Today’s discussion is about Google Ads Extensions Best Practices. I love to use different extensions for my ads and I really think these are one of the best features of Google.
What is not to love about extensions? For one, using extensions can reduce your CTR. However, with so many extensions available, it can be quite confusing and overwhelming at the same time. Additionally, knowing when, why, and where to use them is another story.
Watch the video version of this article below:
To simplify what ad extensions are, they are additional features that enhance or extend your Google ads.
If you head over your Google Ads dashboard and click on the extensions on the menu, you can see a long list of available extensions like call extensions, sitelink extensions, and location extensions.
Benefits of Google Ads extensions:
Each of these extensions has its own advantages, but in general, the benefits of using Google Ads extensions include:
- They make your ads more visible because they take more room in the SERPs
- As I mentioned, ad extensions help improve your CTR because it helps you add more valuable information about your products and services
- They can boost conversions, in cases like the extra information provided can help customers make a purchase or provide your customers with more information
- They can help you achieve better quality score and this means lower CPCs as well
Now that we already know some of the benefits of Google Ads extensions, we will now head over and discuss some of my most used ads extensions. All of these extensions are important in terms of making improvements to your ads.
Tips and best practices on Google Ads extensions
Sitelinks
Sitelinks are probably the top extensions that most businesses use because it encourages users to go to one or more important pages of your website. You can also display 6 additional links as part of your search ads.
Additionally, since sitelinks allow you to add extra links to different pages of your website, this extension gives you more visibility in Google search.
Pro tips:
- Include sitelinks to your LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube pages.
- Make sure that each sitelink within a campaign or ad group must land on a unique URL
- You can make sitelinks specific to mobile by ticking off the device preference box when building the sitelink.
Callout extensions
Another widely used extension in Google Ads. Why? Because these extensions are one of the easiest to set up. When setting this type of extension, you do not need local business and address, you do not even need a retail store of your products or a business phone number. You just need to be creative with your ad text that’s it!
One of the benefits of callout extensions is it lets you extend your ad copy in a significant way. This will give you more room to place information into your ad.
Pro tip: You must create a minimum of two callouts for them to make an impression. Google recommends creating a maximum number, which is four.
Location extensions
One of the biggest mistakes most businesses make online is they forget to include their business address. However, searchers also look at the address to check and verify that the business is legit and not a scammer.
This is quite true for online e-commerce sites. If you own an online store and you want to see more growth, then location extensions are your helping tool. For brick and mortar businesses, location extensions are a must!
Pro tip: It is a common notion that offline and online commerce are two separate functions. Online and offline marketing can’t coexist or produce compounding results.
Well, not true. In a Google study related to local inquiries, it found out that 76% of people who searched for a nearby business online visited that business location within a single day. And of that number, 28% purchased a product. So, locations extensions work and it is not a bad idea to include your business address to get more results.
Call extensions
Call extensions are best used for business leads that need help, products, or information FAST. Like for example, you just got from a 14-hour shift as a nurse only to find out that your basement is flooded. So, you head to Google to search for a nearby plumber. Of all the results, the one thing that captured your attention is the result with the phone number to call.
Yes, I bet that anyone who has a flooded basement is not going to click the link to your website and browse your pages looking for the phone number. And that is the amazing thing with call extensions.
Pro tip: Use call extensions if you have a team that can handle phone calls. These extensions work well for potential customers who know exactly what they want and don’t want to spend time clicking through to your website and locating your phone number.
Review extensions
Review extensions let you add snippets of third-party reviews and testimonials to your ads. These extensions are an effective way to build customer trust. You can choose to display the exact quote or just a paraphrase with a link to the original source.
When it comes to marketing, customer reviews are your best marketing tools to increase your sales. Most people take time to research and read customer reviews before making a purchase.
Pro tips:
Since you can paraphrase reviews, make sure that you fully optimize the review section with something worth mentioning. Like for example:
“Very professional to work with. – Better Busines Bureau.
If you are reviewed and certified by the Better Business Bureau. If you have an A+ Rating, then make the most of your Google Ads review extensions as this is something you may not miss out on.
Final thoughts
Google Ads extensions ARE amazing because you get free “real estate” on Google. Your ads perform better and you’ll get a much higher return on your ads to spend every time. I suggest you only pick the extensions that apply directly to your goals for a campaign or specific ad.
Hopefully, this post can help spark a few ideas for those who are looking for ways to use this Google Ads feature.
