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One of the mistakes people make when advertising on Google Adwords is not testing their Ad copy. The first Ad you come up with is rarely the one that pulls the most clicks! This is why wise advertisers run simple A/B split-tests to improve their Click-Through Rate (CTR).

With an A/B split-test you show one version of your Ad to half the searchers and a different one to the other half. Google can rotate the two ads for you and they will show how many clicks and conversions each ads gets.

You can (and should) run a split-test for every Adgroup in your Campaign. These are the steps you need to take to set up your first split-test.

1. Change Your Campaign Settings

If you miss this step, you are going to base your decisions on the wrong data. If you run two ads, by default Google will start showing the one with the highest CTR more often. Don’t let Google take control of your campaign: you want to wait for each Ad to get at least 60 clicks before you decide which one is the winner.

To modify the default behavior, access your Campaign settings (click on the checkbox next to the Campaign name, then on the “Edit Settings” button), then look for the section called “Advanced Options”. As you see in the picture above, you need to change the Ad Serving from “Optimize” to “Rotate”. This will tell Google to keep rotating the ads evenly.

2. Add A New Ad

Now that your campaign settings are correct, you can click on the Adgroup you want to work on. Once you are shown the Adgroup details, click on the “Ad Variations” tab, as indicated in the picture below.

In this tab you are going to see the Ad that is currently running. In order to add a new variation, just click on the “New Text Ad” link.

You can now enter your new Ad. In my next article I will give you some ideas on what you should test. For the moment, just try to change as little as a single word (find a synonym for that one, such as “download” instead of “get”) and save the new version.

Mark today’s date, so that you will know how to filter your data when you analyze the results.

3. Pick The Winner

Check your stats regularly, to notice when each Ad gets to 60 clicks. Some people wait for 30 clicks only, others (like me) wait until 100. The more you wait, the more reliable is the statistical sample.

To pick your winner, you need to access the “Ad Variations” tab. Next to each ad, you will see something like this:

Focus your attention on the Click-Through Rate (CTR) and the Cost Per Conversion (Cost/Conv.). If you don’t see anything appear under the Conversion columns, that’s because you didn’t install the “Google Tracking Code” in your thank-you page.

Your goal is to create an Ad that pulls more clicks, that is with a higher CTR. In the example above, the first version pulls more clicks.

Some people base their decision on CTR only, but you are a smart advertiser and will look at the Cost Per Conversion too. As you see, with the first Ad the Cost Per Conversion has increased: the Ad is pulling more clicks, but those extra visitors aren’t converting.

In this case, I would keep Ad number 2 active (which has lower Cost Per Conversion), pause Ad number 1 and create a new Ad trying to beat the control (the winning Ad).

Going The Extra Mile

As in many things in life, the people who go the extra mile get the best results in the long run.

It takes you only a few minutes to set up a split-test and over time you will see your CTR go up and your costs go down.

If you are looking for Video Tutorials and Articles that can teach you how to Drive Traffic to your Website and Convert it into Sales, then your search is over. Head over to www.TechSavvyMarketer.com and meet Vittorio Bosio, the author of this article.

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