Sometimes, in pay per click advertising, it is better to completely understand the basics and succeed at them rather than to try something difficult and run the risk of failing. This is the main reason for doing this article. I will be surprised if every advertiser knew exactly every point I make below about the typical PPC text advert. The chances are that you don’t and this is not a bad thing. It means you can learn and build upon your PPC knowledge so that, like I have said, you know the fundamentals of PPC much better and can produce success from them.
 
To look at a typical PPC advert, I am going to need a volunteer so, today, I will be using Nissan’s PPC advert for keywords ‘buy car’:

If you look at the history of PPC, though, you will find that the URL was at the bottom of the advert with the description in the middle. However, things change (Google tries to make it for the better) and the URL is now in the middle of the advert.
Each advert can be, therefore, split into three sections: the title, URL and description. This article will look into the title.
 

Title

The job of the title is to attract the web user to the advert. It is the largest font so can be considered the most important out of the three sections to an advert. With a title, there are a few ways you can learn to optimise them to make a valid click from a web user more likely:

• Try to include a reputation – This is just like Nissan have done in their advert . By including the trademark symbol portrays many thoughts to the web users. Although it means nobody can use Nissan’s brand name falsely, the web user will portray it that Nissan has something that other companies want…they have the ‘I want it’ factor.
• Centre your title around your keywords – By doing this, you will be making more areas of your title stand out as bold if they are what the web user is searching. In my example, Nissan and WeBuyAnyCar have both got two words in their title linked to the search phrase. The more words you can make bold in your title, the better because it will make your advert seem more specific to the search phrase performed by the web user.
• Ask a Question – In essence, by trying to get a web user to click on your advert you are making them do an action. To encourage an action from somebody include a call to action. Although this is mostly used on landing pages such as a click through page, you can still include a call to action in your article. For example, Nissan has not directly asked the web user to click on their advert, they have asked a question which the web user will have to answer. An answer is an action. For your own campaign, lines such as ‘Find out more’ or ‘Discover’ etc. are good call to actions for a PPC advert title.

Remember that, in PPC, first impressions are everything. Therefore, if you make a mistake in your title, you are going to have that mistake hanging over the rest of your campaign which is definitely not good. Have a look at your own title to your PPC advert and ask yourself how you are optimising it? The chances are that you are but not to its full extent.