Successful marketers need to deliver the right messages at the right moments. The most effective creative messages improve ad relevance and generate more qualified clicks from your search ads.
In this Google Ads search ads guide, you’ll learn how to create engaging responsive search ads for people searching on Google.com.
Make sure to follow these 2 steps:
- Implement at least one responsive search ad with “Good” or “Excellent” ad strength in every ad group. Advertisers who improve the ad strength of their responsive search ads from “Poor” to “Excellent” get, on average, 9% more clicks and conversions.
- Implement ad extensions, such as sitelinks and image extensions. Extensions make your ads more engaging and let you show useful information about your business. The more eligible extensions you have, the more opportunities you’ll have to meet users’ specific needs.
1. Write genuine, engaging ad copy
- Create messages that focus on user benefits.
Why: Users respond to ads that speak to their needs.
- Match the message in your headline and description line to your keywords.
Why: Users tend to engage with ads that seem most relevant to their searches.
- Avoid generic language in your ads. Use specific calls to action.
Why: Generic calls to action usually lead to lower ad engagement.
- Check ad strength to get insights into how users react to your ads.
Why: This metric is a useful way to make sure you’re showing the right messages to the right users.
2. Create messages that reflect your brand and the products and services you offer
- Write ad copy that appeals to users on different devices.
Why: A call to action that’s appealing on one device tends to have the same effect on others.
- Focus on headlines.
Why: Headlines are the first thing people see and a major factor in how your ads perform.
- Test headlines of different lengths.
Why: Longer headlines increase the clickable space of your search ads, but shorter ones may perform better for people who are already searching for your brand.
- Consider using dynamic search ads to save even more time.
Why: Dynamic search ads automatically generate headlines based on the content of your site and show them to people searching for your products.
3. Set up your ads for success
- Add as many relevant, unique headlines and descriptions as possible.
Why: Providing unique assets lets the system generate more ad combinations.
- Use keyword insertion and ad customizers if you have to maintain many ads.
Why: You can tailor your creative messages to a user’s search while reducing management overhead.
- Pair responsive search ads with Smart Bidding and broad match keywords.
Why: Show the right message to as many relevant people as possible while automatically setting the right bid for each search.
4. Use extensions to improve your ads
- Enable all the extensions that fit your business.
Why: Extensions make ads more useful and engaging for users, and they help you meet your marketing goals. For example, advertisers can see an average 20% increase in click-through rate when 4 sitelinks are shown with their search ads.2
- Make your ad extensions as relevant and high-quality as possible
Why: Extensions are chosen automatically based on several factors, including past performance, user context and available space.
5. Test and optimize your creative messages
- Use ad variations to test and iterate on creative messages.
Why: You can learn about your users’ preferences and improve performance by refining your ad copy, especially your headlines.
- Evaluate the success of your ads based on the impressions, clicks and incremental conversions your campaigns and ad groups receive.
Why: Responsive search ads make you eligible to participate in more auctions, so ad-level performance and metrics, such as click-through rate and conversion rate, may not fully represent your performance.
If you need support with your Google Ads campaigns, contact us! We’re Google Partners.
Source: Google Ads Help.
