Just when you think you have learned about every ad type, we’re getting ready to talk about another. If you missed our blog A Beginner’s Guide To Display Ads Vs Search Ads, be sure to check it out to learn even more about those two types of advertising. In this blog, we’re going to discuss how to use dynamic search ads and go through dynamic search ads basics so you can make smart decisions for your business.

First, let’s define dynamic search ads. A very common ad type for businesses with a fully developed website or large inventory of online products, dynamic search ads appear based on the content of your website. Retail businesses with online inventory or e-commerce businesses typically see great success when it comes to dynamic search ads.

Dynamic search ads are great for helping fill in the gaps between your other advertising campaigns. How dynamic search ads work is that Google will search, or crawl, your website and match consumer search terms that are relevant to your website content. The ad headline and landing page will be generated based on what the search term is.

Ultimately, dynamic search ads help lead consumers with intent closer to a purchase. Think about it – consumers are already completing a search; your business is simply serving them with a relevant ad based on their search terms. And when you have a variety of online inventory available, it can be almost impossible to create a specific ad for each item. The dynamic portion of this ad type does a lot of the work for you, thanks to machine learning.

Targeting for Dynamic Search Ads

So, how does the targeting work if the ads are adjusted based on a specific search? Great question! You can select a specific category, page feeds or specific URLs:

• Categories: This targeting type allows you to organize your landing pages by theme. With this option, you have the ability to set the level of detail when it comes to organizing your pages. You determine which sets of pages to target as well as how to group similar pages. There is a lot of flexibility when it comes to targeting by category.
• Page Feed: If you want a little more control over your targeting, you can use page feeds.To do this, you will need to upload a spreadsheet of URLs. You can label pages based on star-level for reviews, product availability and much more. Simply, you’ll target URLs that meet those needs. This is where you can also target specific URLs.

Bonus Tip: If you are a business that focuses on online sales, we have one very important tip for you! We’ve all run into it now and again – an item is out of stock. While it can be frustrating, it’s even more frustrating when a consumer has that ad served to them and leads them to an out of stock item. To avoid this, you can include target exclusions, such as “out of stock.” Another great example is “not available online” if it’s an item that is strictly sold in a brick-and-mortar business. Making sure you exclude necessary items will help you avoid unhappy customers.

Headline for Dynamic Search Ads

As mentioned earlier, the headlines are part of the dynamic portion of the ads. This means that the headline will generate based on what the consumer is searching and how your website content relates. When you submit your website, product feed or domain, Google will work its magic and find text from your submission that is relevant. What this boils down to is more traffic and searches for your site.

When it comes to headlines, there are some best practices that you should follow:

1. Your headlines or title on your website should be limited to 60-90 characters. If you do not have a character counter built into your website, there are plenty of free character counters online. If you are stuck and can’t seem to create good headlines within that character limit, try using Co-Schedule’s Headline Analyzer tool. This is a free online tool that helps with improving your headlines.
2. Google has rules in place for a reason, so be sure that you’re following their editorial policy rules. When the dynamic portion comes into play for the headlines, it’s possible that Google will make minor adjustments to make sure your headline follows the editorial policy rules. Remember, these rules were put in place to help everyone.
3. Your call to actions (CTAs) need to stand out (while following the rules, of course). If your CTAs included in your dynamic search ads are not much different than your competitors, what’s making the consumer choose your business? Be unique with your CTAs.

Bonus Tip: People always tend to optimise their website for SEO, which is not a bad thing. However, have you ever thought about optimising your website for your ads? Of course, you can appease both SEO and your ads at once, but many people don’t consider their ads when writing their website content. When you are in this mindset, it allows you to think a little outside the box. Because your website titles are incorporated into your dynamic search ads, you can not just have standard titles. If you have not re-visited your website titles in a while, add it to your to-do list. Remember, think creatively!

If you want optimisation tips from Google, you are in luck! Sign up for Google Ads Best Practices newsletter to get insight, data and inspiration sent to your inbox. If you struggle with optimisation, you will definitely want to add this to your mailing list! The more you learn, the better you can serve your online customers.

Dynamic Search Ads Are Not Always the Best Option

We would love to tell you that every business can benefit from dynamic search ads. However, this is not the case. There are certain situations where dynamic search ads are not always the best option.

• Your website isn’t complete. In most cases, dynamic search ads work best when websites are fully developed, including HTML page titles and meaningful content. Because the content from your headlines/titles is used in the dynamic search ads, that means your site must have them completed. If you’re still in the process of getting your site up and running, you may want to hold off on using dynamic search ads.
• Your website constantly changes. Of course, you should be making updates and optimisations to your website. That is perfectly fine! What we mean is if you are constantly making updates to your site each day. A great example of this is a retail business. While sales and daily deals are great for getting customers, it is not so great for dynamic search ads. Because it’s a new product or sale every day, your dynamic search ads are being updated and aren’t given a chance to run or be shown to consumers.
• Your website isn’t optimised. This is similar to the first bullet in this list, but it is still extremely important. If your website is not organised in a manner that makes sense for dynamic search ads, you might not want to focus on this ad type. For example, if your website requires people to login to access content (think of a membership-based business), dynamic search ads have difficulty determining the theme on the page, making it seem less optimised. While you might have optimisation processes in place, Google still finds it difficult to group pages based on theme when it can not always access those pages.

Regardless, you should always make sure that you are following Google’s ad policies. Your ads must comply with the policies that Google has in place, or else your ads won’t run. As we said earlier, rules are put in place for a reason. Ultimately, Google wants to help you find success online, which is why they create and implement so many rules and policies.

At Higher Ranking, we know these rules can be difficult to navigate on your own. We’re here to tell you that you do not need to struggle with understanding Google policies any longer. Our team of experts is here to guide you toward success with your advertising strategy. Let us worry about following the policies while you focus on running your business.

Dynamic Search Ads Recap

As you have read in our blog, it’s safe to say that dynamic search ads can offer a lot of advantages for businesses. We know it can be a lot to explain to someone, so let’s quickly recap why you should consider dynamic search ads:

1. When a consumer is searching for the products you offer, dynamic search ads will populate a headline based on a relevant page.
2. You have a ton of control over your ads! Whether you want to focus on a specific category or your entire website, the option is up to you.
3. Dynamic search ads help fill in the gaps on where your keywords might be missing particular audiences. These ads can also help you reach a variety of markets in a short amount of time.

If you have not had the opportunity to add dynamic search ads to your marketing strategy, we highly recommend that you consider it! While dynamic search ads do provide great results, it’s always best to consult your in-house marketing team or a marketing agency, like our experts at Higher Ranking. You can learn all about what we offer on our services page.

Paid advertising can be extremely beneficial…if it is completed in the proper way. Before you run any ads for your business, we encourage you to consult with a team so you know you are making the best decisions. One wrong move and you could be wasting a ton of money on advertising. When you are ready to work with a team you can trust, send us a message online or give us a call at (03) 9399 1469. We hope to hear from you soon!