click.
PPC Optimization: Abbreviate Ad Text – lower CPC & cost per conversion
In previous articles we’ve explored optimizing the conversion rate of call only text ads. Now we take another approach, minimizing the cost of PPC text ads. You can, of course, limit the cost-per-click (CPC) for particular campaigns, but set your CPC limit too low and Google will flag your campaign as “limited” by click budget. One approach we’ve found to be effective is abbreviating commonly used phrases. Abbreviation lets you squeeze in more text into a headline, or use shorter headlines.
PPC Optimization: Be Specific – use specific ad text boosts conversion rates
When optimizing PPC ad text be as specific as possible in your ad copy. Specific locations (i.e., city, state, airport), benefits (50% off, easy on/off, 1,500 patents) or services tend to get better conversion rates than broader phrases. One area ripe for optimization is the business name field. You can tweak the business name field to match the business name’s location with the ad campaign. In this case, we tried changing the business name from a broader “Michigan” phrase to a more specific “Ann Arbor” phrase.
PPC Optimization: Experiments in Punctuation – optimize conversion rates of adwords text ads
After you’ve tried different PPC ad text position and display URL expansion it’s time to tweak punctuation! Varying punctuation on winning ads can improve conversion rates. You need to be careful, however, when varying punctuation in your text ads. Google has strict guidelines on what it will accept, with the risk of having your ads disapproved in the offing.
PPC Optimization: Ad Text Position – optimizing ppc conversion rates
Our tests have shown that ad text optimization is the most effective means to optimize PPC conversion rates. One PPC ad optimization technique is to vary text position to find the optimum location. In this article we show how a simple change of text position within a PPC ad can have dramatic effects.
PPC Optimization: Display URL Expansion
Last time we explored optimizing your PPC campaign with gender targeting. We found that men tend to convert better than women for our example cosmetic dentist. In this article we’ll show how to optimize a Call Only campaign with Display URL optimization. You can expand the Display URL with keywords and calls to action to boost click-through and conversion rates. This article shows an example of display URL optimization.
PPC Optimization: Gender Targeting
Last time we explored optimizing your PPC campaign with age range targeting. We found that middle-aged people tended to convert better, for a particular client. In Google Adwords you can also target demographics by gender. Studies have shown that men and women tend to browse and shop differently on the Internet. Let’s look at how you can use differences in gender behavior to optimize bids to boost PPC conversion rates.