Introduction To Responsive Search Ads

As we all know, Responsive Search Ads are the backbone of Google search campaigns, so it’s vital to get them right. The old expanded text had limited flexibility only allowing a set of 3 headlines and 2 descriptions. You can have up to 15 headlines and 4 descriptions with Google’s Responsive Search Ads. Google’s algorithm will determine what combination of headlines and descriptions is most beneficial to your campaign. Compared to the limited fixed ads that leave no room for expansion or experimentation.

Thanks to Responsive Search Ads’ multiple headline combinations, you can declutter your Google Ad campaigns. If you run a few Responsive Ads instead of multiple Expanded Text Ads that might not work well with their restricted headline combination, you will get better results and spend less time managing your campaign.

Hopefully, with this guide, you will be able to write effective Responsive Search Ads.

What are RSA’s?

Where Responsive Search Ads differ from the traditional Extended Text Ads is that you are able to test multiple headlines at the same time.

With Google’s Responsive Search Ads, Google’s learning algorithm is put to good use. The 15 headlines and 4 descriptions provide flexibility. In this way, Google can test over 43,000 combinations to determine which combination is most effective for your ad campaign.

RSA’s can work in conjunction with your campaign’s ad extensions allowing for a truly optimal campaign. 

According to Google, Responsive Search Ads are expected to perform better than your standard Extended Text Ads.

Tips for Writing High-performing RSA’s

When creating a new Responsive Search Ad Google will automatically pull in; headlines, descriptions, and display URLs from your existing ad group. This is a great way to get started when creating your first RSA. Have a look through your ad group and evaluate which headlines and descriptions are performing the best. 

When looking at your Ad strength within your Responsive Search Ad you could be given headline suggestions from Google. Most of these will be keyword focused from areas in your industry. Although useful at times it is best that you decide on what your headlines should be, you should know what your audience is looking for so sometimes these suggested headlines will do more harm than good. In a lot of cases, an ad with a ‘poor’ strength rating will perform better than an ad with a ‘good’ strength rating, depending on your KPI’s.

It is important that you are getting your message across clearly. One practice to nail down is pinning your headlines, you will want to make sure that you aren’t repeating your messages within your headlines.

As you can see, all messages that mention 4×4 insurance are pinned in the first position. We do this so that the most relevant information is first, without repeating ourselves in the second and third headlines. The unpinned positions 2 and 3 allow the Google algorithm to decide which headline combination is most effective, thereby improving the click-through rate. 

This doesn’t mean that you always want to leave positions 2 and 3 unpinned. Think about your audience and what they would be looking for in your ad and tailor your headlines around that. For Example, headline one should be clear about what you are offering your customers. You could pin headline 2 to headlines that describe what benefits your business could provide instead of a competitor.

Another important tip is to Capitalise Your Headlines! This makes your ad stand out, easy to read, and look professional.

Comparing how your ads look in comparison to other competitors can help you see where you might be going wrong, how to improve, and see any keywords your campaigns might be missing. However, make sure that your ads stand out. Avoid stuffing your campaign with keywords that will make your ad seem generic.

Keywords are essential but you do not want to clutter your headlines into a keyword soup. Your customers will be more likely to click if you are getting your message out clearly rather than trying to appease googles needs. 
Be sure to add the final URL’s and link your ads to the most relevant page on your website. You can also add anything in the display path so think about your customer and make it as relevant as you possibly can.

Conclusion

With these tips and tricks, you should be able to write effective responsive search ads for your Google Ad Campaign.

Remember, you must always be thinking about what your audience is looking for and tailor your ads to best suit their needs, answer their queries or provide them with a solution.

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