Google has recently hurled expanded text ads which is twice long as the present text ads which helps you describe your ads more specifically even before customer clicks on it. Google Ads has made immense modification in text ads after 15 years. It has been designed to maximize your existence and performance on SERP with a bigger headline and an extra-long description.
Earlier text ad was enhanced for mobile devices but now it is eligible to run across all the other devices like desktops and laptops. This is a huge difference for the advertiser and user too. You can run and edit your text ads till December of this year i.e. 2016 but from January 31, 2017 Google Ads will not support standard text ads and therefore you’ll not be allowed to create or edit these text ads. And then Google Ads will simply allow you to create expanded text ads. Hence, you must transition all ads to the ETA format by that date.
Expanded text ads differ from standard text ads in following different ways:
1) Expanded text ads have two headline fields instead of one: The additional headline field allows you to add 30 characters in each headline instead of 25 characters. Both the headlines will be presented one after another disconnected by a hyphen. Also they wrap automatically based on customer’s device size.
2) Two description field has been combined together to form a single description line: The new Google expanded text ads support one 80-character description field instead of two 35-characters description lines. You can use this extra characters count to create an eye-catching ads which visitors won’t be able to resist clicking on.
3) The domain of display URL are now relevant to final URL domain: With expanded text ads, Google Ads will automatically obtain the domain of display URL from the final URL to ensure accuracy and then give you the option to combine it with two new optional “Path” fields which can hold up to 15 characters each. These two fields are added to display URL to assist users for better idea of where they’ll be taken after clicking the ad. Hence, include top keywords in the path fields.
Here’s a before and after of how the ads will look like on mobile and desktop:
And here’s how expanded text ads will look like in the Google Ads interface:
By using this increased text space, web advertisers will now be able to highlight their products or services more broadly than ever before. Also this gives them more control over their ads to reach potential customers when they’re on the go. Thus, it is beneficial to your online marketing business approaches.
Getting the most out of expanded text ads
Google expanded text ads are designed to increase efficiency and effectiveness of your ads. By utilizing the additional space provided for text, advertisers can drive more traffic to their sites. Being India's top PPC Company, we have been using this format for our happy clients and had learned a few things which I’m excited to share with you!
• Reconsider your ad’s messaging: Just don’t add up the second headline to your existing ads. Ruminate the complete message that you want to present to change the acuity of your brand in the ad’s display.
• Utilize the enlarged character limits: Expanded headline field gives you the ability to connect more to the users before they tend to click through your site. So, take full advantage of these additional characters.
• Optimize headlines: Focus on headlines, as people see headlines first when your ads are displayed on the SERP. Also consider how your headlines will look on different devices. It should be flexible that appeals to users across all the devices.
• Use “Ad extension: ” There are various extensions (like call extension, location extension, price extension etc.) that can be used in your ads, which makes them more appealing and more attractive. These additional information that deep links to yours business, which is displayed just below your expanded text ad can contribute in improving your ad’s performance.
Increases your CTR
It’s true, more detailed information means ads will have more clarity. Additional character counts allow you to add more extensions and thus it affects CTR. Google has made the right move by providing web advertisers with more space. According to the reports, it has been concluded that expanded text ads are seeing CTR increase by 20 percent.
As we all know Google expanded text ads are new for everyone, and therefore it may be difficult to fully understand their effectiveness until performance results from a bigger sample size are available.
Conclusion
This article explains you what expanded text ads are and how your text ads should be created to take the benefits from this new format. Also it has been clearly described how they differ from standard text ads. You can follow the above mentioned recommendations to create new text ads in the expanded text ads format which may also improve your CTR and Quality Score.
Chanda
Chanda is B.Tech Computer Science, a digital marketing enthusiast specializing in social media. Working as a search specialist at Megistron Media and has been helping clients attain their campaign goals by creating bespoke digital solutions.