Google Ads

Why Ad extensions are important and how to use them

Our ads have a limited space on Google Search Engine, so we must use every opportunity to increase that space and in that way make our ads more visible to our potential customers. This is where ad extensions come, they are a perfect way to say a little bit more about your product or service and most of all the perfect way to make your ads even more visible and make them stand out from our competitors.

There are different kind of ad extensions we can use while creating our ads. We strongly recommend to use as many as possible, but only if they make sense for your business. Ad extensions have to be created with good quality and sense, if not they will become useless.

Most important things we can get from using ad extensions are:

• More space for additional information about our business
• More viewable ads for customers
• More clicks
• More valuable user interactions like calls
• Increase ad rank

There are a total of 10 different types of ad extensions:

1. Sitelink extensions

This type of extensions is used to lead people to different parts of your web. For example, if your ad is about smartphones, your sitelink can include masks for smartphones, chargers for smartphones etc.

2. Callout extensions

Callout extensions are used when you want to emphasise something about your product, business or service. If you have free delivery this is something you should point out.

3. Structured snippet extensions

Structured snippet extensions show in a form of headers and list of values. You can choose from different kinds of headers like: brands, amenities, courses, destinations etc. So if you have a travelling agency a good choice would be to choose destinations as your header and list top destinations that your agency offers.

4. Call extension

This is an ad extensions you should always use, presuming your business has a phone. You just put your phone number and people searching from mobile can click on your call extension and make a direct phone call to you without having to additionally search for your contact information. How great is that?

5. Message extension

They allow customers to send you a direct message from your ad. Message extensions are designed only for mobile phone customers capable of texting and receiving text messages. They provide a great opportunity for direct contact, and you are in a position of giving extra information that is maybe necessary for conversion.

6. Location extension

Another must have if your business has a physical location. This will allow your customer to see where your business is located, again without having to go that extra mile and additionally search for your contact and business info.

7. Affiliate location extension

This is a great extension if you sell your products through a variety of retail chains. Affiliate location extensions helps people find nearby stores that sell your product.

8. Price extension

If your business offers different types of services this is a great way to showcase them. Price extensions show as a set of up to 8 cards that people can view to see different options and prices. For example, if you have a cosmetic salon you can list different kind of services and prices.

9. App extension

A great way to provide access to your app. They showcase your mobile or tablet app by showing a link to your app below your ad.

10. Promotion extension

Lets say you have a limited time promotion and you want people to know about it when searching for your products or services, this is one way you can let them know about your offerings. In promotion extensions you can set date of the promotion, monetary or percentage discount and even put an appropriate header like „Easter discount“.

Types of campaigns in Google Ads: What Type To Choose For Your Business

There are 6 different types of campaigns in Google Ads and in this blog we are going to describe how they work. Different types of campaigns primarily determine where your ads are going to be shown to potential customers on the Google’s advertising networks such as Google Search Network, Google Display Network and YouTube Network.

Campaign types that are included in the Google Ads are:

1. Search Network with Display Select
2. Search Network Only
3. Display Network Only
4. Shopping
5. Video
6. Apps

1. Search Network with Display

If you decide to use this type of campaign your ads will be visible on the Google Search Network and Google Display Network. This is a great way to be visible in two places and basically doing two things. First, you are present on the Search network whenever someone looks for your product or service which increases a chance for conversion. Second, by being present on display network you are working on your brand awareness as well. Although this campaign type is a good way to achieve your traffic and awareness goals, in our experience it is better to separate this campaign type into Search Network Only and Display Network Only. If you do it that way you can control your budget, bids, placements, etc. separately for search and separately for display.

2. Search Network Only

This is the most commonly used campaign type. You can choose your ads to appear on the Google Search Network, but if you want a wider reach you can also choose your ads to be eligible to show on Google Search Partners Network. Search Terms and phrases are what trigger your, so it is really important to set your keywords right from the start. You can read more about the keyword types on our previous blog.

Search Network Only campaign is ideal for all those businesses that want to be present as soon as someone looks for their product or service.

3. Display Network Only

„An image speaks a thousand words“. The best way for people to notice your brand or your current offer is by displaying them a great picture that will represent your brand in the best possible way. This is also one of the best ways to find your audience. When creating a display network only campaign Google offers you different kind of audiences to choose from. You can choose between different types of interest, demographics, gender etc. All in all you can be pretty detailed, while creating your audience, just be careful, because if you put too much detail or restrictions your audience size is going to be too small and your ads won’t reach as much people as you initially wanted to reach. Keep in mind, that brand awareness is goal number one with this type of campaign, so restricting your potential reach too much might not be such a good idea.

4. Shopping campaigns

Shopping campaigns are the best way to drive online sales. To get started with this type of campaign you need to send your product data with Merchant Center and create a campaign in Google Ads. Ads consist of text, picture of product, price, store name and are eligible to show in Google Search and Display Network, YouTube and Google shopping. Shopping campaigns are most commonly used for E-Commerce businesses that want to drive more profit to their online sales.

Note: Shopping ads are not available in all countries!

5. Video campaigns 

Video is currently number one format for exposing your content to potential customers, so use it. Video ads will be eligible to show primarily on YouTube and across the Google Display Network. There are different kind of video formats, so be sure to adjust your video ads accordingly. Video campaigns are a very popular and effective way of advertising for all types of businesses. It is also a very good replacement for TV ads, not to mention cheaper and more measurable.

6. Apps

This type of campaign is best used only when you have an app that you want to promote or you want to increase your apps downloads. To be more specific app campaigns offer 3 ways of optimization, depending on what your goal is. As we mentioned you can focus on getting more installs, driving specific in-app actions and focusing on driving in-app action value. Ads will appear in Google Search and Display Network as well as Google Play and YouTube.

If you are new at Google advertising world it can be pretty challenging to choose from all these different types of campaigns. Our advice is to at least to consult with specialist if not hiring them to do the job for you. If you think this is something you can manage on your own for whatever reasons, that’s ok, but initially it would be really important to take some advice from someone who has experience in this. In the long run this will save you money, trust us.

But, if you decide this is just a little to big of a task for you, don’t hesitate to contact us.

Keywords: A Key To A Successful Campaign

There are a lot of things you have to adjust properly for your campaign to run smoothly, but in this blog post we are going to elaborate more about the keywords and what types there are. In search campaigns it is very important to have a set of relevant keywords that trigger your campaign. The results are relevant clicks and finally a successful campaign.

So, let’s talk about keyword match types.

1. Broad Match

Broad Match, as the word itself says is very broad, and in most cases not the best option for your campaigns, because it will trigger a lot of irrelevant clicks, and spend your money. This is the default match type your keywords are assigned unless you specify another match type. If you decide to have broad match keywords Google will show your ads on relevant variations of your keywords, including synonyms, singular and plural forms, possible misspellings etc. Basicly on everything and we suspect that not everything has the same importance for you? Are we right?

So if you still want broad match, just type the word like cars and you don’t have put any signs in front or behind the word. This will be classified as a broad match.

Let’s say your broad match keyword is cars, here is an example where your ads will trigger: fast cars, racing cars, blue cars, where can I buy a car, cars from the Transformers movie, beautiful houses and cars etc…

Get it? Everything that has to do with cars will trigger your ad…

2. Broad Match Modifier

This is definitely a better way to control your keywords. It will probably increase your clicks and conversions. Broad Match Modifier lets you specify more about how and where you want your ads to show. It ensures your ads to show only when someone searches for synonyms or close variations of your keywords.

So, lets use the cars example again, but this time our keyword is going to be fast cars. If you want your keywords to be classified as a broad match modifier just put sign + in front of each word: +fast +cars.

Here are some examples where your ads will trigger: fast speeding cars, fast automobile, high speed cars… This are all close variations of your keyword, and should trigger your ads to show.

Your ads will not show if someone types: slow cars, fast motorcycle, honda cars…

3. Phrase Match

Your ads will appear when people search your exact phrase. Search terms here can include one or more words before or after the phrase. Phrase match is good because it will increase clicks, but only when someone searches your phrase match or close variants to your phrase match. The word order is very important, which you will see in the examples. If you want your keywords to be classified as phrase match just put the quote marks in front and behind the phrase: ¨fast cars ¨

Here is some example where your keywords may show: black fast cars, buy fast cars at our showroom, big muscle fast cars…

Your ads won’t show if someone types: cars for fast races, cars that are fast, fast vehicles…

4. Exact Match

Exact Match will trigger your ads to appear only when someone searches for the exact keyword or close variations of your keyword. Your ads will appear only when the meaning is the same. For example cooking book or book for cooking, the meaning is the same and your ad will appear on both of those searches but it won’t appear on book for scientists, because the meaning is no longer the same. If you want your keywords to be classified as exact match put them into brackets: [cooking book]

5. Negative Keywords

Yes, there are also negative keywords, they allow you to specify on which terms you don’t want your ads to appear, which can be very useful when optimizing your campaign. We recommend that from time to time you take a look on the search terms. Search term shows what were people really typing when your ads were triggered. If you see something that is irrelevant for your campaign or brand in the search terms, just put it on a negative keyword list, and your ads won’t appear on those terms.

Here are negative keyword types:

Negative broad match: fast cars

Negative phrase match: “fast cars“

Negative exact match: [fast cars]

We’ll talk more about negative keywords in upcoming blog so stay tuned…

The best way to ensure your campaign are successful is to combine several match types and separate them into different ad groups. Of course monitoring and optimizing your campaign on every day level is a must! Good luck!

How To Write Successful Text Add That Will Appeal To Your Potential Customers

Good ad text and ad relevance in general makes your campaigns successful. Sending a right message at the right time to the right customer makes all the difference in the world.

Here are some tips, that even google itself says they truly work their magic. So lets start!

1. Keep it simple but effective and give a „call to action“!

When you start to complicate things, that’s your first sign to stop! Stop right there! If you only listen to this advice you are half way there. Focus on your selling point and point that out, not every single detail about your business, only the selling point! Interest them just enough so they want to know more ie click more! One good way in achieving this is to put a „call to action“ in the end of your ads, such as „Learn more“, „Book now“ or something else that goes well with your offer.

2. Use prices and discounts in your headline

This is not just us saying, recent dana shows that headlines using concrete figures, get 38% better performance results. Why is that? Because numbers, in this case prices or discounts explain more thoroughly what the ad is all about. If the price is to high for them, they wont click ie you save your money and you can rely on the clicks you got were from the people who have a better chance becoming or maybe they already became your customer. So if you have a business which competes primarily on price this is definitely the way to go.

3. Use Title Case

Although it’s not grammatically correct, capitalizing the first letter of each word can help you boost your sales or achieve another kind of goal that you set up for your web. Keep in mind that sometimes you’ll have to sacrifice grammar in order to achieve more from your ads. That doesn’t mean your ads should look like a kindergarten child wrote them, try to be as grammatically correct as possible, but due to lack of space for your text ads, sometimes you won’t have the space to put punctuation or something like that, and that’s ok. Try not to worry too much about that, because people are there, just looking for something that they need or want and if your ad offer appears to the right person at the right time, all they’ll notice is a solution to their request or a problem, and that’s what truly matters.

4. Use Ad extensions!

As mentioned above, due to a lack of space in text ads, any extra space is a gift from heavens, so don’t be a fool and use it! Also, using ad extensions can and will improve your click-through rate and overall visibility of your text ad. There are different kind of ad extensions, but that’s a topic for another blog post. One of the most important things you have to know about text ads is that they are not charged extra, if someone clicks on your ad extension it counts as a click on your ad and will be charged as usual. Only exception are sellers ratings, those extensions aren’t charged at all.

5. Focus on benefits of the product or service

This is the basic equation > Customer + Problem = Solution. You have to be the solution to the problem. Never write about how awesome you are, always put your customers needs in first place. Try to put yourself in their shoes, and if you were them what would you like to see in an ad that would be the most relevant for you.

6. Write multiple ad versions and test them (A/B testing)

This is the only way to see which ad is performing better. Most of the time you will probably think that ad number one is the best on account of the color, the copy or the design and you will be willing to put your money on it, but most of the time you will be wrong. A/B testing is a way to find out which headlines, body copy, images, call to actions, or a combination of the above works best for your target audience. Let them run for a while, and when you see the one that is underperforming you can shut it down.