Switch to expanded text ads easily with these practices

It has been over a year since Google Ads introduced a revolutionary update, expanded text ads. These offer you even more space to attract your potential customers. However, the switch from standard to enhanced text ads may not be easy at all due to the uncertainty. Here are some tips on how you can handle it better. If you think Google gives you strict limits and you don’t have enough space to engage with your customers when advertising your products, you probably haven’t discovered expanded ads yet. Expanded text ads or ETAs offer more space for a more detailed description of your product and thus more options to acquire new customers. And no, it’s not just about the second headline for your ads! Read more in our older blog… Learn more about expanded text ads and their features here. Switching to enhanced text ads can be challenging. Especially when you do not know what to expect and hence you cannot prepare for the upcoming situation. However, as with many other changes to Google Ads, there are a few best practices to help you make the transition easier too. Let’s have a look on them…

Do not automatically pause old ads

If you’re just getting started with expanded text ads, don’t automatically pause your running ads. At the beginning, run them at the same time to be able to assess performance differences and observe areas that need optimization. Expanded ads may not immediately overrun your existing text ads. If you notice that Expanded ads can’t compare to the performance of your classic ads, seek some inspiration for the optimization.

Adjust rotation for better optimization

For expanded ads, you can set the rotation of your ad variations. Thas means your ad will be shown in different combinations (headline + description) and you will be able to evaluate which of these variations was most successful among your potential customers (most conversions/clicks… depending on your goal). You can use one of four options when setting up rotations: optimize for clicks, optimize for conversions, rotate evenly, rotate indefinitely. Depending on the option you choose, Google will keep creating your display ads. In doing so, it will take into account search queries, used device, demographic and other factors to tailor the best ad for your potential customers. You can leave the rotation enabled, or select the most successful combination to work with.

Use different ad extensions

Extensions are a great way to make your ad more visible. Google offers a range of different extensions to complement your ads according to your goal. With extensions, users can call you or find your address on the map directly from search results with just one click. Use all the extensions that are relevant for your ad. If you have pizza delivery – let customers call you directly. If you have important links on your page that should already be visible in your ad, link them. Use all available space to offer relevant information. There is still a debate whether the extensions are really delivering the expected conversions. Although there are no clear conclusions yet, one thing is certain – extensions will differentiate your ad from others and make it more visible in search. Then it is more likely that potential customers will choose your e-shop to visit. Enable extensions on the account level Often, while extensions are enabled, they aren’t applied across the account. This means that they only appear for some campaigns or aren’t assigned to any at all. Especially if you’re new to getting started, it’s a good idea to have these extensions turned on across the account so that they’re really available to all running campaigns. That implies that we are speaking about general extensions that can be applied on various ads. If you choose specific extensions, apply them only to the appropriate campaigns or ad groups.

Try expanded text ads for each group

Each of your ad groups has different characteristics. Just that sentence shows that if you test expanded ads in only one group, you won’t know how they will perform in the others. Therefore, create one or two test versions in each ad group and see how they behave. This is also complementary practice to the first of our list – keep your standard text ads running. If you’re still wondering whether it is necessary to test when you can switch to expanded text ads directly – yes, test, observe, optimize.

Do not automatically pause old ads

Adjust rotation for better optimization

Use different ad extensions

Try expanded text ads for each group

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About the Author: Darko Ďurica