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How a Google AdWords ad is structured

June 10, 2008

Google AdWords offers a variety of ad formats including text, image, animated, video and mobile. Text ads are the most common. These are the ads that appear on the right of the search results page under the Sponsored Links heading. On some results pages these ads may also show above the organic search results on the left hand side.

A text ad

A text ad occupies four lines. It must make some sort of connection with the searcher in order to get the searcher’s attention and prompt a click. It must say “I have what you’re looking for”.
Example of a Google ad

The first line is the ad title. It can consist of up to 25 characters. The ad title is the link to the website landing page. This is the most eye-catching part of the ad. To get the searcher’s attention and make that all-important connection, try and include part or all of the keyword phrase. But you will probably have a number of keyword phrases assigned to the ad. So consider spreading the keywords across more ads, making the ad titles relevant to the keywords.

The next two lines are description lines. Each can contain up to 35 characters. Again, making the connection is important. If you haven’t included keywords in the ad title, try and include them here. But here is where you have to convince the searcher that he/she should click on the ad. The most effective way to use this small space is to say “This is what I can do for you, and this is how I can do it”. Use the first line to describe benefits and the second line to describe features.

The final line is the display URL. This is the website address, usually the home page. It can contain up to 35 characters. It presents another opportunity to catch the eye. You could present your URL as

www.mybargainbookshop.com

or you could present it as

MyBargainBookShop.com

Which is more readable?

Filed in: Pay Per Click