Aside from working on SEO and having your website appear as early as possible in organic search engine results, there’s always AdWords. This product of Google allows for your ad to appear alongside organic search engine results (often at the right-hand side). AdWords ads can become invaluable, as many Internet readers often resist going to even the second page of organic search results.
Before you write out your ad, however, take a look at the following tips to maximize its effectiveness:
- Ad space is precious, so try to drop as many “filler” words, like “an” and “the,” as possible.
- Use important keywords in the ad. Google will automatically highlight those target keywords, and it will make your ad more conspicuous.
- Put brackets (”[ ]“) around the keywords so that the ad only appears when those keywords are searched. This is ideal if you do not want your ad to show up for only partial matches in target keywords.
- Create a landing page that is linked to the ad. Linking to the homepage may not be the most useful page for a reader with a specific interest. Cater to that interest by designing an ad hoc page.
- Sell! Just like with a traditional marketing ad, use powerful, vibrant language to get attention, and sell a great benefit or unique quality. “Free shipping” or “40% below retail value” are great examples.
- Track your both your ads’ return of investment. That’s right: both. By testing two ads at the same time, you can look and see what works and what doesn’t. Look at how many click-throughs you get. Always choose the stronger ad to live on, while creating another rival ad for experimentation. This process will allow you to continually refine the quality of your ads.
Remember, Google receives the king’s share of search engine action on the internet. Working on SEO, while rewarding, often takes a long time before you see results. Advertising with Google is an excellent way to quickly develop a strong presence on the web.
