All You Need to Know About Google Ads Extensions

Elin Enrooth | October 2022

Illustration of puzzle pieces in the Google colors.

One of the most beneficial ways to improve a Google Ads campaign is to set up Google Ads Extensions. Extensions provide information about your organization, increasing customer engagement and conversions.

What are Google Ads extensions?

Google Ads extensions are extra features that appear below an ad. They include information about an organization’s location, contact information, promotions, and more.

Extensions do what they say they do- they extend the real estate of your ad.

These enhancements can improve the performance of your ads. Providing more details gives searchers more reason to click, increasing your click-through-rate (CTR). According to Google, implementing a new ad extension can result in a 10 to 15% bump in CTR.

Additionally, ad extensions are free. There is no extra cost per click if you add extensions to an ad. But, you cannot control whether an extension appears or not. They will only appear if the Google algorithm thinks they will boost your ad performance.

Types of Google Ads Extensions

There are two types of extensions: manual and automatic. Manual extensions follow the process described above, while Google controls automatic extensions. 

Manual extensions

Manual extensions allow the advertiser to determine what they want to display. They allow you to control what information appears below the ad.

There are both benefits and drawbacks to having this control. While you can choose exactly what to include, you have to configure each extension instead of letting Google do the work.

Manual extensions are useful if you’re offering a promotion or if you want to drive traffic to a certain page. Note that not every extension will be applicable to your business. For example, if you don’t have a physical location, don’t set up a location extension. Or, if you have a physical location but it isn’t open to customers, don’t add it as an extension. Only choose those that will benefit the user.

Sitelink extensions

Sitelinks are the blue links that appear under a Google search result. They link to other pages on the website, hence the term “sitelinks.” 

Sitelinks provide users with links to specific pages to find relevant information faster.

These can be informational pages, product pages, or blog posts.

Each sitelink allows for two descriptions below the header. Make your sitelinks more appealing by using keyword-rich content in these descriptions.

Sitelinks must be relevant to the search query. To do so, think about the intent behind the search. Is the searcher ready to buy or are they only researching?

For example: as a printer retailer, you might show your ad to someone searching for a portable printer. A relevant sitelink would be a product page for a portable printer or a guide to buying a printer. An irrelevant sitelink would be to your blog or to your full product catalog. These pages aren’t what the searcher is looking for.

Call extensions

Call extensions allow users to call your business from the ad. This eliminates effort on the user’s part, as they don’t have to navigate to your website to find the phone number. 

Google also offers call conversion tracking to track data on direct calls from the link.

Callout extensions

Callout extensions are phrases that appear below your ads. They provide more information about your organization’s distinct benefits. For example, include unique selling points like free shipping or 24-hour customer service.

These extensions are 25 characters or less of text that appear below the ad description. Use between 12-15 characters. You can feature up to four callouts and must have at least two for Google to feature them.

Before you start, map out which callouts you want to tie to the account, campaign, or ad group levels. Google can use account level callouts with any ads within campaigns and ad groups. You may apply campaign level callouts to any ad group in that campaign. Google has a preference for callouts on the campaign and ad group levels. Make sure any callouts at the account level feature benefits that apply to the business. Use specific product or service features at the campaign and ad group levels.

While callouts are valuable, you still need relevant and quality copy for a high-performing ad.

Location extensions

If your organization has a physical location, then location extensions are a must. Location Extensions make it easy for users to find a local business address. Roughly 20 percent of Google searches are for local information. Ads with location extensions show your address and a map to the location or the distance.

Location extensions increase engagement by directing users to your website in one click. They display as clickable hyperlinks and take users to Google Maps.

Like other extension types, it’s up to Google to decide when it wants to show your location extension. Location extensions often appear when people are near, or have shown an interest in, your area.

Location extensions look like other extensions, but the set up is a bit different. Before adding a location, you first have to set up a Google Business Profile and connect it to a Google Ads account. After you’ve connected the ad account to GBP, your location will be waiting for you to use in the extensions tab.

You have three options:

  • Select curated locations
  • Find a Google Business Profile
  • Link to a Google Business Profile I know

Curated locations are locations that Google has in its index. They are usually bigger chains. It will add all locations instead of having to do that by hand.

Affiliate location extension

Affiliate location extensions help users find nearby stores that sell your products. This extension is useful if you sell your products through retail chains.

Price extensions

Price extensions allow you to showcase pricing for specific products and services. Transparent pricing helps to weed out users that aren’t in your price point and entice qualified leads to click.

They also help shorten the sales funnel, which leads to a higher conversion rate. The extension won’t show any images, but does show the product title, description, price and a URL.

Like most extensions, you can add price extensions at the account, campaign, or ad group level. You can also specify the days of the week, or times of day your extensions show.

First, you must determine the type of price extension:

  • Brands
  • Events
  • Locations
  • Neighborhoods
  • Product categories
  • Product tiers
  • Service categories
  • Service tiers
  • Services

Depending on your location, you can update the currency and add a price qualifier. By default, there will be no qualifier, but you can choose either “from, up to, or average.”

Next, you must add a header, price, unit quantity, description, and URL. Both the header and description can be up to 25 characters long. Avoid promotional text in the header or description, such as “free shipping.” You must have at least three items to save the extension, but can add up to eight.

Because the products show right below the ads, it’s important to select the right ones. You can decide the order of the items to control which items a user will see first. Make sure that your most visible items are first. You can choose to sort your items by price, popularity, or newness.

Of course, the goal is to drive more conversions. Keep in mind what people will be searching for when they come across your ad. When choosing keywords, make sure they are relevant to your product and the target market. Use terms that describe the features and benefits of your product. Your keywords should be as precise as possible and also give users the information they want.

The cost of a click on a price extension is equal to the cost of a click on the title or display URL of the ad it shows with. You will pay roughly the same amount whether the user clicks the extension or text ad.

App extensions

App extensions allow organizations to market their app. The app extension displays a link to your app below your ad when viewed on mobile devices. When customers click this link, they’re directed to the Google Play or the Apple App Store. This extension is suitable for organizations with apps listed on Android and iOS. 

Promotion extensions 

Promotion extensions are a great way to inform customers of limited-time offers. The extension includes information about the item, a link to buy it, and the offer duration. In the settings, you can choose between a monetary or percent discount.

Automated extensions

Unlike manual ad extensions, automated extensions are set up by Google. You set basic criteria to follow and the extensions will then populate under your ad. 

Automated extensions consist of call, message, and location extensions. Call and message extensions allow businesses to contact users through ads. The difference between manual extensions is that Google determines when and where to show these. Google includes automated location extensions to websites that include a business address.

Automated extensions also include dynamic sitelink extensions. Google includes these to help users access various landing pages on a website.

Ad extensions are a simple, cost-effective way to improve your ad performance. But, you must ensure you set up appropriate extensions that align with your needs. Learn about the benefits and the best ways to set up your ad extensions by contacting Arcstone today.

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