Simple Adwords Strategies to Boost your CTR

August 2, 2015

When Google Adwords shows you how successful your Adwords campaign is, the software provides you with a click-through rate (CTR). This is the number of people who clicked your ad after seeing it, and it’s determined by taking the number of times the ad was displayed and dividing it by the number of people who actually clicked on the ad.

Your CTR is like a thermometer; it tells you how hot your campaign is. If your CTR is high, then your keywords are putting your ad in front of the right people, who are clicking through. If not, then it may be time to readjust your CTR strategy and target all new keywords through Google Adwords. When your keywords are popular, match your ad and are relevant to your business, you can expect that your CTR will be hot for sure.

Need some help improving your CTR? Check out these simple Adwords strategies to boost your CTR and get your ad to the right people.

Constant A/B Split Testing

Let’s say you have two great ads for the same ad group. You can’t decide which one is better, so why not let consumers decide? To gauge the success of an ad and see what people respond best to, sometimes it’s best to let the people decide. This is called A/B split testing.

Now take both ads and run them simultaneously for the same keyword. Google will handle rotating the ads, so you don’t have to do anything further with that. After a few days, check your ads to see which one is getting more clicks and attracting more leads. Remove the other ad and let the more successful one take the lead.

This is a great strategy is you have two ads you can’t decide between, but if you keep up with it, you’ll always be improving your campaigns. Once you determine the more successful ad, create another ad and run it against the successful one in the same ad group. Repeat the process and keep improving your strategy so you’re always aware of what your audience finds engaging and attractive.

‘Tis the Season

Never underestimate the value of seasonal tie-ins. If your ads are in line with upcoming holidays or events, then you’re likely to attract attention. Pay attention to world events happening, such as the Olympics or the World Cup, as well we movements within your industry to bring a new level of relevancy to your ads.

Holidays are easy enough to include in ads, but you should also be aware of any industry-related “holidays” that may be happening. These are yearly events or well-known dates in an industry that require certain action. For example, a financial firm may target ads around tax season to encourage small businesses to get help with their taxes, or they may advertise after tax season to get new businesses who just went through a rough season to stay on target throughout the year.

You can also create ads centered in an upcoming event in your industry, such as a trade show. If a higher education institute is planning on hosting an information session, the event might be just the encouragement needed to click on the ad.

Take Advantage of Negative Keywords

To create a more successful campaign, you have to ensure that your ad is going to people who are actively searching for your services. It’s not helpful if an ad for a higher education institution appears to someone who is finished with education overall. Even if they click the ad, what would be the point of marketing to them? Again, these are people who have no use and do not want your service.

Adopting negative keywords can help you stop uninterested searchers from seeing your ad and wasting your money. These keywords tell Google which searches your ads should not appear in at all. In the case of a marketer at a higher education institution, certain keywords such as “free beauty therapy classes” might want to be blocked so users looking for free classes don’t get the wrong impression about the institution.

You can search for negative keywords using the Adwords Keyword Planner to help you gauge the success of similar keywords to the keywords you really want to tackle. If you are targeted “beauty therapy courses Melbourne,” you might want to exclude “beauty therapy courses Perth” or “worst beauty therapy courses” from targeting your ad. Adwords will ensure that your ad does not come up with either search team.

Boldly Ask a Question

Sometimes if you want to build your CTR, you have to ask your audience directly. Using a question in an ad creates suspense and can be enticing enough to encourage others to click on the ad.

The best question ad campaigns ask something that basically everyone in your target group wants. For example, those looking to go back to school or take more courses are probably looking to make more money in the long run. It may not be the primary objective, but it certainly matters regardless. Therefore, your ad might ask, “Want to make 2x more money in your lifetime?”. A financial firm might ask small business owners, “Want to avoid an audit this tax season?”

Playing to these needs can improve click-through rates and get people to click through to your landing page. From there, it should be easy enough to fill out a sign-up form for more information.

This strategy works well when pairs with the negative keyword option. The negative keyword strategy reins in your ad’s appearance and assures that the ad only goes to certain keyword searches. Your question will then be more finely tuned to the type of question that those keyword searches are already asking themselves.

 

Remember, a high CTR does not always equal higher sales. Don’t spend all your time focusing on your CTR and Adwords click costs. After landing, the leads you get, concentrate your efforts on nurturing those leads and guide them down the sales funnel. With a little nurturing, you could see those leads turn into valuable and loyal customers.