(When You’re Experiencing a Creative Block)

Being clever every day of the year can be tough on a search engine marketer. We all go through periods of time when we experience a creative block and can’t seem to think of new clever PPC ad copy to try out.

However, ad copy must always be on a path of improvement, even during those uncreative times. So, we’ve compiled a list of no-brainer ad performance improvement tests:

1) To “Initial Caps” or not?

Using your existing ad copy, try out different variations in capitalization. For example:

“Start a Free Trial Today” vs. “Start a free trial today”

This is a very simple test that can lead to some surprising results. Where you capitalize in your ad copy can be quite impactful.

2) To DKI or not?

Dynamic keyword insert (DKI) is quite effective sometimes, but not always. So, try it out in your ads. Try a dynamic keyword insert in your headline:

“Super Interesting Product” vs. “{KeyWord:Super Interesting Product}”

Don’t limit yourself to just the headline. You can try out dynamic keyword insert in your ad copy itself:

“Looking for a fabulous product?” vs. “Looking for {KeyWord:a fabulous product}?”

You can even try DKI in your display URL:

“www.GreatWebsite.com” vs. “www.GreatWebsite.com\{KeyWord}”

3) To www. or not?

The format of your display URL is another very simple thing that can have a great impact, so test it out to see what works best with the preceding “www” or without:

“www.GreatWebsite.com” vs. “GreatWebsite.com”

4) Location Display or not?

If you are a local business, Google allows you to display your address in an additional line beneath your ad copy display URL. This can be a great way to highlight that you are truly a local business and identify your location without wasting precious ad copy characters.

To try it out, go to the settings page for your campaign and select to show your relevant business address with your ads.

5) Two sentences vs. One sentence

Try formatting your ad copy line 1 and line 2 to be two separate sentences vs. one long sentence. For example:

We have an amazing product.
Try it out today for free.

Try our amazing product
for free when you sign up today.

Often times we find that for ads that display on the side in Google, two sentences can outperform one sentence. But, for ads that display at the top of the page, one sentence may outperform since these ads appear as a single line.

6) Say the same thing, just differently

Try out different ways to say the same thing. For example, see which of the following would be more appealing to searchers:

“Free Shipping” vs. “$0 Shipping”

7) Include Pricing or not?

Try including your pricing directly into your ad copy. If you know you’ve got a great price, this can be a great way to compete with others who claim to offer a steal of a deal.

Include Phone Number or not?

For local businesses, another way to highlight that you are truly local and push for immediate action is to include your phone number directly into your ad copy. If you have a local number and an 800 number, try them both out to see which one performs better.

9) Call to action placement

Try out your call to action in all the different locations – in your Headline, Ad Copy Line 1 and Ad Copy Line 2 to see where it’s most effective in attracting clicks and driving conversions.

Take heart, PPC advertising is forgiving on those days when you just don’t feel very clever. Keep this list around and when those creative juices aren’t flowing, try out a new “brain-dead” tactic to keep your ad performance on the track of continuous improvement.