Tag Archives: ad extensions

Claim More Ad Space with Google’s New Callout Extensions

Text ads have come a long way from the 3 lines of text you used to have to communicate what makes your business stand apart. Ad extensions have been a feature savvy advertisers take advantage of to showcase additional information, such as their business location, phone number, or links to additional pages of their website. The most recent ad extension Google added to their portfolio of extensions are “Callout extensions,” which allow you to highlight your unique features and selling points through an extra line of text.

This extension, like some other extensions, may not always appear and will only show in top ranked ads. However, when callouts do show, they instantly give you more ad real estate and make your ad pop.

To set up callout extensions, go to the Campaigns tab in your AdWords account, navigate to Ad extensions, and select Callout extensions from the drop down menu.

callout extensions.png

Click on +EXTENSION and then select + New callout and write your new callout text. Click Save once you have written a new callout.

The character limit is 25, so choose short, compelling messages. You have to be careful to not duplicate text you have in your text ads already, as that is against policy. Here are some ideas:

– Lowest Price Guarantee
– Serving NYC Since 1982
– 24/7 Service
– Free Estimate
– Same Day Shipping

If you want a specific callout to be given preference on mobile devices, you can check the mobile device preference box as you create each callout.

You can even schedule your callouts to only show during certain days or hours. This feature could be useful for special promotions that run only during a specific date range. Or, if you are planning to run a “Call for a free estimate” callout, you may not want to show it in the evenings, when you don’t have customer support available.

You can have multiple callouts, but typically only 2-3 will show. If you only have 1 callout, the extension will likely not show.

As with any copy, plan to test and refine. Experiment with campaign and ad group specific callouts to make sure your callouts as relevant as possible to your different sets of keywords and ads. Create several callouts, then analyze performance after a couple of weeks, and refine the callouts with lower CTR and conversion rates.

Upgrade Your AdWords Sitelinks with Additional Details

AdWords recently updated their sitelink policy to allow for optional sitelink descriptions that are unique to each individual sitelink. The additional text can help you win more ad real estate and allow you to further pre-qualify your visitors.

In order to use enhanced sitelinks, you’ll need to upgrade your campaigns to enhanced (if you have not already).

In your campaign management tab, go into a campaign you wish to edit. You can also go into a specific ad group if you wish to create sitelinks unique to an ad group.

Click on Ad extensions and choose Sitelink Extensions from the drop down.

Click to Edit the Sitelink extension and choose to create a +New sitelink. Write in your Link text (25 characters max) and choose a Link URL. Under Description, add in additional copy to further describe the specific sitelink page you are linking to.

You can even set specific starts and end dates, or days and hours, if you wish to only show a sitelink during specific times.

Please note that your ads will not always show sitelinks, and when they do, the format can vary. Also, sitelinks only show in the top ranked ads that are promoted to ad positions above the organic search results.

Continue to monitor your account, including performance for each sitelink you have set-up. In your ad extensions tab, click on Segment and choose This Extension vs. Other to see how each sitelink contributes to your clicks and conversions. If you’re noticing that a sitelink is under-performing, consider changing the link language and description details, or try a different sitelink.

Show Your Business Contact Info on Yahoo & Bing ads with adCenter Ad Extensions

adCenter recently launched ad extensions to enable advertisers to show their business contact info with the ad. It’s an easy and quick way to ensure your ads stand out. To enable it, go to your campaign settings, and under the advanced settings section, you should see an Ad Extensions option. Make sure that you select to display your address and phone number, and you are all set.

Before you’ll be able to take advantage of this option, you’ll need to add a business location by clicking Manage your business locations on the Campaigns tab.

Click-To-Call in AdWords Can Make Your Phones Ring

If you are a business that values calls more than website visits, you should be taking advantage of click-to-call mobile features in AdWords. With click-to-call, when people are searching on their mobile devices, they have the option to call you instead of clicking through to your website, thus saving customers an extra step and helping you get more engaged prospects.

To get started, I recommend creating a separate campaign that’s opted into mobile devices only. Next, you will want to go to the ‘Ad Extensions’ tab in your campaign management section, and select with ‘Location Extensions’ or ‘Call Extensions.’ The screenshot below shows an example of ‘Call Extensions’

You do have the option to enable the ‘Call-Only’ format so that only the phone number is clickable when your ad is shown on mobile devices capable of making phone calls. Please note that call-only phone extensions don’t work in conjunction with enhanced CPC or CPA bidding, so you should use Maximum CPC bidding if you’d like to take advantage of this feature. There are also issues with call-only creatives showing on BlackBerry devices, so you might want to target iPhone and Android specifically if you go with the call-only feature.

The calls cost the same as a click, but make sure you increase your bids so that your ads are showing in the top positions for maximum visibility on mobile devices. I also suggest you consider enabling ad scheduling so your mobile campaigns only run when you have someone available to take calls.