How to increase your online ad conversions

In this blog we explore five factors that can make your ads more clickable.

1. Curiosity

Humans are curious by nature. We want to know more about certain subjects that interest us. So if you start your advertisement with a question, the reader will most likely want to find out more if it peaks their interest. You can also use contradictions to grab their attention.

2. Benefit

By providing a benefit in your advertisement, people will be more likely to click through. If you imply that they might learn something new, it can give you a competitive advantage.

3. Emotion

People tend to respond to certain words – this is especially true if they trigger an emotion. Using the right words in your advertisement can increase the chance of customers taking an action.

4. Credibility

The majority of people like the idea of something tangible – something they can understand. When you hear a question like “How long is a piece of string?” you don’t feel comfortable with it because there isn’t a single, definitive answer. Try to add a bit of credibility to your ads – if it’s not believable, people will not click.

5. Expectation

It’s important not to overpromise things in your advertisement. Be reasonable with your expectations. You can’t promise that you will get to the top rank in Google for a search term in less than two weeks if you can’t follow through with it.

So how do you go about creating an attention-grabbing headline?

Create a mind map of headlines

Many of the most successful copywriters sit down with a blank notepad and write down as many titles as they can until they run out of ideas. It’s as simple as putting your pen to paper and writing everything that pops into your head. Try to at least write 20 headlines. Some of them might be horrible, but you can play around with the words until they work.

Take a look through old magazines

One way of getting ideas is to take a trip down your local library or bookstore and check out their magazine selection. Take note of the titles that grab your attention. You can then implement a similar structure on your ad.

Create a swipe file

A swipe file is a folder where you save all useful articles, magazines titles, newspaper headlines and so on for future use. Create a folder to save any interesting headlines you come across when surfing the web. When you’re starting to write new copy for an ad, open your swipe file for your relevant niche and browse through the ideas. You can then use your mind map technique and pick a good structure to start with.

Read and comment on the original Entrepreneur article.