Reload is determined to aid the education and success of these children through donating towards not only the basics that many of us take for granted such as school shoes and uniforms, books for school, stationary and sports equipment but also sponsoring a number of primary school, high school and tertiary students to achieve their education goals. After all, the children are our future.

How can you help?

If you are a client of Reload you are already contributing! Every Reload client automatically contributes to our One for One program as 1% of all service fees and 1% of our time is contributed. The broader Reload’s shoulders get the more capacity we will have to lend a hand for these kids towards a better future.

We’re excited about our One for One program, and look forward to sharing in the life and educational goals of the young people we are sponsoring. Stay tuned on our Facebook page for updates on what we’re doing and how One for One is giving back.

How might this affect your ads?

Firstly, in order to actually have the links embedded as your ad text, the Sitelinks you set up need to match or be similar to what’s in your ad. Google will then automatically use your ads text to link to the specified pages of your website, rather than displaying the Sitelinks underneath the ad.

Google believes that embedding the links in this way will entice more users to click on your ad. The reason being that potential customers can simply click on the part of the ad that they found to be most relevant to their needs, which consequently may not always be the headline.

However, one advantage to the basic Sitelink format was that when they are displayed below your ad, the amount of space your ads have on the search engine results page is increased. This can ultimately lead to standing out from your competitors with an extra element to the normal ad format.

Why the change?

As we’ve mentioned in previous posts, we believe that Google is attempting to improve the look of paid advertisements. This is evidenced through the many changes ad formats have undergone lately such as the first description line of your ad displaying as part of the ad headline, destination URLs displaying only in lowercase and automatically including “www.” in every destination URL to make ads look more like organic results.

And now, Sitelinks will be embedded within ad text. It will certainly be interesting to see how embedded Sitelinks will affect click through rates and overall campaign performance.

Stay tuned!

But if we stop getting caught up in the buzz of these new AdWords features for just a moment, you might ask yourself the question -  How exactly are these extensions going to benefit my AdWords campaigns?

Utilising ad extensions opens a whole new world for your ads by extending the ad format and helping to make your advertising stand out from your competition. Additions such as Sitelinks and Location Extensions mean that AdWords ads are beginning to look more like the natural organic search results, which is great for us PPC marketers!

However, there are many other advantages and benefits your campaigns could gain through utilising ad extensions.

This article will explore and analyse  each of the current available ad extensions and, furthermore, will highlight exactly how you can maximise their performance and better your SEM results.

Sitelinks

Sitelinks are additional links that can appear below your AdWords ad in instances where Google deems your ad to be of ‘high enough quality’. Usually only showing 3 to 4 extra links, you can add up to 10 links in AdWords. The advantage of these extensions is more options for the user. Rather than your ad having one focus, you can now add sitelinks which directs users straight to a special offer page, a specific product page or a contact us page on your website. And how does this help the performance of your campaigns? Firstly, sitelinks are often known to increase the Click-Through-Rate which can help the overall quality of your campaigns. But more so, sitelinks can offer more high quality clicks because potential customers are choosing where they want to go once they click on your ad, and having done this, are less likely to bounce straight off the page.

Location Extensions

Location Extensions add location specific information as a 5^th line to your ad. These can include your full business address, and even a drop down function that opens to a Google map. The obvious impact that this extension has on your campaigns is that it makes it much easier for potential customers to find your business! Location Extensions may also save a wasted click from someone who has clicked on your ad, only to realise they are not close enough to your business, or are not willing to travel to where your business is located. For example, utilising location extensions is a great one for car dealerships and other similar businesses where the aim is to get customers through the door.

Product Extensions

Product Extensions are yet to be released in Australia, but when they do the possibilities will amaze you! This extension allows you to showcase your products before a user has even clicked on your ad. When your AdWords text appears on the Search Network, it will display the product that is most relevant to the user’s query as well as displaying the product’s price. At no extra CPC charge, Product Extensions can also link to a more relevant landing page on your website. For example, the checkout cart for the product on display. Product Extensions allow you to enrich your AdWords Campaigns and can present more relevant and specific information to the user, thus heightening the chance of creating a conversion, increasing the click through rate or realising another goal.

Click-to-Call Phone Extensions

Click-to-Call Phone Extensions make it even easier for potential customers to call your business. Mainly used for a mobile targeted campaign, the Phone Extensions appear as a 5^th line to your ad allowing users to click directly on your phone number, and automatically call your business straight from your Google ad!

This extension can potentially increase your conversion rates by making it quick and easy for potential customers to ring your business. And with AdWords, you can even schedule your ads to only run when your business is open! Therefore, your ads will only show when your business is operating, and you can avoid disappointed customers calling an unanswered phone.

Seller Rating Extensions

Although not out in Australia yet, you can see Seller Rating Extensions appear on Google.com and Google.co.uk which include a star rating beneath your ad. The rating is a combination of ‘user-submitted’ ratings and reviews about a particular business. However, once a user clicks on the rating, they are directed to a new page which outlines the reviews, therefore distracting potential customers further away from your website.

On the other hand, this rating extension may be good for a potential customer who wants to choose the highest rated business or product with the most reviews. But, this may become a disadvantage to your ad by giving potential customers evidenced based pre-judgement to not visit your site. It’s a well known fact that one unhappy customer will tell as many people as they can about a bad experience, where as happy customers aren’t always that inclined to tell the world. So how then, are these user reviews actually providing applicable information for potential customers clicking (or not clicking) on your ads? I’ll leave this thought with you.

If there is one thing we know at Reload Media for sure about Google, it’s that change is inevitable and new AdWords ad extensions and features are going to keep coming. So, Google will continue to provide the power for your AdWords campaign potential – you’ve just got to plug in the extension!

Images Taken From: http://adwords.google.com/support/aw/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=188235

And: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_X6aeJvBBv4o/TCj-kUVrrKI/AAAAAAAAAH8/rvSIfABVF58/s1600/laser+printers+-+Google+Search.jpg

Ads placed on the Google Search Network appear above and to the right of the natural search results, and are more often known as ‘Sponsored Links’ (see image below). Whereas, ads placed on the Google Display Network appear on thousands on websites in partnership with Google and capture potential customers whilst they are searching the World Wide Web. It’s almost like a mini billboard that appears every time a user makes a search – only with 4 simple lines and a maximum of 130 characters (including spaces!).

The real beauty of AdWords is that it is a targeted and specific approach to online marketing. AdWords allows users to quickly and effectively increase their websites traffic, revenue and profits by targeting search terms most relevent to their business and creating magnetic ads that solve their target markets search problems. As AdWords is a Pay-Per-Click system, advertisers only pay when someone actually clicks on their ad. This means that a business can be noticed all over the internet, but they will never pay more than the maximum bid that they have set.

Furthermore,  AdWords one of the most measurable forms of marketing available through the inclusion of qualified data checking and traffic analysis. Through AdWords, users can measure how many people click on their ad, compare this to how many people see the ad, and measure the profitability, revenue generated, return on investment and leads generated for their business as a directed result of their AdWords campaigns. This allows users to explicitly see if and how their AdWords campaigns are meeting their business advertising objectives.

You will not find a more effective and measurable marketing platform that can deliver almost instant results through the generation of qualified and quality traffic to your website  than Google AdWords.

On top of amazing measurability, AdWords can target potential customers in a specific geographical areas relevant to a businesses reach. Users can even tailor campaigns to run over a certain time frame so that leads are only generated during available hours!

With all the great things one can achieve with Google AdWords, this does pose one question…

Should businesses manage their own AdWords account, or should they outsource it to a professional AdWords company?

Sure by managing your own Google AdWords account you can save on management fees, but it takes a lot of your time and energy away from what your businesses primary focus. AdWords has the potential to become very costly if not correctly optimised. On the other hand, outsourcing adwords can also be an expensive endeavour.

However, although utilising the skills of a professional AdWords company may cost you extra in management fees,  AdWords Qualified Professionals are trained to ensure that your campaigns  perform at their absolute maximum potential. This means a business will  likely make back the increased costs through decreased overall campaign costs and an influx of relevant customers to their business!

If this post has made you feel the need to join the digital revolution, you can speak to one of our consultants about how we can tailor make a Google AdWords campaign to suit your business needs!

So why do you need to advertise on these terms as well?

Consider this – What if by relying solely on your organic search listing, you may in fact be turning some of your potential customers away?

Below are our top 8 reasons why bidding on your company name is an effective search engine marketing strategy that can help increase conversions, ROI and your brand presence on the web.

1. Attention, Interest, Desire, AdWords

It is important to remember that Google AdWords clickers are different to Google Organic Search Result clickers as they are generally at a different stage of the consumer decision making process. We have found that, in many cases, users who click on the organic search results are more likely to be in the research or ‘interest’ stage of the buying process, whereas users who click on sponsored links (like Google AdWords), are more likely to be purchase ready customers.  If you don’t have an active ad catching these purchase ready consumers, your competitors may be winning customers who are in fact searching for you!

2. Because Your Competitors Are

Under most circumstances, your competitors are allowed to bid on your branded keywords. You can submit a copyright infringement request to Google for some more specific brand terms but there is no guarantee this will go through. Depending upon local advertising regulations, competitors are generally allowed to use your brand name in their ads (through ‘comparative advertising’) so it is important that you compete in this advertising space if your competitors already are. Do a Google search now and check if there is anyone else advertising on your brand terms!

3. It’s Cheap

A common misconception is that bidding on your company name is a waste of your PPC advertising budget because your website is already in the organic search results for free. This is simply not true. Using your company name as a keyword is actually a cost effective method to ensure you maintain a very high click through rate at a very low cost per click. Brand terms are generally much cheaper than other keywords in your industry vertical (depending on how competitive your industry and how specific your brand terms are). The benefits of running a brand terms campaign often outweigh the  extremely small costs involved in doing so.

4. Increases Campaign Quality Score

The high click through rate that advertising on your brand terms receives will help boost the position of your ads in your other ad groups by increasing the overall click through rate of your account and, therefore, increasing your overall quality score.

5. Control Your Message

AdWords ads offer personality for your brand where you can feature your latest products, promotions or brand messages. The personalised ad text gives you the opportunity to control the message so you can communicate directly with your customer. This engages the customer by offering more relevant information and landing pages. Your ads may even attract more clicks than your organic results. For example, if you are an ice cream store running an offline advertising campaign that promotes a free ice cream for all customers who download a special online coupon in the month of June, an integrated AdWords strategy would allow you to capture users searching on your brand terms and send them directly to your coupon landing page or micro-site whilst reinforcing the offline advertising messages in the AdWords ads themselves.

6. Website Relevance

AdWords can boost sales for your business by capturing the market segment in ‘buying mode’ and ensuring these users are quickly directed to the most relevant page in your website, bypassing your home or other irrelevant pages that may frustrate or confuse buyers.

7. Misspelling Your Company Name

If your business name is not well known or difficult to spell, bidding on likely misspellings ensures your company name, and the users intended search, is listed.

8. Increase Your Online Branding and Search Engine Real Estate

If your business has an organic search listing (or listings) and an AdWords ad when a user types in your company name, then your business occupies more physical space on the Google search page. The more physical space you occupy, the more visible your website.

All these factors are why we generally recommend bidding on your own company name in AdWords.