Advertising your business online is a great way to gain exposure, build your reputation, and of course, generate leads and sales. There are many avenues of marketing your business on the Internet, including social media, SEO, and more. Advertisements, whether through Google AdWords or other methods, are one of the most effective ways of finding and attracting new customers. But how do you make sure these ads are doing their job?
Analytics for your advertisements measure a few different pieces of information, but by far the most significant for you as a business is the Click Through Rate, or CTR. Your CTR is a ratio which shows the percentage of clicks your ad receives against its impressions (how many times the ad is seen). Improving your click through rate is VITAL to getting you real results. But how do you do this?
Here are 6 simple strategies for improving your CTR today.
1. Consider giveaways and discounts.
One time-tested method for increasing an ad’s click through rate is through the enticement of a discount or a free item. Particularly for a new, unknown business, offering a discount to customers can be a great incentive for new business. Who doesn’t want to get something at a great price?
2. Use highly-focused, well-targeted keywords.
General keywords relevant to your products and services will often bring you lots of impressions. But impressions are worthless if they don’t yield a click. Your click through rate will then decrease as a result. This is bad news for your AdWords campaign, because its quality rating will lower and Google will stop displaying your ad as often. Make sure to avoid general keywords, and instead utilise unique, location-based, and long tail keywords that suit your business.
3. Put a keywords in your display URL.
On a Google AdWords campaign, keywords can make a big difference for CTR in more than just the text of your ad. It is easy to forget about adding keywords to the display URL, and only including your basic website address, but this can help ensure your ad is shown in more relevant searches, ideally improving the CTR significantly.
4. Use negative keywords.
One of the best ways to increase your click through rate in ads is to incorporate negative keywords. Negative keywords are those that a web user might include in a search for which you do not want your ad to show up. For example, if you are selling children’s clothing, you will want to use negative keywords that don’t relate to your products. If someone searches for women’s clothing in your region, a negative keyword you might consider would be “women’s.” If your ad showed up in their search result via the term “clothing”, you’d get an impression, but since the user is not searching for clothes for children, you will not get a click. Negative keywords help finely tailor your ads for the right customers.
5. Great images and great content.
For ads that include images and/or copy, be sure that these things are appealing to the eye, well-thought out, and use proven marketing techniques. If you only have a moment to grab the attention of your potential customer, you need to make the most of it. Images used should be professional, colourful, and relevant. Copy should be simple to understand, direct, and leave them wanting more. The result? An increased CTR.
6. Test different ads.
The best way to find out what is most effective when it comes to ads and click through rate is to test several incarnations of your ad. Choose different copy, distinct approaches, or even utilise different negative keywords. Consider trying a discount, or not mentioning price at all. As you track the progress of each of these ads, you can see which one is performing the best and generating the highest CTR. Once you’ve seen what works, capitalise on that and use it to your advantage.
