Writing Successful Text Ads

Where do Text Ads appear?

When you create your ad, you specify a set of keywords. These are the searches that will trigger the display of your ad. When users search using the words or phrases you specify, your text ads can appear alongside or above search results.

Search ads can show in two places:

Google search results page: Ads can appear above or below search results on the Google Search Results Page. They can also appear beside, above, or below search results on Google Play, the Shopping tab and Google Maps, including the Maps app.

Google search partners: Ads can appear next to the search results on Google search partners. These are sites which use Google to power their search functionality.

Anatomy of a text ad

An Google ads text ad consists of several elements:

• Headlines
• Description
• Display URLs
• Ad extensions

Headlines

The headline is in a bigger font is the most salient part of your text ad and should clearly state the product or service you are offering.

It is your ad’s first impression on potential customers, so include the keywords people may have entered in their Google search that triggered your ad. It should clearly state the product or service that you are offering. Your text ad consists of three headlines of up to 30 characters each. When displayed together, the headlines are separated by a vertical pipe (‘|’). The headlines may show differently based on the device that someone uses when viewing your ad.

Descriptions

The two description fields should give details about your product or service. It is best practice to include a call to action, i.e. the action you want your customer to take. For example, if you are an online television shop, your description might include ‘Shop Now’ or ‘Buy Televisions Now’

Final URL

The Final URL is the page on your site where users will land after clicking your ad. This is known as the landing page. The Landing Page should be highly relevant page to the users search.

Display URL

The display URL, shows your website address. It comprises of the final URL domain and the two ‘Path’ fields. These fields help people who see your ad understand where they will be taken when they click it. Your path text does not have to exactly match your display URL.

Length Limits

Each of the elements of your text ad have length limits measured by character count. Please note that character counts include spaces:

• Headline 1: 30 characters
• Headline 2: 30 characters
• Headline 3: 30 characters
• Description 1: 90 characters
• Description 2: 90 characters
• Path (2): 15 characters each

Best practice for writing text ads

To effectively reach potential customers, your text ads should be specific, relevant, attractive and include calls to action. Your should:

Highlight your Unique Selling Points (USPs)

Clearly state the products, services or offers that make you competitive.

Include prices, promotions and exclusives

People often use Google search to help them make a decision. You should therefore give them as much information as possible to help them decide. For example, if you highlight if you have a limited-time discount or stock an exclusive product.

Calls to action

Calls to action like purchase, call today, order, shop now, sign up or get a quote encourage customers to visit your site and take that action

Include keywords

Keywords in your ad text demonstrate your ad’s relevance to what people are search for. For example, if you have included televisions as a keyword, your ad headline could be ‘Buy Televisions’.

Match your ad to your landing page

The ad’s message should reflect the offer available on the landing page. Visitors will not convert if they do not find what they expect. For example, prices on the ad and the landing page should match.

Consider mobile customers

People viewing your ads on a mobile device are more likely to want to know your location or to call. You can increase click through by showing your location and phone number. Also, consider creating ads targeted to searches on mobile devices, with offers suited to a mobile audience.

Experiment

It is best practice to create three to four ads for each ad group, and use different content for each to discover which performs best. Google Ads automatically rotates ads to show the best-performing ads more frequently.

Meet editorial standards

Google has certain editorial standards to ensure that ads are of high quality and do not mislead customers. For example, avoid no extra spaces, unusual CaPiTaLiSaTiON or unclear URLs or excessive punctuation.