MindValley Labs Internet Marketing Blog

Here is a powerful PPC tip that you can immediately put to the test:

Ask probing questions!

Why are people searching on Google in the first place? To find answers! So, phrasing your pay per click ad in a question can sometimes lead to a dramatic boost in your click-through-rate. This works especially well when people are searching for "information" instead of "products."

In other words, having a phrase such as "What is a Digital Camera?" would probably not work. However, in areas such as self improvement, or self help, phrasing your ppc ads in a question can have a HUGE positive impact on your click-through rate.

Here is a detailed example:

The only difference in the following two ppc ads is that in the first we used a question in the title and in the second we used a powerful claim. This ad was for the keyword phrase "self healing."

CTR = 3.10%, Impressions = 516

CTR = 0.9%, Impessions = 330

As you can see from the results listed above, asking a question boosted our CTR by a whopping 244%! Will you get these improvements in your click-through-rate all the time? Of course not. However, asking probing questions can be another powerful idea to test when refining and tweaking your pay per click campaigns.

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About the Author

Prior to MindValley Media, Mike was the Head of New Ventures Strategy at eBay where he conceived of the strategies that led to the investment in Craigslist, the launch of Kijiji.com and the acquisition of Skype. Mike has an MBA from Stanford and previously worked for the Boston Consulting Group. He is also a certified Google AdWords Professional.

Check out other posts by Mike Reining

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