Google Ad Extensions + 30 Minutes of Work + 30 Days for 300% Increase in CTR

What are Google Ad Extensions? Do I need these for my search marketing efforts?

Google’s release of ad enhancements known as “ad extensions” now allows users of Google AdWords to include customizable links below the main ad box for paid search campaigns. Options for these extensions include:

• Call — Phone # for your office or store.
• Callout — Descriptive text about your product or services.
• Location — Displays address for your office or store.
• Review — Shows positive reviews submitted to third-party sites by your customers.
• Sitelinks — As shown in the image above, displays links to drive traffic to specific pages on your website.

These days, having your paid ads formatted for visibility on any device is extremely important to growing your clicks and conversions. For mobile advertising purposes, a clickable (and traceable) phone icon can be shown next to your paid mobile ads. Google reports adding a clickable phone link to your paid ad(s) can increase clicks by 6-8%. (source: https://support.google.com/adwords/answer/2453991?hl=en&ref_topic=3119124)

Benefits of Google Ad Extensions: With Google’s Ad Extensions for PPC, companies looking to differentiate sponsored ads from competing ads have the ability to present value-driven incentives and special offers to their target customers, all without the added cost of starting and maintaining a new campaign. As with “headline” ads on your search network-driven campaigns, these “enhanced” ads are simply charged on a “per click” basis, so your daily budget allowance will not need to be increased. Think of the extensions as an opportunity to generate more clicks from the same headline ads.

Recently, Mpower Web Solutions implemented Google Ad Extensions for a client to improve click-through performance and call-to-action by prospective customers searching on Google. Read details of the revised paid campaign below.

Background of the Client: Moulder Services Inc. (MSI) is a renowned retailer of wood moulder machinery parts based in Mooresville, NC., and also offers customization services and equipment safety training. As MSI’s long-time marketing consultant and webmaster, Mpower Web Solutions oversees both SEM (paid) campaign management and SEO (organic) search marketing initiatives for the company’s e-commerce store at http://www.moulderservices.com.

Business Challenge: How to increase visibility (read as impressions) from the client’s Google AdWords pay-per-click (PPC) search engine marketing (SEM) while maintaining the same CPC budget.

Campaign Goals: 

1. Drive more qualified, quality traffic for MSI’s wood moulder parts and specialty services.
2. Generate more clicks to popular products and track landing page visits.
3. Maintain current daily budget as approved by the client and maximum CPC.

Strategy & Implementation:

Relying on reports from Q3 to Q4 generated from MSI’s Google Analytics provided the necessary sales data for top-producing products and landing pages. The inclusion of Enhanced E-Commerce code and shopping cart metrics added to the store’s back end allowed us to focus on generating ad extensions based on the top 5 products ordered by MSI’s customers directly online.

Results of Google Ad Extensions & Performance VS Search Network Ads Alone:

After 30 days of utilizing Google Ad Extensions for the client’s AdWords paid search campaigns, here are the highlights segmented by extension type:

• Calls (Ph # for Mobile ads)
  • Avg. Click-through Rate (CTR) — 2.3%
  • Avg. Cost per Click (CPC) — $1.07
  • Total Cost of Using Callouts — $40

• Callouts
  • Avg. Click-through Rate (CTR) — 4%
  • Avg. Cost per Click (CPC) — $1.14
  • Total Cost of Using Callouts — $190

• Sitelinks
  • Avg. Click-through Rate (CTR) — 4%
  • Avg. Cost per Click (CPC) — $1.08
  • Total Cost of Using Callouts — $143

• Search Ad Network
  • Avg. Click-through Rate (CTR) — 1%
  • Avg. Cost per Click (CPC) — $1.07
  • Total Cost of Using Callouts — $214

Analysis & Conclusion

Calculating the average CTR for the two best performing Google Ad Extensions used, we come up with 4%.

Growth Rate Formula: (Present Value – Past Value)/Past Value…4% – 1% = 3%/1% x 100 = 300% INCREASE IN CTR!!!

For companies already using paid search (or looking to start a PPC campaign), Google Ad Extensions offers a customizable, easy-to-configure, actionable strategy to drive quality traffic and an enhanced buyer experience.

Mpower Web Solutions offers small to mid-sized businesses (SMBs) a full-service approach to sponsored search marketing (Google AdWords – SEM) and optimized web content (Blog, Social Media, Website — SEO). Through hands-on experience maintaining websites and e-commerce businesses for our clients, knowledge of up-to-date digital marketing methods, and understanding how search engine and consumer behavior impacts web-driven marketing initiatives, our ultimate focus is to ensure marketing objectives are aligned with the needs, requirements and goals for your business.