The short answer
For a service, the ad is doing two jobs: attracting people who need it and discouraging people who do not. Vague copy does the first and not the second.
Plain description outperforms cleverness in almost every case, because the reader is deciding in a second whether this is relevant to them.
What belongs in the space
| Element | Why |
|---|---|
| What you actually do | Obvious, frequently missing |
| Who it is for | Filters before the click |
| Where you work | Matters for many services |
| What happens next | Reduces hesitation |
| Something specific and true | Separates you from generic copy |
The last row is where most service ads fail. Everybody claims quality and experience, so those words carry no information at all.
Be specific enough to be checkable
- A named specialism rather than a general claim
- The sectors you actually work in
- The size of engagement you take on
- How quickly you respond
- Something a competitor could not honestly copy
Specificity reduces clicks and increases enquiries. That is the right trade for a services business paying per click.
Match the ad to the page
- The page should repeat the promise the ad made.
- Use the same words, because different wording feels like the wrong page.
- Put the enquiry route near the top.
- Remove anything unrelated to why they clicked.
- Check it on a phone, where most clicks come from.
Mismatch between ad and page is a common and expensive fault. The visitor has to work out whether they are in the right place, and many will not bother.
Test one thing at a time
With modest volumes you cannot test many variants meaningfully. Change one element, let it run long enough to mean something, and accept that many tests will be inconclusive.
Inconclusive is a legitimate result. Acting on a difference that is only noise is worse than leaving it alone.