SEM Intermediate Series: Testing Ad Copy to Determine the Highest Performers

This is the 5^th post in the SEM Intermediate Series, a collection of posts intended for search engine marketing professionals looking for guidance in monitoring and adjusting the key performance indicators (KPIs) that determine the success of a PPC campaign.  This series is a continuation of the SEM Beginner Series.

One of the most important factors that go into a successful search engine marketing (SEM) campaign is the ad copy.  Much like an impressive resume will help job seekers land an interview, specific, eye-catching copy with a high keyword-to-ad relevance will help advertisers earn clicks.  Your campaign's potential for bringing in new business is dependent not only on the keywords you choose, but the words you choose to communicate the value that clicking on your ad will have for a user.  But once you have your ads in place, how do you gauge the effectiveness of each?  That's where ad copy testing comes in.

Step 1: Decide What to Test

In order to make effective comparisons across different variations of ad copy, you first need to determine what types of ads you want to test.  Are you wondering if offers of free shipping are getting more traffic than those that specify discounts?  Do you want to see whether brand terms are bringing in more clicks than non-brand terms?  Determining what questions you want answered by ad copy testing is the crucial first step so you can set up your ads in a way that will show you the data that will answer these questions.

Step 2: Write Your Ads

Once you know what it is you want to test, start creating your ads with specific, relevant calls-to-action that will entice a user to click on your ad.  If you're testing ads with brand terms, make sure that brand is displayed prominently in your title.  If you're promoting a discount, have the percentage or dollars off listed somewhere in your ad copy. By comparing different strategies across the same set of keywords, you can start learning which ads are bringing in the most clicks. For more specific guidance on writing effective ad copy, visit the "Ad Copy Best Practice" tag list.

Step 3: Start the Test

• Start a new ad group from scratch so that existing performance history does not impact ad delivery
• Create several ads that are in line with the data you want to see (brand, discounts, etc.), make each ad unique
• Upload a proven keyword list; you want enough traffic volume so that one ad begins to differentiate itself as the highest performer
• Review your adCenter reports each month for ad delivery metrics to determine which ads are bringing in the most clicks 

In addition to testing for how different types of ads effect the number of clicks you're getting, you can also test for specific differences in ad creative. For example, set up two identical sets of ad copy, but have different display URLs for each: one that displays the main home page address, and one that has a specific extention, e.g. www.alpineskihouse.com v.s. www.alpineskihouse.com/rates.  Testing small details like this may seem unnecessary, but you’d be surprised how CTR may differ between the two ads.

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