Targeting Clickthroughs and Conversion Rates with Search Ads

Targeting Clickthroughs and Conversion Rates with Search Ads

When optimizing your paid ads to target specific keywords, we recommend including the appropriate keyword(s) in the following context:

Ad Title
The title of your ad will be the first thing users see – it must draw the user into the ad to encourage a read of the ad content. Ad titles that contain the exact text that a user searched for is far more likely to get a click. Thus, it's wise to create ads with as much specificity as possible. Although many ad programs will let you create one ad targeting many different
Ad Copy
Employing your targeted keywords in your ad copy results in higher click-through-rates. Don't stuff the keywords in needlessly, though – use them in an intelligently-written fashion in well-crafted copy for best results.
URL
Search marketing programs allow you to use a display URL that differs from the actual URL the link refers to. Use this as an opportunity to craft a short, user-friendly, and keyword-laden URL.
Click-Through Rate (CTR)
In Google Adwords (and Yahoo! Search Marketing), click-through rate heavily influences your ad's position, the price you pay and your propensity to be displayed in the results. All of the factors mentioned above, along with creativity and rigid testing can help you to drive up your ad's CTR.
Landing Page Quality
Google (and perhaps Yahoo!) is using landing page quality to approve/deny ads, measure how relevant landing page is and determine price and position of ads in their search results. Keywords used, quality of site design, relevance to the topic and user experience all figure into this somewhat subjective and secretive scoring mechanism.
Conversion Rate
Google, Yahoo and MSN all offer integrated analytics to track conversions. When you set up a PPC account, you insert code from the service onto the page and it will track the unique “actions” (i.e. an “add to cart,” form submission or signup). Higher conversion rates, like landing page quality, will influence cost per click prices, placement in the results and how often your ad is displayed.