10 Ways to Improve Your Click-Through Rate in Google Ads

‍Companies spend very much on the Google ads to generate quality leads & sales online. There are various factors that impact Google ads, either positively or negatively. It depends entirely on how we configure it.

One of the key terms in Google ads is CTR (click-through rate). It is a good indicator to measure the performance of ads. Higher CTR indicates that ads are performing well and on target, but, a question rises here, how can we improve CTR?

In this post, we have discussed the top 10 ways to improve CTR of your ads campaigns.

What is the click-through rate?

CTR is not as difficult a term as we think. It is just a ratio of clicks to impressions.

Impressions: It is the number of people to whom our ads appear or show.

Clicks: It is the number of visitors who come to the final destination (website or any landing page) after clicking the ads.

And finally, the click-through rate is the percentage of people who see your ads and then go to your website, app or landing page. 

‍CTR = Number of clicks on Ads/ Number of Impression

Why is CTR so Important in Google ads?

CTR is important because you are paying for every single click. Higher CTR can save your costs by showing ads on higher positions with lower bids. Contrary, you will be shocked to know that in some conditions, even Higher CTR can cause a decline in the digital marketing graph. Let's explore.

When is a higher CTR good?

Higher CTR is good because it means your ads are performing well and the right people are coming to your business. The way the google ads algorithm works, you can expect much more from a higher CTR. The given example is from one of our client’s campaigns.

Google supports high-quality ads and gives them a higher position at a low cost per click.  But how does Google calculate the quality of ads?

There are some key factors by which Google measures the quality score of the ads. 

• Ad relevance to keywords
• User experience on the landing page
• Expected CTR

Expected CTR: It is an estimation of Google how an ad will perform regardless of other factors such as ad quality, position etc. 

• Higher CTR means Google’s high expected rate and higher quality score. 
• A high-quality score means a high ad rank.
• Ads with a higher rank will have a lower CPC (cost per click).
• Lower CPC will lead you to a higher return on investment.

When is a higher CTR BAD?

When you have a high CTR and a low conversion rate. It's a bad indication because you are paying for every click and if your clicks are not converting to leads or sales then good CTR doesn't matter. 

So remember our goal should not just be a higher CTR but a qualified CTR!

After a brief overview of how CTR works, Let's move towards improving CTR.

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Pay Attention to Your Keywords: 

Keywords are the backbone of every marketing campaign, whether you use them organically or by a paid medium. There should be a complete strategy for the whole keyword process (keywords selection, grouping, optimization). Just follow the steps

1: Target the Right Searcher Intent:

Targeting the right keywords is the first step toward a successful ad campaign. 

To get high CTR there are three types of keywords here.

There are a few strategies you need to follow 

Local Keywords: 

These keywords could generate the highest number of conversions because people find their solutions nearby, 

E.g., plumber services in Berlin.

Branded Keywords:

‍Keywords that represent a specific brand. it is a great opportunity for you to target your own brand as well as your partner brands etc.

Commercial Keywords:

These are searched by users when they are in a buying mood. 

Eg: buy men's shoes

2: Use Negative Keywords:

Negative keywords are irrelevant keywords for your business. 

For example, if you're selling new car wheels so "old car wheels & used car wheels" are negative keywords for your campaign. Adding negative keywords in your campaign keeps away the irrelevant audience and improves CTR as well as it saves costs by not showing ads to uninterested people.

Writing & Optimizing Compelling Ads Copy to Improve CTR

Sometimes every parameter is fine, but lagging at the ad copy. A stronger ad copy helps to improve CTR significantly. Do you know how to write compelling ad copy? There are certain rules for writing and optimizing ad copies.

3: Generate a Keywords-Related Ad Copy

If your search Query is " New Cell Phone " then your ads copy should be like "Find New Cell Phones | Best Cell Phone" instead of Cell phones. Granular ad structure will be helpful in this case where we can target every keyword separately.

4: Use headings for the Important Content:

The heading is the most prominent part of the content so use them to highlight the important content and continuity to explain them in the descriptions.

5: USE Call To Actions:

Call to Actions are the words that convince a user to perform desired actions. E.g., Buy now, Contact Us, and Download now. It contains only one or two words actually it is a little, but most beneficial push that makes big differences.

Always try to make your CTA attractive with a benefit, e.g., Schedule a free consultation Now.

6. USE Your USP (Unique Selling Points):

Don't forget to use a strong call to action and your USPs in the ad copy will make your ads stand out and attract the audience to click on your ad.

• Mention the discounts and offers in the ad copy.
• Ensure that all of the offers and the claims you have made are visible on the landing page.

7: A/B Testing on Ads

Marketing is always about testing, testing & testing. Never stick to one ad. Always try different sets of ads to check which sets of ads are performing well and which are low-performing ads. There are multiple tools to test ad copies, in Google Ads one tool is a split test. When it comes to split testing always follow the steps below

• You should try with 2 or 3 ads in each ad group
• For each ad try to use different ad copy
• After running, ads for a specific amount of time pause the low-performing ads 
• Now run the successful variant.

8: Improve Your Quality Score

The quality score is Google’s term for measuring the quality of the ads based on different elements: keywords, ad copy, ad performance and landing pages.

If your ads have high-quality scores, then your ads will be ranked higher and your cost will be low with time. Suppose, your ad quality score is 10 and your competitor’s score is lower than yours. Google will prefer your ads and choose your ads in the auction with lowest bid.

To Improve the quality Score:

• Pick the right keywords
• Improve your landing page 
• Improve Ads Copy 
• Improves User Experience

9: Use The Best Ad Extensions

Google provides a feature to add ad extensions which display your ads in a more attractive way in the SERP. There are 10 types of ad extensions used for different purposes. Every ad extension is not suitable for every ad set. 

‍Eg. Location ads extension is used by small businesses who target their audience in small locations, for example, pizza shops, shoe stores, grocery stores etc.

Advantages:

• Extensions help you to acquire more space on SERP
• Helps to provide more information about the product 
• Present the Information distinctly 

How to use ad extensions?

• Always use the relevant ads extensions 
• Use a mixture of ads extensions for the different ad set

10. Utilize Smart Bidding Strategies: 

Smart bidding strategies are Google’s AI-based strategies which manage the bidding by themselves and save us time in the bidding process.

It uses artificial intelligence to adjust the keywords bids in each auction and the beauty of smart bidding is that it manages the CTR and campaign optimization in a very professional way.

It will automatically censor the low-performing bids for ads and helps you to focus only on high CTR auctions.

Conclusion:

We have discussed the multiple elements that can improve the Google ads quality if you utilize them according to the guidelines. Always target the right keywords, and the right audience, create the most relevant ad copy and test different sets of ads, finally use the extensions and smart bidding strategies to improve the quality of your ads that will ultimately increase conversions with decreased cost. 

Recap the points we have discussed above 

1. Target the Right Searcher Intent
2. Use Negative Keywords
3. Generate a Keywords Related Ad Copy
4. Use headings for the Important Content
5. USE Call To Actions
6. USE Your Unique Selling Points
7. A/B Testing on Ads
8. Improve Your Quality Score
9. Use The Best Ad Extensions
10. Utilize Smart Bidding Strategies

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