Generating Sales: Writing Effective Ads
- Include your keywords in your ads
- Include pricing information
- Stand out from the competition
- Match the tone to the product
- Top five things to avoid
- Ad testing
Include your keywords in your ads
To make this easy for you, Yahoo! Search Marketing offers the Insert Keyword feature. This feature can enable you to save time and help increase the relevance and click-through rate of your ads by using the keyword token to dynamically insert the keyword that matches a searcher's query into your ad's title and/or description when it is displayed. Learn more about 'Insert Keyword'.
Example listing for keyword: diamond ring
| Good Ad | Bad Ad |
|---|---|
|
Buy Diamond Rings Online - 5% Discount Quality diamond rings starting at $299. 5% discount for online orders. www.url.com |
Buy Jewelry Online Diamonds, necklaces and bracelets. Check out our huge selection today. www.url.com |
Why is it good? | Why is it bad? |
|
|
Example listing for keyword: cell phone
| Good Ad | Bad Ad |
|---|---|
|
Cell Phones Starting at One Dollar New and used cellular phones. We’ll match competitors’ prices. www.url.com |
Buy Cell Phones Online Best prices on cell phones. Check out our selection and order today. www.url.com |
Why is it good? | Why is it bad? |
|
|
Stand out from the competition
Example listing for keyword: books
| Good Ad | Bad Ad |
|---|---|
|
Buy Your Book Today – Read it Tomorrow 24-hour delivery on all books in stock from bestsellers to classics. www.url.com |
Online Book Store Science fiction, romance and more books in hard cover and paperback. www.url.com |
Why is it good? | Why is it bad? |
|
|
Example listing for keyword: perfume
| Keyword: Perfume | Keyword: 21 inch rims |
|---|---|
|
Enchant with a 25% Savings Perfume Indulge your senses with exotic scents. 25% less than boutique prices. www.url.com |
Ride in Style with Custom Rims Stylish 19-24 inch aluminum rims from. Multi-part and spinners are available. www.url.com |
These ads are effective because:
- The tone of the ad matches the product category.
- Word choice enhances the impact of the ad.
- Superlatives (“best,” “lowest,” “hottest”) and exaggerated language. It comes across as less trustworthy than clear, factual language.
- Inaccurate claims.If you get users to your site under false pretenses, they will be annoyed and will lose confidence in your business.
- Language and product presentation that are too “salesy.”
- Ampersands (&) and numbers in place of words (“buy 2 get 1 free”). They look junky.
- Titles and descriptions that are too generic. Even if it’s tempting to have one creative per thousand keywords, the listing will:
- be perceived as less relevant
- experience a lower click-through rate
- yield fewer conversions
Within an ad group, you can test multiple versions of your ad to determine which message works best. The various versions of your ad will be randomly displayed in the Sponsored Search results for the keywords in the ad group. The test will generate a quality index score that reveals which ad generates the highest response.
The example below shows three ads to test for one ad group, which contains several related keywords.
Version 1: Shows price advantage based on discount
Ad Group: 'DigiCams'
Keywords:
- Digital Camera
- Digicam
- Digital SLR
- Digi SLR
- SLR 8 MegaPixel
| Ad Copy to be Tested | Point of Differentiation |
|---|---|
|
5% Discount on Online Digicam Purchase Electronics-planet offers great prices for the top brands and models. www.electronics-planet.com |
Focus on price advantage, based on discount |
|
Buy a Digital SLR and Become a Pro With a digital SLR camera, your photos will look professional. www.electronics-planet.com |
Focuses on quality and product advantage |
|
Digital SLRs Starting at $479 6 Megapixel for $699, 8 Megapixel for $999. Great deals on top models. www.electronics-planet.com |
Focuses on the price advantage by stating actual prices per specific product |
It’s important to make sure the ads you test remain relevant to all the keywords in an ad group. Therefore, we suggest you set up ad groups that share key similarities, such as product type and shipping options.
Learn more about ad groups and ad testing.