Writing successful PPC ads takes a combination of proven techniques, creativity and meticulous testing. Here’s how to write PPC ads that get high CTRs and conversions.

The Starting Point

The easiest place to start is to simply emulate your competitor’s advertising style.

If you’re in a market with a fair amount of competition, chances are your competitors have already spent thousands of dollars testing what converts and what doesn’t. Why start over?

In general, copying the general principles behind your competitors’ ads is a good starting point. The downside to doing this is that your ad looks like everyone else’s ad and don’t stand out.

The idea is to use this as a starting point and then test out ads that stand out from there.

Taking Advantage of Keyword Bolding

Whenever an ad has the exact keyword in the ad text, that ad is bolded. For example, if you type in “campaign blast,” ads with the exact text “campaign blast” will be bolded. So, having the exact ad text in as much of your ad as possible is a good idea.

The best way to do this is to do one keyword per ad group. This will allow you to write a different ad for every keyword, which means every time someone types in their search term, they’ll see their full keyword bolded in your ad.

One keyword per ad group is easy to do if and only if you use AdWords Editor and Excel to create your ads. If you use the online interface, it will take far too long to be practical.

Things That Stand Out

One simple way to stand out is to use either symbols or specific numbers.

For example, which stands out more?

New York movies
Movies @ New York

The latter, naturally.

Another thing that stands out is specific numbers. Which of the below stands out more?

Increase Opt In 20%!
Avg. Opt In Up by 19.7%!

The latter – because it seems more real and precise, rather than a generic claim.

Use symbols and specific numbers wherever possible. Little things like these can drastically increase conversions.

Split Test Meticulously

Nobody is asking you to write a superstar ad right from the get go. Even the best players in PPC can’t do that. The idea is to throw wildly different ideas against the wall until you have a clear winner. None of your ads should look remotely similar in the beginning.

Once you have a clear winner on the specific style of ad, then start refining the ad by split testing different words, punctuations, call to actions, capitalizations, etc.

A mediocre copywriter who is meticulous about split testing will do better in the long run than a great copywriter who’s sloppy about split testing.

Here’s the bottom line: Start out by copying the general principles behind what others are doing. Split test wildly different ideas, with an emphasis on things that make your ad stand out. Sooner or later, you’ll have an ad that’s a clear winner. When you do, refine it to get the highest CTRs and conversions possible.

If you want to skip all the mistakes and bad decisions most people do when they start PPC, check out Matt Levenhagen’s Campaign Blasts Report. He is taking it off the market at the end of the month, so don’t postpone it, or you’ll lose.