March 6, 2022 Joshua Ruskin

Google Responsive Search Ads Best Practices for 2022


Back in 2021, Google and Microsoft announced that expanded text ads would be going away starting June 30, 2022, and those responsive search ads would be the only standard search campaigns that can be created moving forward.

People’s internet searches change all the time, so marketers must stay on top of it. We can better address people’s requirements if we know what they’re looking for in real-time. Changes in search patterns have intensified in recent months due to the pandemic’s state of flux: 15% of all daily searches involve new phrases that Google has never seen before. Marketers must develop flexible methods to optimize search advertisements to guarantee that brands are constantly relevant to what customers are searching for.

Advertising created with responsive search ads (RSAs) adjusts to and closely matches what users are searching for at any given time. The technology, powered by machine learning, creates advertising with personalized messaging at scale, saving advertisers time and effort while also delivering superior results. Advertisers that migrate from expanded text ads to RSAs while keeping the same assets get a 7% increase in conversions at the same cost per conversion.

Marketers give multiple headlines and descriptions, which are used to produce optimal advertising. Machine automation arranges them in the best possible sequence, and the customer receives a relevant ad based on the audience search query. The sophisticated algorithm then examines several ideal ad combinations to see which ones perform best for specific inquiries and then shows potential clients the highest-performing advertisements.

Follow these best practices to create impactful ads.

Optimize the structure of your Google Ads accounts for better results.

It’s critical to ask yourself the following questions before you start arranging your account structure:

Do you promote your brand, product/service, or a hybrid of the two? Product/Service campaigns often perform worse than brand and hybrid advertising. Try splitting these campaigns if you want greater control over your expenditure and performance.

What is the structure of the website? Examining the design of your website might aid in the planning of your Google Ads account’s organizational tree. You may construct the campaigns and ad groups structure based on how your products/services are listed on your website.

How much money do you have to spend daily? If you’re on a limited budget, try decreasing the number of campaigns you run so you can devote more money to each one. Before separating ad groups into various campaigns, keep in mind your daily budget and the cost for your keywords. It will tell you how much traffic you may expect and whether or not that traffic is sufficient to meet your conversion goals.

What is the number of languages or nations that you need to target? Assign separate campaigns to different languages to match the chosen language to the landing page’s keywords, ad content, and language. The same may be said for the country-based division. On the other hand, countries can be bundled together in a single campaign if they have a similar target such as language, share the same campaign goal, and have the same campaign communication.

What is the campaign’s objective (leads, purchases, video viewing, visits, and so on)? Concentrate each campaign on a single aim (conversion action). It’s also feasible to concentrate on a single set of conversion activities. If you’re tracking leads generated through various forms, but they’re all relevant to your campaign goal, for example, you may aggregate them and utilize that group to improve your campaign.

What is the highest bid for your goods/services? Calculate the number of clicks and conversions you can receive for your budget, taking into account data from Keyword Planner and comparable tools on CPC, competition level, and seasonality for your searches. This computation will show you how to divide your keywords. 

Users of the internet are divided into groups depending on their search habits and interests. This information allows you to break down the data into smaller groups and examine if performance differs based on the audience to which your visitor belongs.

Make headlines that are concise and unique.

The algorithm optimizes headline-description combinations to ensure that each ad has new information. Marketers can submit up to 15 headlines and four descriptions for each campaign. The best headlines are short and memorable, and each headline should make a new point, provide a new perspective, or express something unique.

The brand name, product, relevant keywords, advantages given, and a call-to-action should all be included in each headline. The main components of a headline may be mixed in various ways to generate unique versions.

Create a message that represents your company’s image and the products and services it provides.

Create ad copy that is appealing to users on all platforms.

Why: Because a compelling call to action on one device is likely to convince others.

Pay attention to your headlines.

Why: Your headlines are the first thing people see and they will have a significant impact on the success of your ads.

Keep in mind character limits.

Why: Longer titles give your search advertisements a more clickable area, but you could discover that shorter headlines perform better for consumers who are already looking for your brand.

Highlight something different in each headline and description for best results.

Avoid using the same headline in several different ways. If your headlines or descriptions are too identical, Google won’t even show your responsive search ad!

With each piece of your responsive search ad, be creative and showcase different value propositions, offers, and calls to action.

At least two of your headlines should contain a top keyword. To put your keywords into responsive search advertisements, use dynamic keyword insertion.

Make sure you have at least three headlines that aren’t keyword-focused. This will keep your ads from getting too repetitive and allow you to provide searchers more value.

You can pin headlines and descriptions to specified spots in responsive search advertisements.

Google’s responsive search advertising will test several headlines in various placements to evaluate their performance in headlines 1, 2, and 3. And not every headline will appear every time, and the same may be said for your descriptions. This enables Google to choose the most appropriate message for each person, keyword, and device.

If you have a specific message you always want to include in your ad (for example, a brand message or a disclaimer), you may “pin” that headline or description to ensure it always appears in your ad.

Strategically pin headlines.

The ability to anchor particular headlines and descriptions in place is one aspect of responsive search advertisements. Ads will always have a minimum of two headlines and one description, with the ability for Google to increase them to three headings and two descriptions, but they will never be longer than that.

Make use of terms that encourage people to take action.

Encourage people to take action after they’ve read your ad. Use action-oriented words and phrases in ad descriptions, such as “contact us today” or “book now.” Ideally, the CTA should sync with the user journey design and lead people to the product or service. Strong CTAs serve as clear cues for what people should do next after reading your ad.

Marketers can’t afford to skip a beat in today’s fast-changing consumer landscape. To appear in the correct location and time in their search journey, we must stay up with customers and what they are looking for. RSAs, for example, are machine learning-powered tools that help us optimize search ad strategy for businesses. We can continue developing and achieving outcomes by adopting these five best practices for RSAs.