Your click-through rate (CTR) plays a crucial role in determining your success with AdWords.  It is one of the big factors that is calculated when Google decides where your ad’s position on a page will be located and (more importantly) how much you will pay per click.  The impact your click-through rate can have on the performance of your ads cannot be underestimated – sometimes it makes the difference between paying $0.10 and $10.00 for each click.

Naturally, you AdWords CTR should be something that you spend a good amount of time and effort tweaking to achieve the best results.  Not only should you see a lower cost per click, but you should see a significant increase in your traffic and clicks when you improve your click-through rate.

While your click-through rate for AdWords is vitally important to your campaign’s health, you should ultimately focus on your goals – conversions, subscribers, newsletter signups, etc.  Otherwise, you will be driving more traffic to your site that is not doing anything but costing you more money.

Rounded up from some of the best sources on the web (and a few that I have used successfully), here are some of the best strategies and methods for increasing and improving your AdWords click-through rate.  Keep in mind that targeting and standing out from your competitors will give you the best results when trying to increase your CTR.

Create an arrow with your ad

This method was made popular when Shoemoney wrote a post chronicling some ad variations where he created an “arrow” with the ad copy.

The ad copy forming a > is at .40% CTR where the normal is at .19%. So this was actually over a 200% increase in CTR. – Shoemoney

Include keywords in your ad

One of the basic (but often overlooked) strategies is to include the keywords assigned to an ad in the title and description.  When someone does a search for particular keywords – and those keywords are in your ad – they will be shown in bold compared the normal font weight.

Test with the Search Network

Sometimes the search network will perform better than Google’s own network, so try running your ads there as well.  However, sometimes using the search network will bring down your ads’ CTR – so be sure to try both ways.  I have seen some campaigns do very well and others perform terribly.

The search network can have a positive or negative effect on your CTR, there’s really no way to tell how it will impact your overall campaign CTR. Make sure you test it on & off. – Earners Blog

Increase your bid amounts

Try increasing your bid amounts so that your ad will display in a higher position on the page (and thus get clicked on more).  After a few days start to slowly lower your bid, you will eventually hit a lower limit where your CTR will start going down.  Once you hit this position, keep your bids the same.

Continually split test everything

One of the most efficient and useful ways to increase your CTR is by non-stop testing of each variable in your ads:

• The title
• Description
• Display URL

The easiest way to do this is to keep selecting the best-performing ads and getting rid of those that don’t perform up to standards.  If you continue to do this, you will end up with ads that have extremely high click-through rates.

Use a price in the title

A great way to draw attention to your ad is to use a price on the title.  It will make your stand out when people are searching.

Adding the price in the headline is a great way to increase CTR. Be careful with this one though, if you’re not the cheapest, you’re CTR will suffer. – Redfly Marketing

Maximize your descriptions

Descriptions are a very powerful way to increase your CTR.  Many suggest writing the first line of your description by showing the features and benefits, with the second line being a call to action and/or price.

Use keyword insertion

A powerful way to increase your CTR is by using keyword insertion in your ad.  This allows you to really effectively match your ad with what a searcher has typed in.

I try to stay away from keyword insertion on the most part but it’s useful when you’re trying to get a campaign up & running quickly. It’s great for CTR since it’ll substitute the keyword into your ad. – Earners Blog

Test display URL variations

Another basic, yet often overlooked method is to try variations of your display URL in your ads.  You have several options to choose from:

• http://www.YourDomain.com
• http://www.yourdomain.com/Page
• http://YourDomain.com
• http://yourdomain.com/Page
• www.YourDomain.com
• www.yourdomain.com
• YourDomain.com
• yourdomain.com
• YourDomain.com/Page
• yourdomain.com/page
• http://www.YourDomain.com/Page
• http://www.yourdomain.com/page
• http://YourDomain.com/Page
• http://yourdomain.com/page
• www.YourDomain.com/Page
• www.yourdomain.com/Page

It is amazing which display URLs work for different keywords.  This is an easy, effective way to test and find the best results.  As you can see there are several variations that you can test, and often even small things like capitalization to separate words can have a big effect on your CTR.

Use the Trademark Symbol

You can effectively increase your AdWords CTR by including the trademark symbol in your title or description.  This will make your product/page appear official, and the symbol naturally draws attention because of its uniqueness in PPC ads.

Accept Google Checkout

If you have Google Checkout enabled on your site, you can see huge increases in CTR as a result of the large button that is displayed in your ads.

If you don’t believe that using that button from Google Checkout gives you a higher CTR and an advantage over your competition give me a call I’ve got some beach front property in Vegas I’d like to sell you. – Michael Gray: Graywolf’s SEO Blog

Seasonal Headlines

Tailoring your ads to a particular time of year can deliver more targeted buyers.  The ad is more relevant to the people searching because it mentions a particular time, holiday or season.

Doesn’t matter if your product is not seasonal. If you sell blue widgets all year around, a headline like “Easter Widget Sale” will work great. There are so many different holidays, festivals and events that this can be used with. If you’re targeting locally, even better. – Redfly Marketing

Ask a question

Often, posing a question to those searching for an answer can yield excellent click-through rates.  They are trying to find something – and you are there posing the question to assist.

Include a number

Numbers (and any other unique characters) can make a marked impact on your ads.  Many times a page will be filled with ads, and if yours is the only one with numbers – it will stand out from the rest.