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How to Write a Great PPC Ad

Pay Per Click (PPC) has revolutionized advertising. It provides a way to delivery your marketing messages that is efficient and effective-if you take the time to learn the fundamentals.

PPC ads, sometimes called "sponsored links" appear at the very top and down the right hand column of Google search pages. They consist of a headline, two lines of copy and a web address. These ads don't look like much compared to a glossy magazine ad or an elaborate 30 second TV commercial, but in terms of return on investment, PPC ads will generally outperform all other traditional advertising media.

The most exciting art of PPC is that you only pay when someone actually clicks on your ad and is sent to your website or landing page. So, at the very least, you know that your prospects are interested enough to ask for more information by clicking. This is a huge advantage-- but to get the results you want, the first step is to learn how to write PPC ads that work.

When I began writing PPC ads, I made the same mistake that most writers make in this new media-I applied tried and true principles of copywriting. But PPC ads are different. They are reallynot meant to be read - they are designed to be scanned.

The secret to writing PPC ads that work

And that's the secret to writing great PPC ads: These ads are scanned according to the search term typed in by the visitor. If a searcher types in "coonskin cap" in Google, and you have "coonskin caps" as your headline, that customer is likely to click on your ad. If your headline is "frontier clothing" or "antique clothing" or "western clothing" you are less likely to attract that click.

I'm not sure how most people think up search terms to find what they are looking for. But this I know for sure: once a searcher decides on a search term, he or she falls in love with that term and looks for it everywhere on the Google search page.

The secret of writing great PPC ads is learning to give the customer what the customer wants. Here's what you must do: Think about the terms that prospects may use to find you and then try to repeat that term in the ad headline, the first line of the ad, the second line of the ad and also at the beginning of the landing page that is the destination of your PPC ad.

That's it. Of course your ad has to make sense and it has to fall within the character requirements of Google or Yahoo, but if you just keep repeating the search term, the clicks will just keep on coming.

What does this secret rule have to do with good writing?

Not much.

But it works. Try it.

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