This isn’t “Mad Men” that cool TV show depicting ad agency life in the 1960s. So you don’t need to be Don Draper to write effective Google text ads. Instead, you just need to…

Start with the basics:

Every text ad has four elements, and each element has its very own goal (and character limit):

1. Headline: make it interesting and relevant to your prospects (up to 25 characters);
2. Benefit statement: why should prospects use your services? (up to 35 characters);
3. Call to action or key feature: convince them to act now! (up to 35 characters);
4. URL: where do you want to send prospects? Hint: don’t send them to your homepage.

For example, let’s take a look at how Google advertises its own services using text ads… since they should know what they’re doing right?

1. Google Search Advertising
2. Get Qualified Visitors to Your Site
3. Place Your Ad on Google Today!
4. www.Google.com/AdWords

1. Google Marketing
2. Online Marketing Was Never So Easy
3. Market Your Business on Google Now
4. www.Google.com/AdWords

We’ve added numbers to correspond to each text ad element (aren’t we helpful?)

See how Google marketing folks have written each of the ad elements in these text ads? That’s what you want to do. Not impressed? Trust me that each element in these ads has been carefully crafted to maximize you clicking… if you’re a prospect!

Now it’s your turn.

Here’s what to keep in mind when writing each element of your own text ads.

The all important headline

Your headline has a big job. Namely, to break through the search results clutter and grab the attention of prospects before they move on. Did I mention that you only have a split-second to do that? Clear, concise, and engaging headlines work best. And when in doubt use keywords since those reflect what your prospects are actually searching for!

Your benefits statement…  it’s not all about you (sorry!)

Everyone likes to talk about themselves. I sure do. But your customers actually care about themselves more than they do about you. Keep that in mind when writing your benefit statement. For example, why should prospects use your services? Maybe they’ll look beautiful and feel good too. Or make tons more money. How about impress their friends and family? Now those are benefits!

Give them a good reason to act now!

Congrats on getting them to notice your headline and for hitting the “me” button with your benefit statement. Now it’s time to say why you’re unique and drive them to action. How about: “Free Quote and Overnight Delivery” or “100% Organic but Supplies Limited”. You get the idea!

What about your URL?

Did you know that the URL is the second most visible element in your text ads (after your headline)? It’s true! So make sure and capitalize the first letter in each word of your URL so it’s easier to read. And if you’re sending prospect to a landing page (smart!) that has a long URL… then take advantage of the fact that Google lets you display a special shortened URL.

Some other comments and helpful stuff

Remember, you still need to find out what works best given your prospects, products, and competition! Try different headlines, benefits, and calls-to-action. And don’t be stingy in using keywords in your text ads when you can. The bottom line: just keep testing which text ads and ad elements generate the most clicks from your prospects.

Want to learn more? Here are some helpful blog posts to keep you moving down the path from novice to “Mad Man”.

Should you do SEO or paid search?

Don’t make these search engine marketing mistakes

When it comes to paid search, don’t be number one

Four basic emotions to sell anything

And don’t forget we’re here to help. Always feel free to give us a call at 888-330-3236.

C’mon you’ve heard it before (with infomercial voice-over in your head?) “You too can build a business on the Internet, work from home, and watch the cash roll-in!” Sorry. Not true. Building a business online takes a lot of work and commitment. Don’t trust anyone that tells you differently. But if you’re serious about bringing your business online (or starting one) then…

It all starts with your website.

Having a professional looking website is as essential as a listing in the Yellow Pages used to be (yes, used to be). I mean your new Internet prospects need a place to find you right? And nothing says, “Open for business!” like an engaging and friendly website. The good news: creating a website is well within reach of even the smallest upstarts (we have one!)

But I don’t know anything about building my own website!

No worries. Thanks to some of the great website builders out there, it’s now easy to create a professional website with just a few clicks of the mouse. And you don’t need a degree in computer science either! Check out Yola, Moogo, and SnapPages to see what we mean. They offer a wide range of templates, tutorials, pictures, and graphics to get you started quickly. Did I mention that they’re free to use? Yes, free.

Most website builders will also help you get set up with your own domain name (e.g. www.yourbizname.com), which you can add to your business cards, letterhead, and other marketing materials. Pretty cool, huh?

As you build your website, keep in mind that most business-oriented websites have the following pages:

• Home Page: This is the first page most of your visitors will see, so don’t be coy – provide all the key information here. Your logo, business name, phone number, address, and business hours are the most important things. Bottom line: make it easy for them to contact you!

• Products or Services: This could be products you sell, services you offer, your menu, or your class schedule (you get the idea). Be sure to include pricing (unless your prices change frequently) and a few attractive, high quality photos to remind customers why they like your stuff the best!

• Contact Us: Make it easy for people to get in touch with you for questions, to make an appointment, or share a story. Provide multiple ways to contact you – email address, phone number, and a simple web form they can fill out.  If you’re into social media, invite prospects to follow you on Twitter or “Like” you on Facebook.

• About Us:  Is your business family owned and operated? Do you specialize in organic products or local suppliers? Offer a money back guarantee? Tell your story in your own words – it builds trust with your prospects, and, after all, people buy from people they like!

• Testimonials: Already have customers? Then ask them for testimonials for your website. Remember: nothing convinces prospects more than happy customers. You can’t afford NOT to start asking your customers to share their experiences. Use comment cards, email, or better yet, your Contact Us form!

Here’s our complete list of the Best Free and Affordable Website Builders from our blog: Best Online Advertising Stuff. You’ll do well using any of the website providers on this list… so take your time and find one that works best for you.

That’s it. You’re ready to jump in and start building your very own website. Remember, there’s no better way to get started than… getting started!

Let us know once your website is up. We’ll want to check it out too!

I must confess… I didn’t (gasp!) do keyword research before writing the copy for our website. And the truth is I should have. But better late than never. So let’s pretend we’re writing our website content today (maybe you are)… and then take it from there!

First of all, why is keyword research so important?

Search engines (i.e., Google) are the number one way that people find your website. Your job is to make it easy for them. There’s much you need to do to make this happen… but it begins with figuring out what words and phrases (keywords) your prospects use when searching the Internet for what you sell. Then you need to make sure your website content includes those keywords. Do it right… and your website shows up in your prospects search results!

Here’s how to get started:

1.  It’s all about your target customers. You really need to understand who they are, what they’re looking for, and why they’d buy from you in particular.

2.  Think about what keywords they’ll use when searching on Google for your products and services. (If you already have customers… ask them!)

3.  Then make a big list of all the keywords you come up with.

4.  Add qualifying terms to your keywords that help better define your market… such as your product features and business location.

5.  Boil your list down to the keyword phrases you’re going to use with your website content. These phrases should best reflect your product offering and be search terms your prospects will use often.

6.  Now write (or update!) your website copy with these keyword phrases in mind.

Simple enough?

For example, let’s say you have an Italian restaurant located in Long Island, NY. You want keywords that target customers will use to find your restaurant. The keyword “restaurants” isn’t specific enough. Maybe: “Italian restaurants”? Better for sure. But we need some qualifying terms to make it even more specific. How about “Italian pizza restaurants” or “Italian restaurants on long island”? Now we’re talking! Just include these keyword phrases as often as you can in your website content.

You should target 5 to 10 keyword phrases depending on how many products or services you sell, and the different types of customers you serve. Have lots of products and services? Then you’ll need more keyword phrases.

The good news is there are free tools to help:

• Google’s keyword tool makes it easy to come up with hundreds of keyword phrases to consider. Plus it’ll show you the number of monthly searches for each phrase.

• Wordtracker is another good keyword tool for generating ideas. And it will also show you the popularity of each keyword suggestion.

• Google Analytics is free web analytics software that gives in-depth data on your website traffic… including which keywords send visitors to your site!

Now it’s time for a few cautionary comments (sorry!)

Spicing up your content with good keyword phrases will make it easier for prospects to find you… and also make generic website copy more specific and interesting. But don’t go overboard. Remember, it’s all about making your website helpful and informative for your target customers… not about stuffing your pages with keywords for the search engines. (see our related post)

And the process of keyword research never stops. You need to keep an eye on what keywords are driving the most traffic to your website… since your prospects are changing how they search all the time!

Don’t forget to keep your keyword phrases handy. You’ll not only reference them for your website copy but also for your online advertising campaigns, social media efforts… and even your offline advertising (which also influences what people type into a search box).

Let’s get started with your keyword research!

Btw, did you notice the keyword phrases I’m using for this blog post? Let us know which keywords you used to get here. Thanks!