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Effective advertising takes thought and planning. Just putting together an ad on Google or Yahoo! based on a set of keywords isn’t quite enough.

What’s the goal of your ad? If you’re selling a product, you are trying to generate sales, but if you’re selling a service of some kind such as web page development, you are trying to generate a contact. That ultimate end will dictate how you should shape your campaign.

When your customer clicks your ad where is it going to take him? Is your landing page going to be the main page of your site or a specific target page for a product or service you’re highlighting.  Having a focused page for that ad to take the customer to may end up generating more interest in your overall site than just clicking through to the home page would.

Do you have a “hook”? Something like a discount or special shipping rate often gets buyers’ attention and can make or break a sale. Having an end date that’s in the very near future gives your ad a sense of urgency and helps encourage the buyer to close the sale.

Special features help bring in sales. For example a television set with an added feature like closed captioning where that model doesn’t normally come with it can make the customer feel like they are getting added value for their money. Using words like “exclusive” and “unique” help give the customer a sense of getting something special.

The page your buyer lands on should contain words that he found in your ad. It not only reinforces to your buyer that he’s in the right place, but helps your Quality Score on Google and Quality Index on Yahoo!.

Be sure to monitor your ad to see how it’s performing. If your ad isn’t generating the number of clicks you think it should, then you may need to adjust it. Maybe your keywords are too general. Tightening up on them, making them more specific may help get more clicks. “Electric Car” is going to get more clicks than “car”. Sometimes colors can make an ad pull in customers. There are quite a few studies out there showing that blue generates more interest than other colors do.

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