It’s safe to say that writing ad copy for Google can often seem like a minefield. What goes where? What should you include in the copy? Is there a special technique to it? All these questions whizz around your head and can leave you extremely confused.

But that’s where we come in. Writing for Google ads isn’t nearly as complicated as you initially think it to be. Actually, it’s pretty straight forward (if we do say so ourselves). This blog post will keep you up to speed with the different tips and tricks you should be using to write your Google ads. But don’t worry, we’re always here to give you more guidance if needed! 

What are PPC ads?

Before we start, we’ll give you a quick rundown of what PPC ads actually are! Have you ever seen an ad that features the exact thing you had been searching for? It’s spooky, right? Before you start dusting off your tinfoil hat and start panicking that government agents live inside your computer, let us explain. 

They’re called PPC ads (Pay Per Click if you’re unfamiliar with what that means), and they help promote businesses, sell products or services, raise awareness, increase traffic to websites and so on! They’re a form of online advertising that allows your business to appear above the organic search results on Google. If you look carefully, you’ll see a small “AD” symbol next to them on the search results.

It requires bidding on keywords or specific terms that your audience is interested in or searching for. From there, every time someone clicks on your ad, you pay for each click. In the world of eCommerce, the overall aim is to have those link clicks translate to conversions. If you want to learn more about bidding for your business, head over to our previous blog post!

The structure of Google ads:

If you’re entirely new to the world of PPC, it’s important to get the structure of your ads right. The major components of a Google text ad are headlines, descriptions and a display URL. Here’s a little breakdown of what they all do;

• Headlines – These are the most important part of your ad because they’re probably the first thing you’ll notice. Headlines are usually bigger in terms of font size than the rest of the ad and are there to tell the audience the name of your brand, what your business does, or to outline the product and/ or service you’re offering.
• Description lines – These are structured in two lines, they give more information about what you’re offering and encourage the customer to visit your website. These are often the best places to include any keywords you might have!
   
• Final URL – This is the page that any visitors will land on whenever they click on your ad. It’s crucial to make sure that the final URL is relevant to your ad! If your ad is about summer dresses, but the link takes you to a page for winter coats, the ad itself becomes very irrelevant, so watch out for this!

Now you know the basics, let’s get started! 

Use all of your space

Unlike writing ads for paid social, Google is a good old stickler for a word count. Google ads consist of three headlines; each has a character count of 30 – so be extra careful not to go over this. The first headline should always be your brand name! The other headlines you can use to promote USP’s (unique selling point), a keyword and a call to action.

There is a lot more leeway with the two descriptions, and you’ll be given a character count of 90 per description. When it comes to making the most of your space, remember to have your description character count no less than 80! The closer you can get it to the 90 mark, the better; it makes the ad more effective when appealing to customers. 

Keep it interesting and genuine

Having a few clickbait hacks in your copy might help with your click-through rate, but keep in mind that any copy you include should be 100% genuine. Using false information will get you absolutely nowhere, so make sure your landing page can back up any copy you have! 

Using catchy headlines is a quickfire way to engage your audience. It’s crucial to make sure that all of your headlines are unique, clickable and problem-solving! The best practice to write a catchy headline is to use your keyword and a USP together, for example;

H2: Cruelty-Free, Vegan Soap

H3: Free UK Shipping On All Orders

Want to know more about how to use clickbait for good? Read our blog post here.

Focus on spelling and grammar

We’re all human, and we all make mistakes, but when writing Google ads, spell check will become your best friend (no exaggeration). If your ad is based on keywords and happens to have a typo in there, your ad won’t be effective. Practice makes perfect but to be on the safe side, pop your text into a spell check before the ads go live!

Another little grammar hack for your ads is to write in title case, Just Like This. It’ll make your ad standout out a lot more against other ads and looks more professional and tidy! If your text ad has weird spacing, grammar or unusual punctuation, your ad could even be violating Google’s policies. To avoid this, take a few moments to catch yourself up to speed with their policies! 

Include all of your keywords

One of the most important aspects of Google Ads is the keywords you’re using. If you’re a fashion brand and your copy has no keywords related to fashion, you won’t get great results. When it comes to including keywords, it’s pretty straight forward!

A simple way to understand keywords in relation to PPC is to imagine you’re in a shoe shop. For example, you might ask the shop assistant for a really specific shoe, such as a polka-dot trainer with rainbow laces (very rogue shoe choice, we know, but go with it). 

If the shop assistant then shouts, “come and get your shoe”, yes you asked for a pair, but it’s not clear straight away if it’s yours or someone else’s they are referring to. That’s where keywords come into place; they add in the specifics and help your audience decipher what it is they’re specifically looking for.

However, it’s all about striking a balance. Writing an ad where you cram in as many keywords as possible won’t work at all. For the most part, it’ll sound very robotic and probably perform as bad as an ad that has no keywords. 

Use a solid call to action

In all aspects of marketing, including a strong call to action will drive more link clicks because it attracts more attention from potential customers. In a study by Wordstream, it was found that in Google text ads, the best performing ones featured the words “Buy”, “Get”, and “Shop”. 

They also found that the most-used ads were “Your”, “Free”, and “Now”, which suggests that the top-performing brands are eCommerce. If your business is based online, this is definitely something to consider when writing your ads!