11 Easy Ways To Improve AdWords CTR (Click Through Rate) Right Away

The Click Through Rate (CTR) of an AdWords ad is one of the most significant metrics that every advertiser should be working with. It’s completely fine if it’s not your KPI (Key Performance Indicator). However, it’s definitely one metric that lets you know whether your campaign optimization strategies are healthy enough and are headed in the right direction. Today, in this blog, I am going to tell you about 11 surefire ways to improve AdWords CTR right away. Let’s get started.

1. Avoid Using Broad Match Keywords: Broad match keywords trigger ads for several search terms which you may not be intending in the first place. For this reason, the relevance of your ads copies to the users’ actual search terms tends to suffer when you use more of broad match keywords. As a result, the first metric that gets adversely affected by this is your – Click Through Rate.

The intelligent approach is to make a balance of relevance and the target potential of a keyword. It’s better to use a combination of phrase and exact match or modified broad and exact match types of keywords together. It will help you to be relevant, save on irrelevant clicks, and write more targeted ad copies. The immediate result that you would get by it is an improved CTR.

2. Use Keywords In Ad Texts: When your ad contents have your most prominent keywords in them, the likelihood of them being clicked increases. Yes, it goes to the relevance of your ad copy with what the users are searching for.

Now, it does not mean you should be using keywords overwhelming everywhere in the ad copies. Overusing it will make ads look superfluous and it will affect the CTR badly. The right approach is to use it once in the headline and once in the description text if possible. If using the exact keyword is not possible in both the places, you can also make use of synonyms, it works.

3. Use Keywords In Display URL:  It is important to note that if your ads succeed in convincing the users that your landing pages as well are relevant to what people are looking for, your CTR dramatically improves.

Why? It goes to the psychology of the search. Take an example of the ads below:

Here, the CTR of the second ad would more likely be higher even if the average positions are almost the same. The use of the keyword in the display URL convinces the users that the landing page which this ad will land to is really relevant.

4. Use Symbols or Numbers In Ad Headlines When Possible: When you use symbols or numbers in the ad texts, it gives your ads a differential advantage over your competitors’ ads. It means it catches the attention more quickly and thus helps improve the CTR of your ads. Let’s take an example:

It’s obvious that the second and fourth ads would have a better CTR if everything else remains the same. The use of the number “14-day” in the second ad and the “™ Sign” in the fourth ad grabs attention faster and increases the chances of better CTR.

5. Make use of negative keywords: When you use negative keywords proactively, it keeps your search term report relevant. It means your ads trigger for relevant searches. And when there is better relevance, the CTR is bound to be higher.

6. Use Device Modifiers: You might sometimes have noticed that your ads get more exposure on mobile devices than on desktops by default. The reason is obvious that there are more search volumes in general on mobile devices than on desktop devices. However, it does not necessarily mean that the mobile devices will give you better performance or better CTR. By using device bid modifiers you can adjust your bids based on the performance and can have more control over how your ads trigger on different devices.

7. Start with a Question: When you start your ad with a question, it makes your ad stand out from others. If no one is using questions as the headlines, you can take the benefit. It will make your ads stand out which in turn will improve your AdWords CTR.

8. Check Performance On Search Partners: The search partner sites trigger your ads by default if you have not opted out of it. These sites, in general, tend to gather more impressions and a lesser number of clicks and as result, it adversely affects your CTR.

However, it cannot be true always. I have seen search partners performing better in a few of the campaigns. So, it is better to be sure. Check this before opting out. You can check it by segmenting your click, impression, CTR, etc. data by network type. It will tell you how search partners are performing.

9. Use Countdown When Possible: AdWords customizers allows you to use Countdown Timer in your ad copy. If you believe that it can be a good fit for you, you must use it. It’s a proven way of improving AdWords CTR.

10. Bid A Bit Higher To Improve Ad Position: It’s is important to note that any hack that aims to improve the differential view of your ads in the Google’s search result page, actually works when your competitors are not doing the same. If they all follow suit, it becomes a challenge, though not impossible. So, if you have tried everything else already, you may consider increasing your bids. It will immediately improve your CTR as your ad position will improve with it. However, be informed that it may increase your cost.

11. Be Creative With Your Ad Copy: Besides all technical aspects of improving AdWords CTR, everything else comes down to being creative with the ad copies. Look at your competitors’ ads and find ways to say what you have to say in a creative way. Think outside the keywords, focus on targeting searchers’ intents than the search terms. It will help you come with the ideas to write better and more creatives ads that would improve your AdWords CTR.

Working with the above-mentioned CTR optimization techniques, you can improve your expected CTR which in turn will improve the Auction Time Quality Score and eventually bring your AdWords cost down.

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