Click Through Rate (CTR) is a vital metric for any Google AdWords campaign – not only will it improve your adverts’ performance and lower advertising costs, it will also bring more visitors to your website ready for you to convert into paying customers.
Optimising your average CTR will improve your overall performance within AdWords, because Google will recognise that your adverts are more relevant – even if your competitor is paying more per click than you are.
For example: your business is bidding £2 on the keyword “business support service” but your competitor is bidding £5 per click for the same keyword.
If Google shows these adverts to visitors who have searched for that keyword phrase a total of 15 times, and your competitor’s advert gets 1 click but your advert gets 6 clicks, Google will show your adverts above your competitor’s even though you’re bidding a lower amount per click because Google only gets paid per click.
How can you increase clickthrough rate in Google AdWords so that your adverts are at the top of search results?
Step 1: Research Your Competitors’ Adverts
Tools such as SEMrush allow you to research the businesses in your niche who are bidding on Google Adwords. Look at the copy they are using. The adverts closest to the top of the results will have the highest CTRs, so those are the ones to focus on. Using your own copy, see if you can create a better version of the top-performing adverts.
Step 2: Use Relevant Keywords in Your Ad Copy and URL
Make sure that your advert copy contains the search queries that your ideal customer might be entering into Google. If the ad copy matches their search query, it demonstrates relevance and they are much more likely to click through to your website. Edit your display URL so that it features the main keyword for that ad group.
Step 3: Schedule Your Adverts
Ensure that you have set up an advert schedule so your adverts are only running when your target audience is online. An example of this is if you’re in the B2B niche – you could be wasting money if you advertise outside of office hours. However, if you’re in the new baby niche, sleep-deprived parents may be searching for sleep aids at 3am in the morning so having adverts running would be beneficial.
Step 4: Target Your Adverts by Location
You don’t want to show everyone your adverts if you have a business that is geographically limited. If you run a coffee shop in Worthing, you don’t want your adverts to be shown to people searching for a coffee shop in Portsmouth.
Step 5: Use Advert Extensions to Increase Your Visibility
There are a number of extensions in Google AdWords that will give you more “search engine real estate” – i.e. your advert takes up more space in the search engine results. Adding things like callout and structured snippet extensions are very easy for most businesses. If you have a customer services team, you can add a call extension. Review extensions enable you to leverage any positive press or good reviews you have, and there is some anecdotal evidence that indicates the review extension will increase clicks by up to 65%.
Step 5: Use Title Case and Symbols for Your Headlines
Small edits to the way your adverts appear can make a big difference to your CTR, and using title case for your headlines is one of those edits. You can split-test this to see if it has an impact on your adverts before rolling it out across your entire account. Similarly, using symbols such as @&% has been known to improve CTR.
Step 6: Use a Call to Action
Ask visitors to do something and increase your chances of them clicking through. Using words like “Sign up”, “Find out more here” and “Join for free” will encourage visitors to take action and click on your advert.
Paid search advertising is a great way to grow your customer base and expand your reach. Working with a specialist company such as Broadplace to optimise your adverts and to get as much out of your Google AdWords account as possible will give you the best chance at success.
