When optimizing PPC ad text be as specific as possible in your ad copy. Specific locations (i.e., city, state, airport), benefits (50% off, easy on/off, 1,500 patents) or services tend to get better conversion rates than broader phrases. One area ripe for optimization is the business name field. You can tweak the business name field to match the business name’s location with the ad campaign. In this case, we tried changing the business name from a broader “Michigan” phrase to a more specific “Ann Arbor” phrase.
Broad vs. Specific: Michigan vs. Ann Arbor
One of the campaigns for Michigan Green Cars is a Washtenaw county campaign aimed primarily at the Ann Arbor area. What better campaign to test out more specific ad copy. We tried changing the business name field from “Michigan Green Cars” (see Figure 1) to “Ann Arbor Car Services.” (see Figure 2).
Figure 1: PPC Ad Text Before More Specific Location
Figure 2: PPC Ad Text After More Specific Location
Conversion Rate Improves with More Specific Ad Text
Changing the business name from the more broad “Michigan Green Cars” to the specific “Ann Arbor Car Services.” increased the conversion rate from 50% to 133% (see Figure 3). Adding a trailing period “.” didn’t hurt the conversion rate either.
Figure 3: PPC Ad Text Performance After Specific Geography
Conclusion
Using specific copy in your PPC ad text can improve conversion rates. Giving searchers ad text that more closely matches their search queries (and geographic location) gives them results that more closely match their goals.
Further Reading
- MiGreenCars.com
- This Ann Arbor and Southfield Michigan-based green car company volunteered their AdWords campaign as the subject of this article.
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