Love them or hate them, they’re the reason Google is able to deliver you so many great products (Search, Gmail, Analytics, Drive, etc.) for FREE.

In fact, Google’s take from its advertising platform (AdWords) totalled nearly $60 billion in 2014, or 90% of the company’s total revenue (Statista).

So the question is, with so many businesses investing in Google AdWords and with such high competition, how does a business succeed?

To start, you need a great ad.

The bad news?

You have a total of 95 characters (less than a Twitter tweet), to convince your prospect to click on your ad: as opposed to your competitor’s.

The good news?

Here’s 5 tips to ensure your ad stands out…

5 Tips for Writing a Google Ad

Be Relevant

Here’s an ad for when I Google “pet insurance”:

Is this ad relevant for someone searching for “pet insurance“?  No.

It is a general ad for auto, home, or commercial insurance.

This company needs to negative match for the word “pet” so its ads don’t show up for people searching for pet insurance.

Here’s a better example:

This ad is undoubtedly about pet insurance.  Notice how Google bolds all mentions of the keyword?

To help boost relevancy, you can even us Google’s dynamic keyword insertion feature that allows you to insert the keyword searched right into the ad’s headline and/or descriptive text.

Other important factors to consider to be more relevant: location, device (mobile vs. desktop), time of day, weather/season, and target audience (more on that in a moment).

If you want to create more leads and sales with Google Ads, you first and foremost need to be relevant to what your prospects are searching for.

Be Different

Highlighting how different you are is one of the hardest things to accomplish when writing Google ads.

Odds are every time your ad appears, it’s probably competing with 9 other businesses just like yours, so you need to stand out.

But how?

You need to think of how your business is different than your competitors, and how you can highlight this difference to people searching online.

Is it price? Service? A free trial?  How do you go the extra mile for your customers?

Here’s an example of two ads that appear when I Googled “email platform“:

First of all, visually which one stands out more?

Obviously ad #2, as it’s longer, has more links, and just a lot more information.

As well, ad #2 has a free trial, offers award-winning coaching (which I’ve never seen with an email platform), and states that clients will see a 29% lift in revenue.

Which platform would you choose?

Probably the one that’s different, or stands out.

Be Specific About Who You’re Targeting

This is very similar to being “relevant”.

You don’t want people clicking on your ads who are in the wrong target audience.

For example, let’s say your business provides a CRM solution for the Enterprise vertical.

The problem is that most people searching for your product are going to Google “CRM platforms”, “CRM software”, “CRM tools”, or related keywords.

Thus, you don’t want a small business clicking on your ad thinking it’s the right solution for them.

So what do you do?

Something like this…

Highlight the fact that you are a CRM platform for Enterprise only.

That way you’re helping to ensure the wrong target audience doesn’t click on your ad.

Whenever you offer an enterprise, high-end, or more costly product or service, don’t be afraid to show it.

Use terms like “luxury”, “enterprise”, “for large organizations” in your ads to help disqualify people who are in the wrong target audience.  And if you’re transparent about pricing, don’t be afraid to list that either – as nothing you can say will get to the point quicker than listing a cost.

Build Trust & Credibility

Most people don’t care about your business.

It’s all about how your business can help them: whether it’s solve a problem, save time, save money, reduce risk, or create an opportunity.

What is crucial in an online world is for people to be able to trust you.

Think about it, how many businesses have you bought from where you’ve never personally met an employee, never visited their offices or store (if they even have one), or even spoken to or emailed someone at the company?

Probably quite a few.

So when writing Google ads, you need to ensure that the trust and credibility factor is front and centre.

Here’s a good example:

Note all the trust and credibility factors:

• 15,000 Happy Customers
• 23,231 followers on Google+
• No CC Required
• Risk-free 30 Day Trial

All these things highlight why you can trust Sprout Social to do business with.

Other tips to highlight trust:

• Use site-links to customer testimonials
• Use site-links to user ratings
• Use site-links to relevant accreditations, associations, etc.
• Use site-links to media coverage
• Include your telephone number, address, or link to live help to help show you have actual employees ready to help

Give Them Compelling Reason to Click

Every Google ad you write needs to pass the “clickable test”.

In other words, is your ad “click-worthy”, does it give a compelling reason for someone to click it?

Here’s a good example of a “click-worthy” ad when I Googled “seo tool“:

Why it passes the Clickable Test:

• You can try for tool for FREE
• Over half a million users (credibility)
• Lots of followers (social credibility)
• For those still in the early stages of the buying cycle, there’s links to SEO tips and free webinars

Other tips to make your ad more Clickable:

• Offer discounts
• Offer free shipping
• Make offers time sensitive (urgency)
• Use scarcity when relevant, such as only x amount products in stock, x amount of seats left, etc.
• Highlight what will happen if the prospect doesn’t click your ad, e.g. “Don’t let a mouldy basement be a hazard to your health”, “Don’t pay a higher price for x”.
• Be relevant: if user is on a mobile phone, make it easy to “tap” your phone number