Click-Through-Rate (CTR) in Google AdWords is important not just as a benchmark for how well your ads are doing in terms of clicks and impressions, but it’s one factor that may gain you better positioning and lower cost per click prices, and is a component of Quality Score.
Here are 5 ways to improve your CTR:
1) Theme, Theme, Theme!
Keep your ad groups tightly themed.
Group like keywords into one ad group. For instance, if users are searching “Napa Valley Vacation” and “Napa Valley Lodging,” keep those terms and their “siblings” in two separate ad groups – vacation and lodging.
Write your ad(s) to include those specific terms in the copy.
The specific search terms will then be bolded in your ad in the search results, catching the user’s eye and helping to increase CTR.
2) Match Types & Negative Keywords
Choose your match type wisely.
Setting up a broad match term might work well for some keywords, and phrase or exact match for others. You may want to test these out and see what performs (and converts) best.
And don’t forget negative keywords for goodness sake!
Someone searching for a “rental Corolla” might be searching for a “car rental corolla,” not a Corolla, NC vacation rental, so make sure your match types are carefully chosen and negatives are implemented.
3) Utilize Sitelinks
Sitelinks have been shown to increase your overall CTR.
Refer to our March article, “Increase Your CTR with AdWords Sitelinks” for detailed information and data.
4) Test Ad Copy
Strong calls to action, a branded phrase, deals and specials are all valuable and should be included in your ads. But you won’t know what works best until you test a few ads in each ad group.
You might want to consider running both if they are doing well, since ad #1 may work for one user, and ad #2 may work better for another. Pause ads that are poor performers.
In your settings, you can also choose whether to show ads evenly, or optimize for clicks or conversions. If you are in the testing phase, set them to rotate evenly.
5) Show Value in Ad Copy
Make your user see VALUE. Running a 25% off special? Showcase it! Just make sure your landing page clearly shows that this is the real deal, and it’s not just a gimmick to get clicks on your ads.
Show the 25% off in your landing page copy and make it easy to find. Refer to point #4, even sometimes a great deal might not work well in ad copy.
Test it!
