Ad extensions are ways to enhance your regular text ads so that they stand out and attract visitors. There are a number of different types of ad extensions, but the most commonly used ad extensions are:
Sitelink Extensions
Sitelinks are a type of ad extensions that let you link to other pages of your site within the ad. You can create sitelinks to upsell related products/services, give first time visitors a good idea of what you offer, and even display promotions. Google allows you to have four sitelinks appear at a time, which means that instead of having one link showing you in your ad, you can have five! The extra links make your ad bigger so you get more real estate on the search engine results page (SERP) for no additional cost.
You can actually create more than four sitelinks, but Google will only show four at a time so if you have extras they’ll just rotate through all of your sitelinks (showing them interchangeably). The most exciting part that Google actually provides data for each unique sitelink so you’ll know which ones are performing best!
Location Extensions
Location extensions allow businesses with physical addresses to have their location appear to searchers who are looking for the products/services that they offer. If a business has multiple locations the location that’s closest to the searcher will appear alongside their ads. This is great for businesses that want to build their local presence and increase foot traffic to their storefront. Mobile users looking for a particular product/service while they’re out are much more likely to visit a store if they can easily find the location from their mobile device, and location extensions can help with that.
Call Extensions
Call extensions display your business’ phone number alongside your ad so that if they’re searching on a phone they can call directly from the ad. This eliminates the need to look up the number on your site.
Some businesses just put their phone number in their ad text instead of using a call extension because they think it’s easier to set-up. But in reality, setting up call extensions is just as fast and easy as including it in your ad text and it leaves the ad text space free for your marketing messaging. Also, using a call extension is better because it not only displays your phone number, but also lets users click-to-call so they can call your business directly from the ad. That click now costs the same amount as a regular click on your ad, which is great because Google used to charge additional fees for the call.
And, if you let Google assign you a Google phone number they’ll even provide data so you can see how many people saw the phone number, how many people called, and how many people converted from that call!
Review Extensions
Review extensions are fairly new so there aren’t that many advertisers using them yet (which means using them can really make your ads stand out). Basically, they’re a way to link reviews of your company on third party sites to your ads. This presents searchers with positive mentions of your business by former customers in the ad so that they don’t have to go looking for reviews on their own.
Review extensions can be a bit tricky to get going, but once you get them approved, they can be really beneficial. Businesses that are well established and have lots of happy customers can use review extensions to attract new customers.
Want someone to manage your PPC? We’d love to help you succeed! Contact us today to find out more!
Kate Pierce is the owner of LionShark Digital Marketing LLC, a West Michigan internet marketing company. Her areas of expertise include Paid Search, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media, Web Consulting for small businesses, Copywriting and Local Online Marketing. She lives in the Grand Rapids area with her husband and enjoys cooking, watching sports and spending time outdoors. Like a true digital marketing expert (i.e. geek), she loves talking about marketing theory and SEM trends… so don’t say you weren’t warned!
Sitelink Extensions
Sitelinks are a type of ad extensions that let you link to other pages of your site within the ad. You can create sitelinks to upsell related products/services, give first time visitors a good idea of what you offer, and even display promotions. Google allows you to have four sitelinks appear at a time, which means that instead of having one link showing you in your ad, you can have five! The extra links make your ad bigger so you get more real estate on the search engine results page (SERP) for no additional cost.
You can actually create more than four sitelinks, but Google will only show four at a time so if you have extras they’ll just rotate through all of your sitelinks (showing them interchangeably). The most exciting part that Google actually provides data for each unique sitelink so you’ll know which ones are performing best!
Location Extensions
Location extensions allow businesses with physical addresses to have their location appear to searchers who are looking for the products/services that they offer. If a business has multiple locations the location that’s closest to the searcher will appear alongside their ads. This is great for businesses that want to build their local presence and increase foot traffic to their storefront. Mobile users looking for a particular product/service while they’re out are much more likely to visit a store if they can easily find the location from their mobile device, and location extensions can help with that.
Call Extensions
Call extensions display your business’ phone number alongside your ad so that if they’re searching on a phone they can call directly from the ad. This eliminates the need to look up the number on your site.
Some businesses just put their phone number in their ad text instead of using a call extension because they think it’s easier to set-up. But in reality, setting up call extensions is just as fast and easy as including it in your ad text and it leaves the ad text space free for your marketing messaging. Also, using a call extension is better because it not only displays your phone number, but also lets users click-to-call so they can call your business directly from the ad. That click now costs the same amount as a regular click on your ad, which is great because Google used to charge additional fees for the call.
And, if you let Google assign you a Google phone number they’ll even provide data so you can see how many people saw the phone number, how many people called, and how many people converted from that call!
Review Extensions
Review extensions are fairly new so there aren’t that many advertisers using them yet (which means using them can really make your ads stand out). Basically, they’re a way to link reviews of your company on third party sites to your ads. This presents searchers with positive mentions of your business by former customers in the ad so that they don’t have to go looking for reviews on their own.
Review extensions can be a bit tricky to get going, but once you get them approved, they can be really beneficial. Businesses that are well established and have lots of happy customers can use review extensions to attract new customers.
Want someone to manage your PPC? We’d love to help you succeed! Contact us today to find out more!
Kate Pierce is the owner of LionShark Digital Marketing LLC, a West Michigan internet marketing company. Her areas of expertise include Paid Search, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media, Web Consulting for small businesses, Copywriting and Local Online Marketing. She lives in the Grand Rapids area with her husband and enjoys cooking, watching sports and spending time outdoors. Like a true digital marketing expert (i.e. geek), she loves talking about marketing theory and SEM trends… so don’t say you weren’t warned!
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