Any successful advertising campaign is based on a solid strategy. However, without thorough testing of your ad copy you could be missing opportunities to grab the attention of potential customers and encourage them to convert.

The only thing standing between a potential customer and your website is your ad. It’s your job to write compelling ad copy that shows relevance to their search query and makes them want to click through and convert.

Here are the 3 most common ad copy mistakes advertisers make:

Misusing Headlines

Your ad headlines are the best way to highlight your best USPs but bear in mind that characters are limited. Don’t make the common mistake of duplicating information here, such as putting your domain name or business name at the start of the headline. The user can already see your domain name in the display URL field, save your headline for something more valuable.

Keyword Stuffing

Whilst it is important that your main keywords occur in your ads, make sure you aren’t overusing them and keyword stuffing in an attempt to manipulate the search engines. Keywords should only be mentioned multiple times if it makes sense to do so in context. Writing for humans first is the best way forward, as it’s humans that will be deciding whether or not to click on your ads.

Inconsistency

To get the most out of the keywords you are paying for, ensure that your entire process is optimised for them to increase your quality score. For example, if the target keyword for your ad is “battery powered icicle lights” then you should be bidding on that term, optimising your ad for that term and the landing page of your ad should be optimised for that term. Before setting your campaigns live, ensure that none of your ads are directed to your homepage as this is bad practise.