Ad Extensions - The Cheapest Real Estate You Can Buy!

Have you ever wondered how you can make your Google Ads more effective and take up more space on the SERP (Search Engine Results Page) without having to significantly increase your budget? If so, please read what we’ve put together. And if you could care less about improving your Google Ads, then please enjoy this video.

What are Google Ad Extensions?

Google Ad Extensions are additional snippets of text, links, and additional information that appears below your ad copy. These extensions allow you to provide more context, add value, include calls to action, and display additional valuable information to potential customers, making your ads more compelling and informative. This allows you to take up more real estate on the SERP and push your competitors further down the page! With multiple formats available, let’s unpack some and discuss how using them can benefit your business.

How Do Sitelink Extensions Boost Google Ad Performance?

Sitelinks add extra ad copy and allow you to drive traffic to specific (and different) pages on your website. So if your ad is driving users to your home page, your sitelinks can drive users to your blog or pages for specific products and services as you see below.

While Organic Sitelinks (see image below) are generated based on Google’s algorithm, your Google Ads Sitelinks are written as well as selected by you. This gives you greater control of your messaging, as well as what page(s) users visit on your site. So while it’s great to have Organic Sitelinks, think of your Google Ads Sitelinks as being action-oriented vs educational. In addition, while you can apply account-level sitelinks to every campaign you’re running, best practice is to pair your sitelinks to your campaigns for maximum impact. So if you’re running ads for a general term like “Sneakers”, you can run sitelinks for “Women’s Sneakers,” “Men’s Sneakers,” “Kids Sneakers,” “Running Shoes,” and “Crosstrainers.” The goal here is to cross-promote your products and services to users who are actively searching.

Thinking about the organic sitelinks below, while they are all valuable, people searching for BFO may not be all too interested in our team or our “About Us” section and instead want to focus on the work we do for our clients. And the same can be said for Google Ads Sitelinks: If your goal is on-site purchases, you likely won’t want to promote Job Openings or Company Culture, unless those will entice users to purchase. Unsure of how to proceed? When all else fails, remember with Paid Media the shortest path to conversion is often the best path.

What are Callout Extensions?

Callout Extensions are short, highlighted text snippets that highlight key features, benefits, or unique selling points. They draw attention to important information, encourage clicks, and reinforce your brand messaging. Unlike Sitelinks, clicking on these doesn’t take you to a different page on your site. So treat them as value ads or extra ad copy. Do you have a loyalty program? Have you been family owned for 146 years? If so, include it in your Callout Extensions.

What Do Structured Snippets Do?

Structured Snippet Extensions allow you to follow Google’s structured format to highlight specific attributes of your products and services, such as brands, styles, and features. The full list of available headers, as well a brief explanation of each is below.

Available Structured Snippets Headers

• Amenities: These are great for hotels! Think WiFi, Heated Pools, Free Breakfast…
• Brands: If you’re an ecommerce advertiser, this is where you can showcase all of the great brands you carry!
• Courses: Whether for Colleges and Universities, or non-academic learning, you can showcase how users can benefit from your services.
• Degree Programs: This one is a great feature for Colleges and Universities to showcase the degree programs that are important to them, while maintaining a strong brand presence.
• Featured Hotels: If you’re a big brand or a travel aggregator, you can showcase properties that are relevant to your ad copy.
• Destinations: This one is also great for big brands, travel aggregators, as well as airlines, cruises.
• Insurance Coverage: Geared specifically at Insurance companies, you can showcase things like Auto, Home, Renters, Motorcycle…
• Models: Whether you’re an automobile manufacturer or a footwear brand, showcasing specific models with your brand campaigns creates greater relevance.
• Neighborhoods: When promoting tourism this one is a great feature! For Chicago, we can showcase Wrigleyville, Magnificent Mile, Lakeview, Logan Square and more,
• Service Catalog: We have a client that is primarily known for selling tires and this allows them to include Oil Changes, Brake Service, Muffler Replacement, and more!
• Shows: Whether you’re a Cable Network promoting your new Primetime Drama or you’re a Theater promoting your interpretation of A Christmas Carol, structured snippets allow you to showcase what viewers can expect.
• Styles: Whether covering styles of sweaters, sneakers, coffee mugs, or eyewear, showcase the styles users know and love!
• Types: This is the most “general” of structured snippets, so you can test it if you’re unsure what to do. This also works for things like Insurance Coverage as well as Styles.

Note from Google: It's important to make sure your header and values match, as a mismatch is the most likely reason your snippets will be disapproved. You might think of values as examples of their corresponding headers. For example, “Costa Rica” is a destination, “WiFi” is an amenity, and “Downtown” is a neighborhood. Values for the Style header should be variations of a fairly specific category, like sandals or high heels, while values for the Type header can be variations of broader categories, like light fixtures or shoes.

In the example below this clothing store is using both Callout Extensions and Structured Snippets. Can you guess which is which?

Understanding Image Extensions

Image Extensions allow you to include images alongside your ads, allowing you to take up more real estate on the SERP, making your ad more prominent and stand out from competitors. Think of it like curb appeal! In addition, using high-quality images can positively impact your ad’s relevance, which is a key factor in determining Ad Rank, which can result in higher Clickthrough Rates and lower Cost Per Click.

Hone in On Location Extensions

Location Extensions allow users to see addresses (and phone numbers) of locations near them, allowing for greater relevance and a better user experience since users won’t have to go searching to find out where to go. And on mobile a phone call is just a click away! Please keep in mind that this requires a Google My Business account, which you learn more about here.

In the example below Burt Bros has included a Phone Number and Address, and has two Sitelinks serving.

Leverage Price Extensions

Price Extensions are great for advertisers who want to provide transparent pricing information and attract customers who are actively searching for specific products or services within a certain price range. By including pricing information in your ad, you’re saving them from having to click your ad to find out! Check out this example from Jack Weir & Sons:

Highlight Sales With Promotion Extensions

Running a promotion that warrants displaying it across multiple campaigns? Promotion Extensions are the easiest way to advertise it without sacrificing valuable ad copy characters. Promotional Extensions can be set up to include percentage off, monetary discounts, and you can schedule them to start/stop based on the promotion.

Pet Supermarket used this Promotion Extension to showcase a sale on Chuck It Toys and in this case it’s showing alongside one of their branded ads.

Deepen the User Journey With App Extensions

Got an app? Whether IOS or Android, you can promote your App alongside your ads. This one is great for brands that utilize their apps to keep customers engaged or require use of their app. If you’re running Remarketing List for Search Ads and want to target users who’ve already been to your site and converted, and need your app for say their hotel stay, we recommend building out App Extensions for your RLSA campaigns as it’s a great way to drive user engagement and app downloads.

Start Leveraging Ad Extensions Today!

By effectively utilizing Google Ad Extensions, you can significantly boost your ad performance and achieve your marketing goals. Including Ad Extensions, whether site links, price extensions, or image ads, is a great way to take up more real estate on the SERP (FOR FREE!) and push your competitors further down the page!

Always remember to experiment with different combinations of extensions, ensure keyword relevance, optimize for mobile devices, and continuously monitor and adjust your campaigns. As with all things Google, it’s going to take some testing to determine what is the best fit for your brand!

If you have any questions on your Ad Extension journey, please don't hesitate to contact BFO!