Ad Extensions to optimize an ad

There are three extensions every marketer should use to enhance their text ad: sitelinks, callout extensions, and structured snippets. These are the so-called universal extensions. In addition to the universal extensions, there are also:

• Location extensions
• Affiliate location extensions
• Call extensions
• App extensions
• Price extensions
• Promotion extensions
• Message extensions

Sitelinks

Sitelinks are additional links that appear just below the text of search ads and direct users to specific pages of a Web site.

The benefits of sitelinks are:

• Increased engagement: adding sitelinks can increase the average clickthrough rate (CTR) for an ad, including for searches for one of the advertiser’s brand terms.
• More conversions: by sending users directly to the right page, you reduce the number of steps they have to perform for an action you value.
• Easy to manage: add and update sitelinks at the account, campaign or ad group level without the need for separate bidding or adding separate keywords. The system automatically displays the best performing or most relevant sitelinks for each query.

Reasons to use sitelinks:

Sitelinks point to specific pages of a Web site, and they can serve most marketing purposes as long as the site contains related content. It is important to remember that the sitelink link cannot be the same as the headline links. Goals include:

• Encouraging store sales: store hours and locations; finding a store
• Making online conversions: special discounts; new offers; men’s shoes; register now
• Increase brand awareness: our values; learn more about our company story

Tips and best practices:

• Add as many sitelinks as you can: you should ideally implement 8 to 10 active sitelinks per campaign. Make sure you have enough content on your website to have at least two sitelinks, otherwise the sitelinks will not be displayed.
• Select the right landing pages: link directly to popular or high-converting sections of your website;
• Guide the user: clearly state in the title of the sitelink what users will find on the landing page.

Callout extensions: highlight value-enhancing attributes

Callout extensions are short, specific text snippets (25 characters). They can be used to highlight information about value-added features of the company, products or services.

The benefits of callout extensions are:

• Increases engagement: increases CTR by ~10%. Callout extensions are a powerful way to highlight valuable features of a particular product or service.
• Easy to implement: add 25 characters for most languages, or 12 characters for double-width languages (such as Chinese, Japanese and Korean).

Reasons to use callout extensions:

• Callout extensions are short text snippets and can serve multiple marketing objectives, such as:
  • Encourage store sales: free in-store pickup; no lines at checkout.
  • Online conversions: 365-day return policy; free shipping over $25; 24/7 customer service.
  • Brand awareness: no waste policy; organic material only.

Tips and best practices:

• Be brief: keep your callouts as short and specific as possible, and include at least six in your campaigns.
• Be attractive: consider callouts that are a unique offer and can apply at a high level to the entire company.
• Be specific: target specific info (e.g., “4.7-inch LED display” vs. “large LED display” and “34 MPG max mileage” vs. “great fuel economy”).
• Consider bullet points: “Free shipping” is much sharper than “We have free shipping.” Capital letters in sentences are better than lowercase in titles (e.g., “100% Silk” vs. “100% Silk”).