Ad extensions are like the condiments for your hamburger. The burger will keep you alive just fine on its own, but it sure is more enticing with some ketchup and relish.
If you don’t have ad extensions set up for your campaign, you’re missing out on CTR gains, and extra conversion sources. There are 6 types of ad extensions, and you may find that one of them converts really well. If you didn’t have them running in the first place, you’d never know!
So get ad extensions turned on, even if it’s just a few of them (more on this below).
Here’s a quick video intro to ad extensions:
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The basic premise of ad extensions is that you can tell your visitor more about your business before they even click to your website. You’re effectively adding on extra lines of ad text (for no extra cost!).
A List Of Ad Extensions
There are:
- app extensions
- call extensions
- location extensions
- review extensions
- sitelink extensions
- callout extensions
Each of these adds a reason for customers to click to your site. It would be a great idea at this time to learn what each extension does (if you didn’t check out the above video already).
You can probably tell by now that not every extension will make sense for your business. For example, if you don’t have an app to offer, then the app extension will be a big loser for you.
Use These Extensions
The bread & butter extensions that EVERYONE should be using are:
- sitelink extensions (links to 4 specific pages on your website).
- callout extensions (highlights specific features your business offers, such as “free shipping”).
Regardless of your type of business, you can probably find a way to use these two types of extensions, as they’re really just extra lines of ad text.
Call Extensions
The next most common extension is the call extension, which lets people call you directly from their mobile phone (without visiting your website). Although these extensions are useful, they come with a warning:
Back when we were younger and less experienced, we ran campaigns without external call tracking (above and beyond what Google provides). At one point we ran a campaign that chewed through hundreds of dollars in “calls” from Google, but we had no call tracking to prove that these calls happened. It was a hard-learned lesson.
Now we have special tracking numbers that record calls, so we know exactly how many calls we’re really getting; we even have a recording of each call for total marketing accountability.
We see differences between what Google reports for calls, and what we actually receive. This is because sometimes people click-to-call, but then hang up before they reach you. Still, the call extension is still very profitable so long as you can track your results.
Review Extensions
Review extensions are also relatively easy to setup. You simply take a customer testimonial and add it to your campaign. It will appear occasionally alongside your ad.
How exciting that you can actually show your customer testimonials with your ad, without even using up characters in your ad text! What a great way to make an impression!
Location Extensions
Lastly we have location extensions. Location extensions can be difficult to setup as you have to link your Google for Business account to access them – still, they will help increase your CTR if you put them in (setup location extensions here).
Let’s Finish Up
Decide on which extensions you want to implement, but at the least make sure to put in the sitelink and callout extensions. Don’t leave this article without implementing these features!
From there, decide which other extensions you want to add in. The more, the merrier (except for the caveat about cal extensions)!
After you’ve been running the extensions for a while, see which ones are performing the best and adjust accordingly. If your call extensions are not performing, you may want to delete them so your budget can go towards something more profitable.
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