Are you constantly testing your PPC ad text?  If you answered no to this question – why not?  Testing your ad text should be done 24/7 – 365 days a year.  There are no excuses, whether your campaigns are very sophisticated or easier to manage, testing is something that can be done all the time with all types of accounts.  The duration of tests will depend on the complexity of the account and the amount of traffic the campaign receives, however the knowledge you attain from testing your ad text can make the different between a positive and negative ROI.  And what is more important to a brands reputation than being successful and having an positive ROI?

The insights you gain from ad text testing are important and will help you optimize your account ongoing to have a better understanding of your audience.  Testing your ad text can tell you: what your customers like or don’t like, what they respond well to and what entices them to make a purchase or complete a lead; the ultimate goal of PPC advertising, getting your target audience to convert.  If you’re convinced you need to be doing more with your PPC ad text, but are unsure where to start, then keep reading for some ideas to get yourself going.

Ad Text Testing 101

The simplest form of ad text testing is A/B testing, swapping out a different headline, call to action, or even one word.  When you are doing this ensure your ads are set to rotate evenly, Google AdWords by default sets ad rotation to “optimize”, serving the ad with the highest click-through-rate more frequently.  To change this, go into your campaign settings under Ad Delivery and choose the rotate option.

Below are 5 ideas on what to test in your ad text, but remember don’t get carried away and forget to include your target keywords.

Sample Test Ideas

1. Call to Action

• Learn More vs. Visit us Today
• Free SEO Whitepaper vs. Free SEO Guide
• Download Whitepaper vs. Get Whitepaper vs. Free Whitepaper
• Quote Now vs. Get a Quote Today vs. Fast & Easy Quotes
• Shop Today vs. Shop Now

2. Display URL

• www.site.com vs. site.com
• site.com/Keyword vs. Keyword.site.com

3. Entice Clicks with Keywords, or a Brand?

• Your brand in the headline vs. keywords only
• Exclusive vs. New vs. Free vs. Arrival vs. Just In v. Official
• Seasonal keywords

4. Everyone Loves a Promotion

• Free Shipping vs. 25% Off
• Free Shipping vs. Free Shipping & Returns
• Up to 75% Off vs. Select Items 75% Off

5. Play with Formatting

• Capitalize Every Word vs. Only capitalize the first word in the sentence
• Use an exclamation mark! vs. Use a period.
• Brand Name vs. Brand Name®
• Ask a question? in the headline
• Using a comma, vs. Using a dash-
• One sentence per description line vs. One long sentence continuing through the last description line

If you’ve already done a lot of ad text testing and the above examples are old news, another great strategy is to look to your competitor’s ad creative.  What type of messaging are they using in ad text?  Look for consistency in their ads; if it is performing well, most likely they are going to continue to keep what converts.

Ad text testing is a process and should be done 24/7 – 365 days a year.  Test, get results and repeat.  Happy Testing!