Advertising on Google’s search engine results page (SERP) is an extremely effective method to reach your customers. As an advertiser, we want our ads to be most dominant on the SERP, and there are three factors that influence this: the position of our ad, the size of our ad and the quality of the ad text.
We explained in our previous article the importance of achieving one of the top four positions, especially with the removal of the right-hand column. Today, we’ll be explaining how to increase the size of your ad to make it more prominent, achieving a higher click-through-rate (CTR) and greater return on investment. To do this we use ad extensions.
What are ad extensions?
Ad extensions are formatting features that anyone using Google AdWords can take advantage of. They are used to increase the amount of information your ad contains. There are 11 types of extensions: that’s 11 ways to dominate SERPs with your ads. Let’s run through our favourites and most used.
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Call extension - add a phone number or call button (on mobile) to your ad.
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Location extension - add a clickable address of your business, linking to Google Maps.
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Sitelink extension - add alternative link options to other pages on the website.
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Callout extensions - add text to describe deals or USPs that your business offers.
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Structured Snippets - add extra detail about your product or service (grouped in categories).
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Review extension - add a good review of your business to your ad.
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App extension - add a link to your app, or a download button if you’re on a mobile.
Here’s an example two ad results from the same search. Firstly, the ad without any extensions:
And here’s the ad that places above it on the SERP, which does feature ad extensions:
Notice the difference? The more information the ad contains, the more space it takes up, resulting in higher visibility with the added benefit of more relevant, useful information for the user. Higher visibility + more relevant information = a higher Click Through Rate.
For more details on all ad extensions, including previews of what they look like, we recommend visiting the official Google documentation here.
Ad rank formula update
Last week Google released an update which makes ads in higher positions more likely to display ad extensions. This means ads in lower positions are no longer able to display more ad extensions than those at the top of the page. So if you want all of your ad extensions to be displayed and utilised, ensure you are sitting at the top position of the SERP.
Get started with ad extensions
Are your ads using extensions? Could your ads be enhanced? Do you want a higher Click through rate? Contact Mark Evans to find out how adwords and extensions can work for your business.