During the Performance Summit held on May 24, Google made public the changes they are rolling out for AdWords in the coming months, and one of which is expanded text ads. So, what does this mean to advertisers and how will it change the playing field of PPC ads?
Expanded Text Ads – What are they?
As the name of the feature suggests, this change will mean bigger ad texts as compared to current ones. Here are some of the new things you can expect:
- Longer headlines – The character count for the headlines will increase from 25 characters to two sets of 30 characters when the change takes effect. This means that headlines will increase by 140%.
- Longer description line – The two 35-character description lines will be consolidated into one 80-character line, which signifies that descriptions will be 14% longer.
- Display URL – As of today, advertisers manually enter display URL. If the URL is not uniform across the display and the landing page, the ad will be disapproved. With the new update, the domain will be derived from your final URL to ensure its accuracy. URL paths can be customizable.
These changes are expected to take effect later on this year on both desktop and mobile. Google conceptualized these modifications with mobile users in mind because more than half of the searches conducted on the search engine per year are keyed in through a mobile device.
What Expanded Text Ads Means for your Campaign and Business
Expanded text ads are basically geared towards making campaigns more effective and compelling so that they can usher in more conversions and sales to your business. At the same time, it also means that you need to step up your game with AdWords if you want to make the update work greatly to your advantage.
As we’re anticipating the change, you need to work on increasing your quality score. Because of the added word count, you can expect ads to be more compelling and competition for the top spot will become steeper. So work on the quality of your keywords, ads, and landing pages, so that you can start improving your chances at the best ad position as early as now.
You can also begin adjusting your copywriting style to fit the Google AdWords update. While there’s no definite date yet as to where the change will become available to advertisers, it’s best to start preparing today so that you can maximize the increased word count as soon as it becomes available.
Tips for Improving your Text Ads
Effective ad copy is essential to the success of your AdWords campaign. Here are a few tips to help you create ad texts that users will find hard to resist:
- Be specific and keep it on point.
- Deliver it in a personal tone. Don’t be afraid to address users with the pronoun “you”.
- Add a time element to your ads. Keep them current and timely.
- Disclose what users will be missing out on if they don’t respond now.
- Provide solutions.
Other AdWords Changes to Watch Out for
Aside from expanded text ads, Google will also implement other modifications such as local search ads on Google Maps, changes in the bidding process, responsive display ads, a better way to measure conversions that happen in actual stores, and a new AdWords interface that’s expected to be released next year.