What’s That Again? A Search Ads Explanation
It’s possibly the bane of your marketing career; the immeasurable number of search ads that exist (and seem to be increasing all the time!) The thing is, you can’t do a fat lot without them anymore, and they’re not going away anytime soon. Therefore, it’s time for you to embrace this powerful offering, and discover how you can open up your overall digital marketing SEO strategy.
In the online world, there’s a huge amount of competition to get to the top. But it's not as cut and dry as that. Of course, it isn’t! The real mission comes from trying to remain visible to potential customers, without disappearing into the ether (thanks, Google algorithm!)
Cue search ads; one of the most effective methods of drawing interest and custom to your website or socials. They come with various names and a whole heap of untranslatable terminology but work by displaying ads in search engine results when a user searches for a product or service offered by the advertiser.
One of the greatest benefits of search ads is that they focus on the explicit needs of users as opposed to the implicit information that they may be seeking. This vastly increases the likelihood of a click on your site that may well convert to a sale. Most likely, you’ve stumbled upon them via Google, Bing or Yahoo! as they’re pretty impossible to ignore, but found yourself tied in knots as you get to grips with what’s what!
Fear not, we’ve compiled a relatively straightforward guide to help you plough through the phenomenon that is Search Ads.
Expanded Text Ads (ETA’s)
ETAs are similar to the text ads that you’re probably fairly used to but with a few differences. First, they have three 30-character headline fields; the first two being obligatory and the third, optional, two 90-character descriptions, two optional path fields (small URL paths added after your domain name that advise the user where the ad is taking them), and a final URL which is where the user is sent and typically account for most of the ads seen.
The upside of ETA’s is that they’re really easy to set up and offer greater control over your copy. The extra headline enables additional information such as special offers, promotions or a simple call to action.
The downside is that as of June 2022, they’ll no longer exist and you’ll no longer be able to create edit or expanded text ads. Well, that was a waste of time! Actually, no it wasn’t, because they’re being replaced by RSA’s…
Responsive Search Ads (RSA’s)
RSAs allow you to wholly engage with your audience. They adapt to your customer by automatically reformatting size to fit different ad placements. Unlike ETA’s, you can add up to 15 headline variations, four description variations, as well as two standard paths and a URL. It’s in your interest to utilise as many as possible, as the more headlines and descriptions that you enter, the more chance Google Ads will have of matching potential search queries, thus improving your overall ad performance.
The upside of RSA’s is that there are numerous upsides! You can create ads that adapt to varying device widths which both widens your audience and aids brand continuity. You can also tailor your headlines and descriptions to customer locations or regular locations. The multiple headline and description offering allows you to reach more customers and match more queries.
The downside is that they are built using generic templates which makes for less individuality in appearance. This makes it difficult to differentiate between brands as they all tend to look the same. You also have a bit less control than with ETA’s, and they can take a little longer to create.
Dynamic Search Ads (DSA’s)
DSA’s are the more effective way of finding customers who are searching for your offering. Using website content to target your ads, they’re great for filling in the gaps of your ‘keyboard’ campaigns, which helps you remain relevant at all times. When a user clicks on an ad, they will be taken to content within a landing page that is specifically dedicated to their search. This content is based on categories (pre-selected categories aligned with your website – users choose which category is best suited to their business), webpages (advertisers select specific webpages for Google to target and form ad copy in alignment) and all site pages, with content based on the site in its entirety.
The upside of DSA’s is that they have evolved within Google over time, and are now a great choice for refining and testing content while keeping you fully in control. They’re also quick to use as mapping keywords, and ad words don’t need to be matched to every product on your website. They’re also very specific to the user and can pick up on search queries that you may have overlooked.
The downside is that you need to be on the ball with negative keywords to prevent irrelevant material from being pulled from your site.
Call Only Ads
Call Ads are fairly straightforward to grasp (yay!). These ads show solely on a mobile device and allow people to call your business directly instead of scrolling through your site. Of course, this does mean that the user is likely to be less informed as they potentially haven’t viewed your site, but it’s still a great way of promoting direct calls.
Call Ads consist of two headlines, two description lines, your business name and, naturally, a phone number.
The upside of Call Ads is that you’re increasing the likelihood of a direct call which can improve the prospect of conversion.
The downside is that they only work on a mobile device, thus narrowing your audience. That said, they’re a great addition to alternative search ads as they cater to a specific niche (the talkers, not readers!).
Hopefully, this brief guide has answered a few questions for you and offered a few insights into the overall benefit of introducing search ads into your digital marketing campaign.
If you have any questions or would like to know more about Search Ads, feel free to get in touch at hello@theunderdogagency.co.uk and we can discuss your requirements.
