Importance of Google Ad Extensions
Google has a wealth of ad extensions for Google search campaigns. Ad extensions are extremely important as they do the following:
- Increase the CTR (click through rates) of your ads
- Can improve the quality score of your advertising campaigns
- Can also lower the cost per click of your campaigns
Given the above, it’s important (maybe even critical) to take advantage of every type of ad extension available. Google search works, but it’s also very competitive, and advertisers should leverage every type of advantage as possible. For the clients we work with, it’s low hanging fruit, and best practice, to make sure all relevant ad extensions are utilized.
With that, I’m going to jump right in and give a feature on Structured Snippets, which is one of the Google Ad Extensions.
What are Structured Snippets
Structured snippets is is an ad extension where advertisers can list all of the available products or services, their business offers. For example, see the highlighted text below, this veterinary clinic is highlighting the different services they offer, via structured snippets. This includes: Preventative Care, Dentistry, Spay and Neutering. The benefit is users can see the exact products and services offered, to ensure it’s a potential fit, before clicking on the ad.
How to Setup Structured Snippets
Setting up structured snippets is extremely easy. My suggestion (with most clients) is to setup an account level extension, so you only need to create this once, and it will apply to all relevant campaigns.
Within your account, under the extensions tab, click structured snippet extension.
Next, you can select the categories you would like to display. This includes, amenities, brands, courses, degree programs, destinations, featured hotels, insurance coverage, models, neighborhoods, service catalog, shows, styles and types.
For many businesses one of the categories listed above will suffice, but if it doesn’t, you can select “types” as the category.
From there, you can add in all of the attributes under the corresponding category. In this case, suppose I’m a retailer and I can list all of the brands that we carry. Once this is entered, you can enter in more advanced settings, such as ad scheduling and if there is a preferred device you would like these to appear on.
Once you completed that, you’re all set. You’ve created Structured Snippets.
Notes
- As with all ad extensions, structured snippets are not guaranteed to show every time with your ads. Google determines when to serve which ad extension, based on positioning on the search engine results page and performance.
- For more information on structured snippets, visit Google’s support page.
- As mentioned earlier, it’s important to use all relevant ad extensions for your Google search campaigns, including, but not limited to: sitelinks, call, callout, location, price, app, promotion and even lead form extensions.
Helpful Google Ads Resources
For more helpful resources, check out the blog posts and articles below.
Google Ads Support
Google Ads Management
Google Ads How to Guides
Google Ads Optimization Tips
- Top 14 Google Ads Search Optimization Tips
- Auction Insights: What are they and how to make them actionable
- Google Search Partners
- AdWords Express vs. Google Ads
- Google Ads and SEO Synergies
- Google Ads – Questions and Answers
- Keyword Expansion Tip
- Google Search Ad Copy – Best Practices
- Top 5 Critical Search Settings to Check
- Google Customer Match
- In-Market Audiences
Google Ad Formats
