1. Make your words count: You’ll only have a few lines of text to entice a customer to click your ad, so maximize the little you have to work with.

Don’t be afraid to brag. If you’re a PSN Top 50 Builder or the largest service provider in your market, by all means, mention it. Words such as “award-winning“ and “largest” generate more clicks than a generic description of your company, advises Brett Lloyd Abbott, owner and president of MYM Austin, a marketing firm serving the pool and spa industry. Rather than a company description, some even include a customer review or testimonial.

2. Be specific: If you serve a large metropolitan market, run AdWords campaigns singling out specific cities. Google assigns each ad a quality score from 1 to 10, based on a number of factors, including relevance. The higher the score, the more likely an ad will land in the No. 1 spot. “Google wants to know that if I’m searching for a pool builder in Plano, Texas that [the builder serves] Plano, Texas. So, if your Google Places says Dallas, you might not get the best quality score,” says Joseph Christoforo, owner and co-founder of Pool Builder Lead Rocket in Austin, Texas.

3. Always include a landing page: When someone searches for a specific service — say, “tile cleaning” or “automatic pool cover repair” — they want your ad to send them directly to a landing page with information about that service. In other words, they don’t want to go to your website’s homepage.

Also, if you’re running a special offer — say, $5,100 off a pool installation — the landing page should outline specifics of that deal and include a field where prospects can input their contact information. (See example above.)

4. Include negative keywords: You don’t want your ad to appear in searches for aboveground pools if you do not offer them. When creating your ad, you’ll have an opportunity to make a list of search terms that aren’t relevant to your company. These are called negative keywords, and they’re just as critical. You don’t want to be charged each time someone clicks your ad for a spa when they were looking for a massage and a facial. Therefore, “spa” would be a negative keyword if you sell hot tubs. Christoforo warns that non-related searches could burn through your AdWords budget very quickly.