How To Write The Best Google Ads Copy & Back It Up on Landing Pages

Crafting strong ad copy on Google Ads isn’t hard, but to do it right, we have to flex both art and science muscles.

When writing copy, it’s important to think about the experience your visitor is having from a query to ad copy, to a landing page.

If there’s a hiccup along the way or they feel like they might be going down the wrong path, they’ll hit the back button. Worse, they might conduct another search and find another company ready to meet their needs. Additionally, as much as we would like it to, no ad can convert a prospect without a strong accompanying landing page.

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to ad writing, but following some best practices will help make us more successful. With that in mind, below are eight tips for writing the best ad copy (backed up with landing pages) for Google Ads:

Leverage Keywords Where Possible

A staple best practice of ad copywriting is to include keywords in ad copy to mirror the searcher’s query.

Keywords in Ad Copy

In the real world, if you order something from a coffee shop, you expect them to call out exactly what you ordered when it’s ready. If you order an Americano and the barista yells out “Coffee!”, they’re technically correct. But it’s not immediately clear to you that it’s your coffee or someone else’s.

Adding keywords to ad copy is fairly simple, but it’s important to make sure the keywords are being used well. Don’t just stuff in as many as you can. An ad that’s saturated with keywords likely doesn’t convey any message and could be worse than an ad with no keywords. It’s more important to accurately articulate what you’re selling.

Keyword placement in ads can also play a large role. I highly recommend you test keyword placement within your ads to see what works best. Sometimes it’s best in Headline 1. Sometimes Headline 2. And sometimes it’s best used in a sentence in a description. You won’t know until you test!

Keywords in Landing Pages

Using search keywords in the headlines and/or text at the top of a landing page tells the visitor, “You’re in the right place. We have what you’re looking for.” (“This is your caffè Americano,” if you will.)

Unfortunately, swapping text on landing pages isn’t quite as easy as doing it in the ad copy. If your landing pages need to be hardcoded, then logic might suggest that you need to create a new page for each different keyword phrase you’re targeting.

In my opinion, though, unless you’re driving extremely high traffic through those pages, this isn’t necessary.

Instead, choose some common phrases, likely the most highly searched variants of your keywords, and turn them into headlines. Ideally, the number of pages you’ll need to create will go down depending on the number of keyword phrases you have in your account.

Be As Specific As the User’s Query

Every time a person conducts a search, their query holds a degree of specificity. It’s important that you match their specificity as much as possible.

If they’re not being specific, in other words, you can keep your ad copy relatively broad and cover the basics. If they are being more specific, you should try to match whatever their query is.

Let’s use the example of shoes. Here are some ways you could adjust your copy based on differing degrees of searches:

The only piece adjusted is the first headline, but it creates a much tighter theme with the query and lets them know they’re in the right place.

The same principle holds through with the landing page and is potentially even more important than the copy itself. One of the keys to conversion rate optimization is giving your prospects what they need. Continuing the shoe example above, here are potential pages that you would want to direct people to:

“Shoes”: www.example.com
“Women’s shoes”: www.example.com/women
“Women’s Nike shoes”: www.example.com/women/nike

Obviously, this is a fake website, but the landing pages used the match as close as they can to the query. Each time we add a word—from “shoes” to “women’s shoes” and from “women’s shoes” to “women’s Nike shoes”—we learn more about their need and can match that with a more specific landing page.

Each time someone searches, they’re telling you what they want. Listen to them and deliver results with as much specificity as you can.

Always Include a Call To Action

When it all comes down to it, we’re running ads because we want the visitor to take a specific action. For some, that might be making a purchase. For others, it might mean filling out a lead form. No matter the action, it’s important to either use that phrasing in the ad copy or give them a clue as to what you want.

Using a call to action in ad copy helps frame the visitor experience. It can operate similarly to the Prequalifying ad copy mentioned in the next section. Once they understand what you want them to do, it can help weed out people who aren’t interested. This practice helps save you the cost of the click.

Once a visitor has had their expectations set with the ad copy, they should click through to a landing page that mirrors that same call to action. If you’ve asked them to “Buy Now” in your copy, they should be given the opportunity to buy on the landing page. If you’ve only asked them to “Learn More” in your copy. Then be sure the landing page houses the information they need to decide whether to make a purchase down the road.

Test Psychological Approaches to Find the Right Fit

The messaging used in ad copy can be a critical selling point, but it need not be boring. If anything, SERPs are getting overcrowded with the same type of bland messaging for all ad slots. That’s an opportunity for you to stand out from the crowd.

It’s important to test the different psychological approaches to ad copy to know which performs best with your target audience. Here’s a quick rundown of the major types of ad copy approaches:

Features: highlighting the physical or intangible aspects of the product/service. (Memory foam)
Benefits: calling out the positive outcomes the visitor will have from the product/service. (More restful sleep)
Problem: focus on the actual issue at hand to relate to the problem the visitor is trying to solve. (Tired of Wasting Time?)
Solution: focus on the solution to the problem the visitor is facing. (Save Time)
Testimonials: using actual feedback/testimonials to leverage social proof. (“This product has changed my life.”)
Reviews: third-party reviews of the product/service, not from customers.
Top of the Class: calling out any awards, ratings, etc. to show you’re the best. (Best in category award, 2018)
Prequalifying: weeding out people who might not be a good fit for your service before they click. (“Luxury Tours,” attempting to weed out bargain travelers)

Once you’ve tested what works best, mirror that on the landing page to create a cohesive feel from start to finish. Choose images and calls to action that mirror those approaches where possible.

Conclusion

Writing ad copy for Google Ads is a combination of art and science. It requires that you look beyond the ad itself to the landing page. We also need to tap into our artistic side when speaking to other people. If ad copy were purely algorithmic, after all, everyone would be rich by now.