Google Ad Extensions are enhancements you can add to your search results advertisement. While you most likely won’t be able to use every single one, there are bound to be a good four or five that will make your ad stand out.
Something to keep in mind is that Google decides when, where, or even if they want to allow your extension to appear with your ad. There are no guarantees. First the ad position and ad rank need to be high enough to show and Google likes to predict if any particular extension will help the person searching and their overall intent. That said, if you don’t add them — there is zero chance anyone would see them.
Adding additional information to your ads expands the area they take up in the search results which allows for much greater visibility. Plus, it could help your clients or customers get straight to the information they want. So should you use them? You betcha!
Here are a few of my all time favorite Google ad extensions:
Sitelink Extension
Besides giving you more real estate in the search engine results, you have the opportunity to provide your audience with important internal links that could direct them to exactly what they’re looking for.
It allows you to highlight features, benefits, or specific products that relate to your ad group. Say you were selling shoes, you could create sitelinks for your men’s shoes, women’s shoes, children’s shoes, and shoes on sale. That’s four sitelink extensions right there!
Tip: Keep it short. Google allows for up to 25 characters to be added for sitelink description. Aim for 12-15 characters on mobile and 18-20 on desktop. That way they don’t get truncated.
Callout Extension
A callout is exactly that, a call to attention on a special offer or service you provide. While not a clickable link like sitelinks, this again adds additional content to the ad plus it lets people know what makes you stand out from your competition. For your fictitious shoe store you might want to highlight things like Free Shipping, Top Name Brands, Starting as Low as $20, or Free Returns.
Tip: Keep it unique. Don’t be redundant with your sitelinks.
Structured Snippet Extension
Another way to highlight your services or products, but in a more specific fashion. Structured snippets have 13 specific headings that you can draw people’s attention to. They may not fit for all types of services, but do cover quite a wide variety.
Those categories are:
- Amenities
- Brands
- Courses
- Degree programs
- Destinations
- Featured hotels
- Insurance coverage
- Models
- Neighborhoods
- Service catalog
- Shows
- Styles
- Types
For your shoe store, you could use Brands to highlight your products such as Adidas, Nike, Puma, etc.
Tip: Make sure the values you add match your header. If they don’t work together it will be considered as a mismatch and your snippets will be not be approved.
Promotion Extension
Let everyone know about any sales or deals your business is running. You can choose an occasion such as Labor Day or Summer Sale. You can choose a monetary, a percentage, or an “up to…” discount to draw your audience in. There are some nice extra details for this extension such as “on orders over” or the ability to add a promo code. You have the option of creating a start and end date so as soon as the sale is over, your promo extension turns off and it’s time to add a new one. Learn more about Promotion Extensions.
Tip: Keep it fresh! Don’t have a non-ending stale sale that runs forever. Those don’t go over well.
The remaining available Google Ad Extensions are pretty self-explanatory. They are as follows: Location Extension : Call Extension : Affiliate Location Extension : Price Extension : Message Extension : App Extension
To maximize the performance and visibility of your ads, it’s always a good idea to utilize all the relevant extensions that match up with your business goals. More information can be found in Google Ads Help – About Extensions. Need help or just don’t have the time? Why not have someone else to manage your Google ads account? Our Hawaii SEO and PPC experts are here to make it easy on you! Just ask for a free consultation today.