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Google AdWords Capitalization Tip: The Right Capitalization Can Make or Break Your Ad

February 4th, 2007 by Mike Read more about Google AdWords Tips

Google AdWords Capitalization

There is a science to writing ads in Google AdWords to maximize your click-through-rate and ROI and using just the right amount of capitalization plays a huge part.

Tip 1: Use Capitalization in Google Ads

We have proven beyond a doubt that ads that are capitalized will almost always outperform ads that are not capitalized.  They just stand out more and are far more noticeable.  So, as a rule of thumb, definitely use capitalization in your ads!

Tip 2: When NOT to Use Capitalization in Google Ads

We have noticed that a lot of times capitalizing the short words such as “in, and, on, etc.” can have a HUGE negative impact on the performance of your Google AdWords ads. 

Below is a case study that clearly demonstrates the importance of knowing what words to capitalize and what words to leave in lower case.  We tested two ads where everything was identical except the capitalization of two tiny words. 

The result:  The ad that did not capitalize these tiny words outperformed the ad that did by over 80%! 

The above case clearly demonstrates that paying attention to the RIGHT amount of capitalization is vital and just following the tip to capitalize every word can get you into serious trouble. 

NOTE: This is a controlled test.  Both ads were surfaced for the same group of keywords.  The conversion rate = sign-ups (i.e. new leads)

Continue learning more about Google AdWords

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About the Author

Mike 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

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7 Responses to “Google AdWords Capitalization Tip: The Right Capitalization Can Make or Break Your Ad”

  1. Bryan Eisenberg

    You are 100% correct. The smallest things often impact click throughs and conversion. Changing the case of one letter can mean so much at times. My only wish is that people would be as deliberate as you are being at planning these type of tests.

  2. Peter Gillberg - Software Marketing Secrets

    I can only but concur, I have found the exact same thing.

    It would have been interesting to test the title: “Quantum Boost In Healing”.

    Also - try the second row: “You Will See Results in 48 Hours!”. I bet that will make a difference.

    Thanks for a great blog.

  3. Steve Loszewski

    You should try testing your ads with Optimized ad serving turned off. I’ve had ads with the exact same ad text that showed significantly different CTR rates when I circulated them with optimized ad serving on.

  4. Richard Michie

    This has been common practice in headline writing for years. A few more web marketers should read up on “Old” direct marketing techniques, which have already been tested. Try reading Ogilvy on Advertising, you’ll learn a lot.

  5. Igor M.

    Here is my concern …. your ads might have had different “ad positions” that could have effected the outcome. One ad could have had more time at #3 and the other one at #4 … hence the difference.

    What do you think?

  6. David Wilson

    Back in November you showed the opposite to this
    http://blog.mindvalleylabs.com/marketing/google-adwords-tip-the-subtle-influence-of-capitalization/

    where using all caps increased the CTR of the ad. What caused the change?

  7. Dave Davis

    We have just completed a similar test and while our CTR increase was not as large as yours, it was significant.

    It would appear that the smaller words don’t need to be seen as much. Your call to action words do.

    Great find.

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