If you’ve been struggling to get the most from your AdWords campaigns, look no further, young padawan, for you shall be a master soon!
AdWords isn’t the simplest maze to navigate. To begin with, you require a list of keywords which will work the best for your campaign. And once you’ve got that covered, you’ll have to spend your hard-earned money to figure out which terms actually lead to conversions and which don’t.
Painful. But this isn’t the end, still.
You’ll then have to cut down your list, figure out and adjust which match types they’re returning, and work on more terms that will give concrete results.
This is a long, drawn-out process which undoubtedly takes a long time. If you have any intention of rushing this process, be warned: you won’t get half the results you can ultimately get with the right amount of data using AdWords.
But that’s just the basics. Let’s take a look at some advanced tactics which you can leverage for better campaign performance and, consequently, increase profitability.
Not for hair: Hello, AdWords Extensions
AdWords extensions are like hair extensions for ads: there seems to be a lot more than there actually is. The crucial difference, however, is that an AdWords extension isn’t just for show! You can upgrade your ad from a regular pixie cut to a full-blown waterfall or dual-texture braid with the help of AdWords extensions – and every bit of information you add to you ad will help it stand out for your potential customers.
So your ad goes from this…
… to this:
By conveying more in lesser space, your ad has a much better chance of lowering your cost per click, and therefore, of improving your conversion rates. Isn’t an AdWords extension-supplemented ad so much better than the regular ol’ ad with just the basic headline, ad copy, and the URL?
Of course it is!
So let’s talk about how to get there.
How to get enable Ad Extensions on your Ads
To “extend” to your ads, so to speak, the first thing you need to do is log into AdWords. Then, you have to click on “Ad Extensions” in the upper menu.
Once here, you will have to select the type of extension you wish to add. You will see the following options dropping down from the “Ad extensions” menu.
In this post, we’re going to understand how to work with the following:
- Sitelinks extensions
- Location extensions
- Call extensions
- App extensions
- Review extensions
- Callout extensions
But, not so quick! First, we need an answer to this question: will our conversion rates really increase if we add these extensions really? Let’s crunch some number to arrive at the bottom of this!
#1: Sitelinks extensions
With sitelinks extensions you can show additional links to your site in addition to the regular ad copy.
Here’s an example of what your ad can look like with sitelinks extensions enabled:
You can also set them up in a way that they show a little more text, as in the example below.
You should keep in mind that setting an ad up doesn’t guarantee that it’ll be shown to users in the same way. Since Google controls which ads are displayed and if there is any extra text below it, it’s advised to format your ad in both ways. If you do this your sitelinks extension shows up when it’s possible with the additional text.
Do do that, here are the steps you need to follow:
- Find “Ad Extensions” in the upper menu, click on it, and then select “Sitelinks Extensions.”
Once you’ve reached here, you’ll have to click on the red “+Extensions” button. Now you have to select the campaign to wish you would like to add this extension.
Then, select “+New Sitelink” – and you can now add site links to your campaign.
Next, you’ll a pop-up box which looks like this:
Here, you will have to add the link text headline, the final URL, and any description copy if want any add additional text. If you select “mobile” as the device preference, then you can also have the extension show up only on mobile devices.
That’s nearly it! Once you hit “Save,” the site link will be updated and ready to fetch you more business! Still, you may want to adjust the settings separately for ad groups, as you may want the site link to show up for certain ad groups but not for others.
Now, let’s look at the second type of extensions:
#2: Location Extensions
Location extensions are invaluable for small and medium businesses looking to gain a foothold in a particular geographical area. Location extensions improve local ads showing the address, phone number, and a map marker for a particular local business. In mobile ads, these extensions also show a direction link for users who would like to reach the physical location of a business. Here’s what a location extension will typically look like:
This extension certainly helps the ad to stand out – notice how it conveys expected information in addition to the crucial fact that the advertiser is a local business! Moreover, it even displays whether the business is closed or open – thus helping the user to arrive at a quick decision if they need to.
#3: Call Extensions
This AdWords extension lets you add your phone number to your Google ads. As expected, this makes it simpler for users to reach out to your business directly, especially if they’re browsing on mobile devices. This is exceptionally helpful because a user no longer has to visit your website to get your contact number, and thus they can save valuable time!
This extension also adds another element that gets your ad noticed and, hopefully, clicked. Google claims that all phone numbers increase click-through rates by around 6% to 8% – a significant amount!
Here’s what a call extension would look like in your ad:
If you have the kind of business that relies on direct communication with clients, then this extension is definitely the way to go forward!
#4: Review Extensions
You can use review extensions to add reviews by third-party websites to boost the credibility of your business. Below you can find an ad which uses a review from TrustRadius – but the third-party website can be any trusted page that meets your requirement.
As long as Google can verify the credibility of a certain review posted on a website, you can rest assured that it will show up on your Adwords extension! Do keep in mind, though, that you can’t use your own website – since it’s impossible to be objective in such a case.
#5: App Extensions
If your business has an iOs or Android app, then App Extensions will enable you to include an ‘app download’ button in your search ad for both mobile and tablet devices. With this, you can take your users directly to the app store to download your app! Convenient, isn’t it? Here’s what app extensions look like:
If your app is only available on Android, then the ad will only show a download button on Android phones or tablets. Similarly for iOS devices as well – you will not have to worry about false redirects here.
The extension will automatically generates your app icon, the app title, and everything else that’s visible – including the URL, app store rating, description, the number of downloaders, and most importantly an ‘install’ CTA button. Trust me, you can’t go wrong with this Adwords extension!
#6: Callout Extensions
You can use callout extensions to add shorts blurbs to your ad and make them more exciting! These blurbs appear right under your ad copy as we can see below:
You can use callout extensions as a way to intimate your potential customers about your USP. This can range anywhere from quick turnaround times to free shipping, guaranteed x or lower y, and so on, depending upon your industry. A one-liner which not only gets the essence of your company but also describes what it does best would be ideal – so get the best copy you can for it!
Now to plan some fantastic campaigns!
Depending on what you want to get out of your ads, you can use as many of these AdWords extensions as you want! As with anything, there is a learning curve here too, but nothing that you won’t get in a small amount of time. The extensions are a great way to drive growth for your company through PPC campaigns, as contemporary history tells us. Each extension can be used in a unique way to reach one end-goal; when we combine two or more of them, we can work magic!
So let us know, young master, how do you plan to use AdWords extensions for growth? Email us at contact@contentninja.in.
Image courtesy: Neil Patel Blog
