Improving Ad Quality, Part III

Using the Insert Keyword feature

In search advertising, relevance in everything. If I search on the term “42 Inch Plasma TV” and the first two results look like this, my eye and my click immediately go to the second ad.

Why? Because that’s what I was expecting to see. That’s what I wanted to see. That advertiser is explicitly telling me that they have the product I was asking for.

Fact is, simply placing your bidded keyword into your ad’s creative goes a long way toward making your ad more relevant to the potential customer, and thus improving your ad quality. (Hint: We’ve found that placing the keyword in the title is even better than placing it in the description.)

Insert Keyword Here
Luckily, we’ve made this much simpler in the new Sponsored Search system with a function we’ve called, creatively, Insert Keyword. Let me walk you through how it works so that you use it every chance you can: 

1.  On the Create New Ad page, place your cursor in either the Title or Description fields. A blue note will appear below the box: + Insert Keyword Automatically.

2. Click on the + Insert Keyword Automatically message and you’ll get a pop-up box that looks like this:

3. Enter the default text, click on “Add Keyword Placeholder” and voila! 

Wherever this notation—{KEYWORD: YourDefaultText}—appears in your ads, our system is designed to automatically identify which of your bidded keywords is being mapped to the search terms, and insert that keyword at that position.

(If you get confused at any time while using the Insert Keyword feature and feel like you’re alone on a desert island, hit the Help button, which will take you directly to the section that deals with Insert Keyword.)

Default text tips
What is the purpose of “default text?” Which form of the keyword do we display? Can that be altered?  Basically, default text appears if the system determines that a bidded keyword (or Alternative Text*) exceeds the system’s character limits. It is the text of last resort, which is why we require it.

So what should you put in the Enter Default Text box? Use a word or words that generally describe all of the keywords that you have in your ad group. Take our TVs example. That ad group may have a whole range of TV-related terms, including 42 inch Plasma TV, LCD TV, Wall Mount TV, etc. In this situation, you might choose TVs as your default text. Yes, it’s general, but it will work in a pinch if the system determines that your keyword won’t fit. 

Remember, having a direct relationship between what the potential customer is searching on and the creative of your ad can help you attract more customers and improve your ad quality.

*We’ll explore this handy feature in a future post.

—Michael Egan, Senior Director, Content Solutions

Read the first and second parts of this series. Read more about the Insert Keyword feature.