Tip: Measuring the performance of ad text

In pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, understanding keyword performance is essential. But did you know that you can also use Google Analytics to see how different ad copy affects conversion rates? The cross-segmentation feature (click the red arrow to the left of your results) enables you to see not only how a keyword performed, but also which ad copy was most effective.

For example, go to the “AdWords Analysis” report under “Marketing Optimization/Search Engine Marketing.” Drill down from the Campaign to the Ad Group to the Keyword by clicking on the plus sign. To cross-segment a keyword by ad copy, click on the red "Analysis Options" button to the left of your desired keyword.

Select “Cross Segment Performance” and then the “Content” option. (See screenshot below.) Assuming that you have enabled autotagging on your AdWords account, this will display the first line of ad text in the creative.

You can also look at the overall performance of ad copy by looking in the "Overall Ad A/B Testing" report under "Content Optimization/Ad Version Testing." This report actually has a column called "Content" that displays the first line of ad text and the visits generated by that ad.

Posted by Aubrey Sabala, Google Analytics team