7 Google Ad Extensions that can improve your business

Google is undoubtedly the best search engine in the world right now. With its 92.62% market share of June 2019, it handles more than 5.4 billion searches a day. People use Google daily – not only to read the news or browse social media, but to shop, promote and sell their products.

The reality of this motion is that the competition is rising every hour. You have to know how to make people interested in your products/services. One of the many things you could do is to provide potential customers with as much information as possible.

That’s why Google offers its merchants Ad Extensions. In this article we’re going to take a closer look into what Google Extensions are and how they can benefit your business!

Think of Google Ad extension as a tool that expands your ad with further information. Its purpose is to provide a more in-depth description of your business or products. And with better description come increased ad’s click-through rate percentage points! Every extension available has a different target that you can use without paying a penny more than normal CPC.

Ad extensions are displayed in various forms and locations. The following screenshots show how businesses use different ad extensions that serve various purposes. Some of them might offer information about the business itself, others can include site links and call buttons.

Extensions give your business better visibility which converts into profitable ads. With an outstanding description of your products or business, people will be more intrigued to click on your ads and perhaps purchase the item.

Ad extensions work on a very easy structure – they appear according to an individual search on Google. If we were to search for men’s jeans, it’d look something like this:

Can you see how many Ad Extensions they use? From Sitelinks that say ‘Straight Fit’ to Location which says ‘Glasgow’ and ‘8 locations nearby’.

However, these extensions don’t appear alongside your ad every time. So when do they appear?

1. When it’s predicted that chosen extensions will improve your performance
Some extensions are automated, however most require a set-up. If Google predicts extensions might improve your ad’s performance, it automatically includes them.

2. Your ad’s position and Ad Rank is high enough for extensions to appear.
Google Ads requires a minimum Ad Rank. Therefore, you might need to increase your bid or the quality of your ad in order for your extensions to show.

First, decide what’s your target. Do you want people to call you? Do you want to show them how many years of experience you have? Do you want them to find your store? What exactly is the information you want to pass on in your ad?

After you’ve put together all the points of what you’d like to include, follow the steps shown in the video below:

Let’s talk about automated extensions first. As mentioned before, automated extensions are generated through Google. They are automatically added to your ad, if Google has enough data about your business.

Well, that’s nice, but what if you don’t want any of them? Or you want to edit them?

Automated extensions are a nice addition to your ad. However, they don’t always have to be what you’d want. That’s why we’re going to talk more in-depth about manual extensions. You can adjust them to perfectly fit your ads with relevant information and even set times when they appear!

As this article highlights, using Ad extensions brings you more CTR. Therefore, it’s very important that you know how to use their full potential. This time, we’re highlighting 7 extensions that can play a key role in improving your ad’s performance.

Sitelink Extensions are a very useful tool for navigation around your website. Once a potential customer clicks on one of your site links, they’re automatically redirected to a specific page of your product or services. Therefore, it makes it easier to find things they’re looking for.

Sitelinks can be associated to any group or campaigns, or your entire account! A single extension can have multiple associations. Thus it provides the customer with a whole variety of possibilities on how to get to the information they want.

By adding a call extension, customers have a way to contact you. Your phone number/phone number to your business will be shown alongside your ad. Thus, if a customer has a question or wants to get more details, they have direct contact with you personally or a member of the staff.

Adding a phone number also increases engagement and click-through rate which means there’s a better chance to track your conversions.

Shown above is an example of how to call extensions can be displayed on a website. If a device you’re using can make a phone call, the extension appears as a clickable button.

Clicks on your number cost the same as standard CPC headline clicks. You can convert calls as conversions by turning on the call reporting in your account.

Another way how customers can contact you is via ‘Text extension’. Customers might prefer sending a text/email instead of calling. The results are the same: people can contact your business directly with any queries or questions they have about your products/services.

Structured snippet extensions show under your text ad to highlight specific details about your products and services. They appear in the form of a header or a list of values.

Google Ads decides what the best header or a combination of headers is, therefore it’s best to add as many of them as you can.

It works on a very basic structure: you choose where to add your extensions, decide what type of information has the biggest value and schedule them when they appear. You can select from a list of predefined headers – Product or Service categories – and add specific supporting information as values.

A list of available headers you can choose from:

• Amenities
• Brands
• Courses
• Degree programmes
• Destinations
• Featured hotels
• Insurance cover
• Models
• Areas
• Service catalogue
• Shows
• Styles
• Types

While creating your structured snippet extensions, it’s recommended to follow these steps:

Adding a price extension can be really useful when someone is searching for a specific product. That way, the customer can compare prices on different websites and decide where to purchase the item.

By adding a price extension to your ad, you make shortcuts to conversions. When people click or tap on the price menu, they’re automatically redirected to the page of your product/service. Having a price extension increases the impact of your ads with minimal additional work required from you.

Do you want people to see how satisfied your customers are with your services? Add review extensions to your ad! Through this, people can skim through the ratings of your business and learn what they should expect. If you don’t know how to set up reviews and rates, check out our article How to boost Shopping ads success with Seller ratings and Product reviews.

What does the extension include:

For an extension of this type, businesses usually use a third party that provides the data for Google Ads. Seller ratings only show with Search Network campaigns and only in the country when the following criteria are met:

For a list of Google trusted review partners/third parties, visit Google Support.

If you’d like to include information such as; ‘free shipping’, ‘shipping worldwide’, ‘24/7 customer service’, Google recommends using Callout Extensions. Customers get detailed information about everything you have to offer and your services. And now get this: you can add up to 10 callouts in addition to the text of your ad.

You can schedule when these extensions appear, the length and the order of them. It’s useful to use general information about your whole business.

When using callout extensions, keep in mind:

• To be specific with the information you provide
• To add extensions at the account level – so it applies across all your ads
• You can customize extensions at lower levels – lower-level extensions always top up higher-level extensions.
• To pick the right format – callout extension should highlight individual aspects of your business in a few words/a phrase.

Highlight your business offerings – by promoting popular or unique attributes of your business
They are flexible and customizable in use – you can include generic or detailed information within your ads. You can specify the dates, days of the week or times that they’re eligible to show with your ad.

Do you have a special sale or an offer up on your website? From seasonal sales to special occasions like ‘Valentine’s Day,’ you can promote them all! It’s quite simple; the extension appears next to your promotional text as a bold label and as 2 lines of text with details of your promotion on top or the bottom of your ad. They’re eye-catching and no customer will overlook them when your ad comes up.

With promotion extensions you can easily reach wider audiences. Black Friday is a great example of this. It can attract massive traffic to your website. In your extension you can include discount codes, coupons or a spending limit to access the promotion.

You pay the same as you’d for normal CPC, however there’s a twist to it. If a person clicks quickly on your ad or clicks on more than 2 of the extensions, you won’t be charged for the second click.

For a list of occasions of this extension’s availability, click here.

For this case in particular, we have site links extensions for electronics e-shop. Approximately 5% of the people who have seen the extension have clicked on it and secured a conversion. In a month, customers have made about 40 conversions from these extensions with the price per conversion being about 11€.

Considering the fact that people were buying electronics which fall under the more expensive side (fridges, laptops, washing machine and other), 11€ per conversion is not the worst.

These site links alone brought additional ~8,000 clicks this advertiser could have missed if not for extensions.

Google Ad Extensions are proven to bring greater traffic to your website. By using the right tools to make your ads more visible, you can gain wider customer interest. One of those tools is ad extensions. You’re not paying any extra for them and they can score you a great deal in the world of Google Shopping.