The importance of Display URLs in PPC

The majority of PPC URLs are displayed like www.domainname.co.uk/keyword in order to increase the Quality Score, make the ad text stand out, and more importantly, manipulate the searcher into thinking they are going to that very specific landing page.
However, I recently had an issue with a PPC client whereby the Quality Score was very low compared to a previous account I managed in the same industry. One of the main factors I thought could be affecting this was the URL as it was not related to the service that they provided. When I took over the PPC ads already had the domain name and then the keyword after the .co.uk/ but it didn’t seem to be helping the CTR or Quality Score.
I therefore decided to test a change in the Display URL structure. I moved the keyword BEFORE the URL to see if that made any difference; www.keyword.domainname.co.uk. This way the structure made it look like the domain (and therefore website) was directly related to the Google search term.
Results: We saw an increase in CTR from 9.42% to 15.64%. This resulted in an increase to the Quality Score and resulted in a 30% decrease in average CPC for the PPC campaign.
This technique is worthwhile testing if you don’t have an industry related URL or if you are advertising specific brands. Eg. If you were selling watches, even if your URL is www.watchseller.co.uk, can imagine the impact on CTR if you displayed it as www.Breil.watchseller.co.uk? Especially as Google Trademark Policy does not apply to display URLs. Happy testing everyone!