Responsive Search Ads Best Practices
Before we get into the details of responsive search ads best practices, a word about writing ad copy. Remember, it's about them, not you. Writing ad copy that's all about what you do and how you do it may seem like a good idea but it rarely works. Your prospects want to know what's in it for them. What benefits are going to make their life better or easier.
Writing effective responsive search ads
Responsive search ads best practices for B2B lead generation requires a slightly different approach. Again, the search volume is lower and the CPCs are higher so you won't have as much traffic for Google to work with. Responsive search ads were developed by Google so that their machine learning algorithm can optimize ad copy for you based on click through rates and other factors.
- To ensure the best performance of your responsive search ads, Google recommends that you include at least two ads in each ad group. With the lower traffic volumes we usually start with one ad and optimize from there.
- Optimizing your ads regularly is important when running multiple ads in each ad group. Google determines which ads get shown based on your bid and ad rank. The higher the better for both.
- To make your responsive search ads stand out, it's crucial to use unique headlines that not only match your keywords but also appeal to potential customers.
- Analyzing competitor ads can provide valuable insights into what works and what doesn't in your industry. By searching for your keywords on Google and Bing and reviewing your competitors' ads, you can get inspiration for your own ad headlines and descriptions.
- To make the most of your responsive search ads, consider using additional features like Dynamic Keyword Insertion and Countdown ads. These features can add more relevance and urgency to your ads, increasing their effectiveness.
Creating Your Offer: Ads and Landing Pages
You'll want to match your keywords to your ads to your landing pages. This sends the best set of signals back to Google which will improve your Quality Score and Ad Rank.
Responsive search ads usually need 8-10 headlines and 4 or so descriptions to get a good rating from Google. This is easier to accomplish with a STAG (Single Theme Ad Group) keyword strategy as the different keywords you are targeting will all need at least 2-3 headlines. Google should choose the headline that most closely matches the keywords although it will test all variations given time and budget.
For SKAG (Single Keyword Ad Group) keyword strategy this can be more difficult. Google will encourage you to come up with 8-10 headlines for a single keyword. You should experiment with many different approaches. However, if you already have a good idea of what you want to say, don't worry about running fewer headlines and ending up with an ad rated poor.
You'll want your landing page copy to match the ads as closely as possible. This will improve conversions and give you a higher ad rank.
Optimizing Responsive Search Ads
To optimize responsive search ads, there are a few key strategies to keep in mind. It's important to include keywords in the headlines and descriptions, as this can help improve the ad's relevance to the user's search query.
Another important factor to consider when optimizing RSAs is determining which different combinations of headlines and descriptions performed best. In the ads section, click on "view asset details" to see which ad copy and combinations Google ran most often.
The ads that Google ran most often are the ones that generated the best click through rate and the highest engagements or conversions. When writing optimizing responsive search ads, you may want to drop some of these headlines or descriptions if you are having conversion issues. Conversely, if the ads are performing well, be sure to include these top performing assets in any new versions.
Responsive search ads best practices:
If you have a top performing headline or description, or if you just need to be sure that these assets are showing, you can pin the asset to show for all your ad variations.
Let's say you have a qualifying ad copy in the description that needs to show up in every ad. For example, we've done campaigns for business loans that had a minimum revenue requirement. That fact needed to show in the ad so we pinned the description that included that fact in the second description spot. This really improved the conversion rate and lead quality although our click through rate went down slightly.
These are the responsive search ads best practices, for an overview of B2B Google Ads click here.
Click on "View Asset Details" to see which ad copy and ad combinations Google ran most often
The combinations tab will show you which ad combos Google ran most frequently
For a complete overview of B2B Google Ads, Click Here
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