Google AdWords™ for Dummies®, 2nd Edition

Chapter 6. Writing Magnetic Ads

In This Chapter

• Understanding the three goals of your ad

• Making your ad stand out

• Telling your story in four lines

• Connecting the ad to your keyword

• Compelling — and selectively discouraging — action

• Using image, mobile text, local, and video ads

This sentence contains the same number of characters — 130, including spaces — that Google allows you in an ad.

You get four lines of 25, 35, 35, and 35 characters to tell enough of your story to compel the right people to choose your ad over all the other ads and organic listings on the Google search page. If you're advertising on the content network, your ad is competing with articles, videos, games, and more. I've heard professional copywriters say that the Google ad is the most challenging form of salesmanship-in-print they've ever attempted.

Depressed? Don't be. Writing effective ads is hard for everyone, not just you. Spend some time preparing, practicing, and (especially) testing your ads, and you'll quickly rise to the top of your industry. As business philosopher Jim Rohn says, "Don't wish it were easier — wish you were better."

This chapter helps you stop wishing and start improving. First, I explain the three-pronged goal of your ad. Most advertisers focus on one prong only, to their detriment. You discover how to balance the first two goals for maximum profits by bringing in the right kind of traffic (not just the maximum possible traffic), and how to reach the third goal of setting visitor expectations ...