Mobile AdWords Extensions Get an Upgrade

We have experienced constant changes to the way ads appear on Google. From the reduced number of ads on a single page to the inclusion of callout and structured snippet extensions; there have been many changes and updates to Adwords. Most recently, there has been another upgrade to the mobile AdWords extensions which we will be covering in this article.

Google ads are what place you at the top of the results; above the organic search listings, but comes at a price (the cost is dependent on a variety of factors). However, this does place you at the top which means potential customers are easily able to find you. Along with being easily found, it allows quick navigation to and around your site through using sitelinks.

Sitelinks used to be shown in the form of a bar on desktop and mobile ads. They have now become more interactive and easier to use on mobile devices. Instead of being in a list or a bar across the bottom of the advert, they will instead be placed in separate boxes that can be scrolled along. These give viewers quick access to certain areas of your website and skips the need to go from the home page of your site to where they want to go. Users can quickly get to what they want, further improving the user experience.

Why the upgrade?

As referenced in Googles recent blog post, there is over 65% of mobile phone users that expect to get the information they want straight away. Therefore, removing the necessity for them to have to search for what they are after on your website and directing them to where they need to go will greatly aid your user experience and conversion rates. If you have ads running, you might want to consider using these improved extensions to your advantage.

The new update enables you to select what pages you would like to direct people to and enable searches to quickly find what they are after. Sitelinks will aid people in finding what it is they are after on the website and remove the need for them to search for it. Making this process quicker not only improves the user experience, it also makes people more likely to stay on your site and possibly make contact.

Making these changes will greatly aid in companies looking to start or improve their AdWords campaigns. Mobile users are aiming to find what they want quickly and with these latest improvements, this will be much easier. This isn’t only for Googles sake either. These changes will greatly aid businesses to improve their user experience and provide more information to try and tempt people into making contact.

The upgraded sitelinks

Sitelinks will enable businesses to direct potential customers to where they want. Be it an offers page or specific services or products; they can be made into sitelinks. As a result, you will be able to drive users to where they might want to go. Google plans on making the sitelinks much simpler for ease of use. Googles early results have also detailed that people are twice as likely to interact with sitelinks in this new format.

Old sitelinks used to show cut-off text and were not interactive. This stopped most people from using them. The image below shows just what they used to look like (viewed on a desktop computer). With this update, they will now be a viable option and will greatly aid all parties involved; Google, the advertisers and searchers.

Quite commonly with e-commerce sites, there are pages which are harder to located and take time to find. This pages can be quite important as well. Through using sitelinks, these pages can be quickly and easily located and accessed by customers. Deeper areas of the site can easily be accessed while also giving users a much more enjoyable mobile experience.

Callouts and Structured Snippets

Mainly aimed at providing additional information below your ad copy; callouts and structured snippets were a great method to promote unique offers or selling points of your business. These showed off what your business had to offer while trying to entice people to visit your site.

These extensions were placed on a separate line below the ad. Consequently, some of the extensions couldn’t be seen or were cut off. Due to this, they will no longer be separated. Instead, the callouts and structured snippets will now appear in-line with your ad copy in a paragraph format. As a result, more of the extensions can appear with your ad instead of some being hidden or cut off. Furthermore, Googles studies show that people have found this new format to be much more informative and engaging; giving this update a great start.

Not all searches appear to have these changes. However, some searches have been updated to see how these fair and we should expect more of them to change over time.