How To Improve Paid Search Performance with Sitelinks, Review and Image Extensions

Sitelinks, Review and Image Extensions

Sam Owen, Sr. Account Manager, March 12 2014

Agenda

• Sitelinks

• Review Extensions

• Image Ad Extensions

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Sitelinks

• 25 characters (down from 35)

• Unique URLs

• Ad group or campaign level

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Do People Click Sitelinks?

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Do People Click Sitelinks?

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Not your real Sitelink CTRs

Do People Click Sitelinks?

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Do People Click Sitelinks?

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Do People Click Sitelinks?

• The importance of clicks actually on Sitelinks varies greatly by industry

• Judge Sitelinks success on overall CTR or Conv. Rate lift. Use actual Sitelink data as a guide

About 3% of the total clicks when Sitelinks were present

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Do Sitelinks Generate Conversions?

Lead Gen Account:

E-Commerce Account:

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Do Sitelinks Generate Conversions?

Lead Gen Account:

E-Commerce Account:

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0.6% of total

14% of total

Do Sitelinks Generate Conversions?

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Sitelinks: Case Studies

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Sitelinks vs. No Sitelinks

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Not using Sitelinks: 1.18% CTR

Using Sitelinks: 1.93% CTR

Sitelinks vs. No Sitelinks

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Not using Sitelinks: 1.18% CTR

Using Sitelinks: 1.93% CTR

64% Increase in CTR

Mobile Sitelinks

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Mobile Sitelinks

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This strategy made things 29% worse!

Mobile Sitelinks

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Mobile Sitelinks

WORST!

BEST!

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Message Types

“Company” Sitelinks: Our Locations, Customer Service, Size Charts etc.

“Product” Sitelinks: Reebok Boots, Nike Boots, Safety Toe Boots etc.

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Message Types

“Company” Sitelinks: Our Locations, Customer Service, Size Charts etc.

“Product” Sitelinks: Reebok Boots, Nike Boots, Safety Toe Boots etc.

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1. Product-focused perform much better across e-Commerce accounts

2. Conversion Rate was 23% higher when “products” sitelinks showed, even if not clicked

Extended Sitelinks

• These show rarely and only where you are dominating first position (i.e. your brand terms)

• Google claim: Boost in CTR is significant when shown

• Our data: 8-10% boost in branded CTRs – minimal in non-branded campaigns

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Sitelink Testing Ideas

• Brand Focused: Nike, Adidas, Reebok, Puma

• Specific Focus: Running, Basketball, Tennis, Volleyball

• Cross-Sell: Clothes, Sports Equipment, Gym Gear, Fitness DVDs

• Company Info: About Us, Store Locations, Customer Service, Request Catalogue

• Benefit Driven: Free Shipping Over $75, 365 Day Returns, Save 10%

• Mobile Test: Mobile Site, Call Now, Store Locations

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Recommendations

• Keep to themes when you test

• Have 6+ sitelinks per campaign

• Split out mobile preferred sitelinks

• Bad sitelinks are better than no sitelinks

• Use extended sitelinks for brand campaigns

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Review Extensions

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• Still rare to see

• Random 50 search sample saw 3 examples of them being used

Review Extensions

Review Extensions!

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Where To Get Reviews?

• Anywhere Google gets seller ratings from

– Shopper Approved

– Reseller Ratings

• Better Business Bureau

• Google Trusted Stores

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Frustrations?

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Requirements

• Accurate, Current Reviews

• Credible, Third-Party Source

• Unique, Substantive Reviews

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Requirements

• Accurate, Current Reviews

• Credible, Third-Party Source

• Unique, Substantive Reviews

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Hard to meet these criteria for smaller clients.Review Extensions are much easier to find for major products / brands with “legitimate” reviews.

Measuring Success

Compare vs. CTR / Conv. Rate with Sitelinks

Test Multiple Review Extensions

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Impact?

• 3% boost in overall CTR across our tests

• Showing about 25% of the time for keywords in top positions

• When showing, approximately 11% better CTRs than when not

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Image Extensions

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Image Extensions

• Still technically in Beta• Can only be live in 2 campaigns, one ad group• Has to be hyper-relevant to your ad group• Contact your rep for more details

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Image Extensions

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Image Extensions

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Image Extensions

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Click Type By Device

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Impression Rate

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Click-Through Rate

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Click-Through Rate

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Strong user engagement on images – about 20% more engaging than Sitelinks!

Future of Image Extensions

• Google tend to approve betas with >10% uplift in CTRs

• As it stands Image Extensions seem to fit that mold

• Approval / management issues still holding things back – complicated to ensure images are relevant, sized correctly etc.

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Overall Ad Extension Takeaways

• Sitelinks are very important

• Image ad extensions are beneficial, but limited in scope

• All Ad Extensions that improve CTRs will help boost your Quality Scores

• The additional real estate that ad extensions bring lead to large improvements in your ad performance, whether a specific extension works or not

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Thank you!

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Sam.owen@hanapinmarketing.com