Here’s How to Take Advantage of Google’s Expanded Text Ads
September 22nd, 2016 by
In May, Google announced a major expansion of the traditional 25-35-35 text limits we’ve come to know and begrudgingly abide. Trying to squeeze your brand name, unique selling propositions, an emotional appeal, a sense of urgency, and a killer call to action into just 95 characters, at times, amounted to a game of linguistic Tetris.
Now, with double the characters to convince potential customers why they should convert, it’s become crucial to rethink how we think about ad copy and develop new tools for improving our Paid Search ad copy strategy.
1: ALWAYS Use All of the Available Characters
Take full advantage of Google’s generous gift! There has been some debate in the PPC realm concerning the truncation of ad copy based on the user’s device. However, an overwhelming majority of the literature suggests that you should be trying to get as close to that 30-30-80 limit as you can.
2: Lead With Your Most Important Copy
Put the most important information at the start of a line, such as your call to action or promotional text. Headline 1 will always show, but depending on the screen size of the searcher’s device, Headline 2 and the Description could be truncated depending on the pixel width of your text.
Even though you should be trying to hit the full 150 characters, you do want to ensure that the absolutely crucial information in your ad copy is placed at the start of each line.
3: Brand + USP + Emotional Appeal + CTA = Click!
We all have a variation of a similar formula for winning ad copy, now you can make sure that your ads are checking each of those boxes. Expanded Text Ads allow you to include content that previously may have been bumped from an ad in lieu of the more important call to action or brand name. Now, you have the space to try out new versions of your formula and find what works for your business.
4: Develop Thematic Content
Don’t treat the different elements of the ads as separate entities. Use your extra characters to create content that flows from Headline 1 to Headline 2 and through the description.
5: Provide Pre-Qualifying Information
Are your landing pages seeing a lot of traffic but not converting visitors into customers? Now you can pre-screen would-be bounces by including qualifying information in the ad copy!
For instance, if your plastic surgery practice only accepts candidates for Breast Lift surgery who are physically healthy, non-smokers, you can include this information in your ad to prevent users who won’t end up converting from initiating that first click (and spending your ad dollars!).
Bonus Tip: Path Fields = Not Optional
The “optional” Path 1 and Path 2 fields have replaced Google’s Display URL with the domain name now automatically populated from the Final URL. These combined 30 characters are a great area of opportunity to showcase the relevancy of your landing page to the searcher’s query. Highlight topical keywords, location specific services, or even promotions that show the user that your business provides exactly what they’re looking for.
The number one rule is to be creative and try new things, so get started augmenting your ad copy today and share your results with us in the comments! Need help? Call the experts at Search Influence.
This is the great news for internet markers, specially who is working on paid search. Thanks for sharing.
Its a great news, now I can manage my ads more efficiently. Secondly, your blog is awesome, read some of your post like “How Google Possum…” and Facebook follow blog… its awesome. Thanks for sharing.