Ad Extensions: Add Power to Your Ads

Ad Extensions: Add Power to Your Ads

If your business is running a paid search campaign, Google has a gift for you. The gift, known as an ad extension, provides a bonus boost for your AdWords strategy. As the term implies, a Google ad extension literally adds information to your paid ad. This bonus info might include call buttons, location data, links, and supplemental text. Properly implemented, such ad seasoning makes for a more compelling message.

The results are on the table – ads amplified by ad extensions generate higher click-through-rates than those not similarly beefed up. Thus, brand marketers have ample reason to harness the power of this Google bonus. Ad extensions, by the way, are free – great news for the cost-conscious.

Google ad extensions come in a variety of types, each one providing a different category of information. Which ones you select for message seasoning depends on specific marketing goals. One ad extension commonly called into service is the site link. Such links provide instant connections to website pages — beyond the standard landing page. Possible destinations include ‘Find a Service Center’, ‘Place an Order’, ‘Product Listing’, etc. The general intent is, of course, to give users convenient doorways to potential points of interest. With a road-map clearly laid out, the message is considerably more alluring than a standard pitch.

Callout ad extensions resemble site links, but differ from the latter in one important respect – they are not links at all. Click them, and you stay put. Nevertheless, their purposeful resemblance to site links allows callouts to grab attention with relative ease. And that’s the whole point. Callouts enrich messages with high-value data that strikes a chord with users. Announcements such as ‘Free Refreshments’ and ‘Extended Summer Hours’ are among the many possibilities that fall into the callout category.

Along with their attention-getting powers, callout ad extensions offer another irresistible benefit – ease of implementation. Without pages to link, they conveniently can be dropped into an ad with minimum effort.

If you have any questions or comments about ad extensions, or about any other brand-related topic, feel free to send them our way.