Ad extensions on Google Ads are add-ons like phone number, address, website links and ratings on standard ad texts. They can help increase clicks as they take up more screen space and have user-relevant information, which can improve your campaign’s CTR. Anyone who works with sponsored links knows that […]

Anyone who works with sponsored links knows that every detail is important to gain the top positions and make the desired conversion. From the ad description to the landing page, each point can make a difference in earning new conversions.

To further optimize your results, Ads offers ad extensions, which are those lines that complement your standard text ad. Extensions are uncomplicated ways to increase your chances of clicks on an ad by improving your campaign’s CTR as Blue World City have said, a good CTR greatly lowers the price you pay for the click.

Ad extensions increase visibility by taking up more space on your screen display and passing information that might be relevant to the user without you having to pay extra for it. In addition, they can serve as a tiebreaker if two competing ads have the same bid and quality.

But before you go out using ad extensions, ask yourself: which ones apply best to your business model? Which will be most relevant to your audience? And most importantly: what do you offer satisfies your customer and thus brings more results for your company?

Automatic extensions

• Extensions from previous visits
• Dynamic sitelink extensions
• social extensions

Manual extensions

• Application Extensions
• call extensions
• location extensions
• Comment Extensions
• Sitelink Extensions
• Headline Extensions

Automatic extensions

These are the extensions that don’t need a configuration, so there is no need for enablement. When creating an ad, Google itself defines when extensions will increase its performance.

When the user is browsing the internet and their searches and activities are saved in “Web and App Activity”, it creates a trail that can be measured for better Ads ad delivery for that profile.

This extension-linked information shows which people have visited either your site from Google Search results (also known as organic search) or from Search Network ads (paid search).

This way there is an indication in the ad such as: “You accessed site.com today” or “Last visit: 3 days ago”, as well as “You visited site.com 4 times”.

With this extension, you can create direct links to the most accessed sections of your website based on Google search behavior.

Fetching recent search activity, this extension shows links generated below the ad text pointing to a relevant page on your site. Most ads are eligible to include dynamic sitelinks as long as your campaign type is set to “Search Network with Display Display” or “Search Network Only”.

Google uses all its tools to its advantage and Google+ could not be left out. With the social extension you can show with your ads how many followers your company has on Google+. For this it is necessary:

• Your business has a Google+ Page with a verified URL.
• Your Google+ Page address (plus.google.com/+mysite) must also match your ad’s landing page domain (www.mysite.com.br). You can link to different pages, but with the same site.
• Your Google+ Page needs to be up-to-date with high quality posts and have at least about a hundred followers.

Manual extensions

Manual extensions are location extensions that have been created in your Google Ads account.

How to insert extensions:

• Sign up for Google Ads and click on + CAMPAIGN.
• Choose your campaign type, targeting options, and set your bids.
• Under “Ad extensions”, check the boxes next to the extensions you want to include. Depending on the extension, you will need to fill in more information (a phone number for calling extensions, for example).
• Click Save and Continue and complete the campaign creation.

This extension links your app to mobile and other mobile devices from text ads. Ads for installing mobile apps are directly associated with the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store, which makes it much easier for the user to download.

But before creating the campaign, think about your goals. Do you want people to download your app? Or do you want to encourage them to use more? These are basic questions, but fundamental for your campaign to be even more successful.

Main advantages of application extensions

• Flexibility: Add app extensions to accounts, campaigns and ad groups.
• Custom extensions for different devices: Create app extensions optimized for specific phones or disable on devices of your choice.
• “Smart” detection of app stores and devices: Create an extension for each app store. So the link is related to the customer’s device type optimizing their click.
• Start/End Dates and Schedule: Specify dates, days of the week or times of day your app extension should appear with the ad.
• In-Place Editing: Edit your app extension without resetting your performance statistics.
• Detailed reporting: Get information on how many clicks were received on each part of your ad when it appears. This can be measured in statistics by the campaign, ad group or ad.

Since you can only show one app extension per text ad, try creating multiple extensions, one for each app or app store. To get an idea of ​​where to start, see which models are accessing your site through Google Analytics in the area where mobile information is located.

Get people to call you through a clickable button ad. As with other extensions, there is no additional cost and will only be displayed on devices capable of making calls.

• Key Advantages of Call Extensions
• Convenience: People can call you more easily when they go from one place to another.
• Clicks: Clicks generate calls exclusively for your company.
• Metrics: You can count calls as conversions.
• Conversion: Call extensions typically have a 6-8% higher click-through rate.

This extension can still promote savings in investment in Ads. In some cases, the user copies the phone number that appears in the ad instead of clicking directly to make the call.

This extension displays the address, phone number, and a map marker with ad text. On mobile devices, they include a link with routes to your business. Ad clicks with location extensions come at a standard cost-per-click, meaning no additional cost.

Key Advantages of Location Extensions

• Approximation: encourages people to visit your company.
• Contact: Enter multiple addresses manually or link with your Google My Business account.
• Targeting: Separate your ads around your business address.
• Conversion: On average, ads with location extensions show a 10% increase in clickthrough rate.

One of the things that guarantee a good image of your company on the web is testimonial evidence. With this extension, you can get good comments from third parties from trusted sources.

To explain in practice, let’s assume that the company was mentioned in a story on a major website in your industry. So you can copy the excerpt and use it in the ad referring to the source. It will appear in an additional line of text below your Google Search Network ads. This makes a good impression and gives your customers one more reason to click your link, which can increase your clickthrough rate (CTR) by up to 10%.

Pay attention when creating your campaign. Please remember that comments are only displayed on the Google Search Network, meaning they are not available on the Display Network.

Like all Google Ads ads, comment extensions are also subject to an approval process. It takes some care so that he does not fail. See what can’t be done in your ad:

• The use of personal comments unrelated to a publication or organization.
• Repeat your company name in the comment text.
• Comment made over 12 months ago.
• The use of a comment that does not come directly from the indicated source.
• Changing the original text of the comment (exclamation marks, for example).

Another important factor to remember is that it is your responsibility to ask permission for the third-party comment to be inserted into the ad extension.

Make your customers find what they are looking for with just one click. Sitelink extension causes your ad to show links to specific pages on your site in addition to the landing page already established in your ad.

You must have a maximum of 25 characters, and be aware of the number of links on each page of the search result. For computers and tablets it is between two and six links, while for cell phones with browsers the number of links is only four.

Provide a description about your page. When you display additional information with sitelinks, your ads become more relevant to potential customers. You can do this manually or Google collects the information automatically.

Here are some reasons to add sitelinks to ads:

• Show shortcuts: Link directly to sections of your website that are popular or high converting.
• Less work: No need to create new text ads or edit them to include sitelinks.
• Simple update: Change link text and URLs whenever you want, keeping them up to date for sales and special offers.
• Flexibility: Add sitelinks to a campaign or ad group.
• Detailed reporting: Find out how many clicks your ad received when sitelinks were displayed. Separate statistics by campaign, ad or ad group. Segment your stats using “This Extension vs. other” to see how many clicks have occurred on the individual sitelink compared to another part of the ad (eg headline, other sitelinks, or another extension).
• Data retention: Edit your sitelinks without resetting their performance statistics.
• Custom mobile sitelinks : Create sitelinks optimized to be displayed on mobile phones, or disable specific sitelinks on your chosen devices.
• Schedule with start and end dates: Specify the dates, days of the week or times of day that your sitelinks are displayed. Another point that can be observed in sitelinks is when it comes to broad keywords. If a user searches “Marketing Digital” he may have several different intentions. In sitelinks we can indicate these various intentions (eBook, blog, course, tools, etc).

With this extension it is possible to display additional text in the ad on the Search Network. Here you can talk about your company highlighting products or services. “Buy in 3 installments without interest”, “24h service”, “Custom products” are some examples.

For your ad to qualify, you must create at least two callouts per account, campaign, or ad group. But don’t overdo it, Google recommends creating a maximum of four per level.

How to create phrases that are more likely to be displayed by Google

• Use short texts: be objective, use 25 characters or less.
• Create relevant phrases: You can create something of impact for your product or service, but don’t use exclamation points, punctuation at the beginning of the text, repeated punctuation or emoticons.
• The more phrases your campaign has, the better: create phrases with specific promotional texts and increase their chance of showing them. But don’t duplicate or repeat the callout text in other callouts.

To finish

On all ads your placement will be measured (among other factors) by your quality score. It’s no use applying extensions well if your keywords aren’t ideal, your landing page doesn’t agree, or your content isn’t relevant. Remember that every step of the process is critical to the success of your campaign.

We hope these tips can help you further with your conversions.