When all else is equal structurally, Ad Extensions are SEMs X Factor" and can differentiate the top performers from the mediocre
The overall benefit of using Ad Extensions is the direct impact on CTR from displaying the right message, product, address, or phone number, in addition to your original text ad. What many advertisers dont consider is that there is also an indirect impact on CTR resulting from the extra coverage on the ad space, especially if the competition isnt utilizing extensions as well
Lets review AdWords Ad Extensions and why you should use them
Sitelinks: Write Compelling Lyrics
Sitelinks can do wonders for your campaigns by driving promotions and boosting CTR while saving precious characters for your text ads. You can use AdWords Editors bulk features, AdWords UIs bundles or your PPC management software to control, track, and report on sitelinks. Make sure to constantly monitor your link text performance to detect the high and poor performers
Drive time-sensitive promotions: Control and apply discounts and special offers across multiple campaigns for your top rank 1-3 keywords.Focus on profitability: Identify your most profitable products and services, and drive users there while improving user experience.Push secondary business objectives: Drive leads, show directions, promote gift certificates, or simply provide contact information
Location Extensions: Rock the Stage
Local Extensions are a perfect way to display local presence, whether you do it in-house, via a local feed management company or a PPC management software. Make sure to choose correct default business icons or get creative and upload your own
Literally put your business on the map: Display the physical locations of your branches and stores with an address to take advantage of SERP, where top 1-3 ranks get an additional Google Maps drop-down link.Nationwide and local coverage: Promote the physical location and services of your branch to the users located in a different city/state/country if you have a nationwide footprint. This feature is perfect for the travel vertical as well as local businesses.Utilize proximity bidding (beta): Enables advertisers to adjust bids by using a % multiplier against a desired radius from a location. If you know which branches and/or regions convert best, you can increase your bids and shift more traffic to those locations and bring in higher quality leads
Product Extensions: Dress to Impress
You can easily connect your Google Merchant Center shopping feed with your AdWords campaigns with this extension type and let Google choose the most relevant products and images under text ads. Its a perfect way to showcase your products before even accruing costs
Select the right product category: Make sure your campaigns and your shopping feed are tightly structured for the right search query vs. product match.Add {adtype} parameter in your feed: This allows you to differentiate the performance between Product Extensions and Product Listing Ads
Click-to-Call: Operators are Standing By
This year will be mobiles year has been the most common prediction in the online advertising circuit seemingly every year over the past decade. It looks like 2012 may finally deliver on that prophecy as the adoption of smart phones is exploding. If youre already using a phone number in your text ad, it will prevent a click-to-call extension from showing
Connect with customers immediately: Your customers are just one click away without even getting to your website. Make sure your creative is compelling.Drive high quality traffic to your business: Has a direct impact on conversion rates (online-to-offline) and offers the best traffic quality compared to other ad extensions
There is No Excuse for Not Using Ad Extensions
In the entertainment industry, you either have the X Factor or you dont. Thanks to Google, this isn"t a concern for Ad Extensions as you have all the tools right at hand. Its just a matter of having the will and creating the time to apply these methods as efficiently as possible
Now is your moment to shine.
