This is the fourth instalment of a series we call “Critiquing Your Google AdWords Campaigns”.
We Google a search term and evaluate the top 3 Google Ads as well as their landing pages for their ability to ATTRACT and CONVERT visitors.
We grade each campaign out of 10:
5 Points for ATTRACT: the actual Google Ad
5 Points for CONVERT: the Landing Page experience
Let’s get started!
This week we Googled “beatles vinyl”
Google Ad #1
Company: Amazon.ca
Amazon.ca AdWords Ad:
The Good…
Use of our search term in the ad title
Use of the trusted “Amazon” brand in the ad copy.
Presents an offer in ad copy. (Free shipping over $25)
The Not so Good…
The ad is overly generic. We can tell that the ad wasn’t created specifically for “beatles vinyl” related terms, but is using a technique called keyword replace to get the search term in the ad title.
“Great prices on popular music” does not really speak to our search for beatles material.
Poor use of the display URL. It would have been better to refer to “beatles-vinyl” in the display URL rather than generic “pop music”. Again, the ad is too general, and we worry that the quality score will suffer, upping the overall cost per click.
AdWords Score: 3/5
Amazon.ca Landing Page:
The Good…
Gave us exactly what we were looking for right away.
Quickly provides options at various price points for us to purchase.
Provides reviews at a glance for each product.
The Not so Good…
It’s obvious that the page was not designed specifically as a paid search landing page. Amazon is simply directing us to search results using their own search engine. In Amazon’s case this works well because their internal search is fantastic. Many online retailers are not quite as lucky, leaving visitors with much to be desired with their on site search results.
A “buy now” or “add to cart” button for each product right on the landing page would avoid an extra click for those who are ready to make a purchase. Currently, in order to purchase, we have to click to the product page, and then click to purchase.
Amazon.ca Landing Page Score: 4/5
TOTAL AMAZON.CA ADWORDS SCORE: 7/10
Google Ad #2
Company: Acousticsounds.com
Acousticsounds.com AdWords Ad:
The Good…
Giving us exactly what we’re looking for right in the title, as well as an excellent description of the product throughout the ad.
Clearly an ad designed specifically for “beatles” related searches, not generic in any way.
The Not so Good…
Ad doesn’t take advantage of the opportunity to be “beatles” specific in the display URL. This is an often overlooked way to increase your ad’s relevancy to the users search and can increase your quality score.
While the description of the product is good, it comes at the cost of a call to action. There is nothing that drives immediacy in this ad.
AdWords Score: 4/5
Acousticsounds.com Landing Page:
The Good…
It does provide an advertisement for the beatles records we’re looking in the rotating section at the top of the page.
The Not so Good…
This is the website’s homepage. Sending highly targeted traffic (in this case, users looking for beatles vinyl) to the homepage of your website is typically a bad idea.
The product we’re looking for is only advertised in a rotation and not a mainstay on the page. Since this is the homepage, it is likely that this ad will eventually be taken out of the rotation. When that happens the user will have no indication that this website is relevant to the search they completed on Google. Further to that, the image itself does not provide the user with an indication that it is clickable to go to the product itself.
Clutter. There are just too many things going on to distract from the purchase of the product we searched for. Again, this all goes back to being linked to the homepage.
Acousticsounds.com Landing Page Score: 1/5
TOTAL ACOUSTICSOUNDS.COM ADWORDS SCORE: 5/10
Google Ad #3
Company: Audiophile USA
Audiophile USA AdWords Ad:
The Good…
Search term right in the title
The search term is also repeated in both lines of text.
The Not so Good…
No strong call to action or offer
The display URL does not take advantage and use the keyword or relevant text.
Audiophile USA AdWords Score: 3/5
Audiophile USA Landing Page:
The Good…
Presents exactly what we’re looking for in a easy to browse format.
Very little distraction in the overall goal of getting us to purchase.
Tells us exactly hope many items in store match my search.
Can purchase items right from the landing page.
The Not so Good…
A lot of real estate dedicated to duplicate items. Would be good to see more variety on first page results.
While we know from the product description that these are LPs, it isn’t immediately evident upon landing on the page that these match our search for “beatles vinyl”. There should be a title on page that spells this out, so we know right away when we land that these are relevant items.
Audiophile USA Landing Page Score:3/5
TOTAL AUDIOPHILE USA ADWORDS SCORE: 6/10
Who’s Getting My Business for “beatles vinyl”?
While each of the competitors have a some work to do, our business is going to Amazon.ca. While the ad was fairly generic, it did present an offer worth investigating, and indicated that they had what I wanted in the ad title. Once we got to the landing page, we were sold as it was by far the best of the bunch.
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The post Critiquing Your Google Adwords Campaigns… Edition 4 appeared first on Op Ed Marketing.