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Ad extensions have proven to be an easy and effective method to increase performance with relatively little effort.

In some cases, there isn’t a lot for you to do to optimize your ad extensions. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t enhance their relevance in the SERPs.

The best way to do this is by making sure the messaging of your ad extensions aligns with the experience you’re trying to create with constant performance analysis.

In this post, you will see the ad extensions we recommend based on your business type, as well as a best practice guide for each ad extensions.

Local Lead Generation Industry

Local leads are potential customers that live in the area of your business. Examples of local lead generation businesses are lawyers, dentists, restaurants and local flower shops.

I have worked for more than 50 lead generation businesses the past year and have determined the following “musts” for ads in this type of industry:

1) Sitelinks

“Contact Us” is vital! Also, make sure to add different practice areas, services or testimonials. Make your ads take up as much real estate as possible by filling both description lines on the sitelinks. Word Tracker gives us an example of what the extension looks like.

Pro Tips:

• Double-check your landing pages: Make sure you are directing users to the right landing pages. You wouldn’t want a searcher to click on your site link that says: “Contact Us” only to be directed to an “About Us” page. That might cost you a client!

• Fill out the description lines: This will make your ad look more professional and is more likely to catch a user’s attention than only your normal ad.

2) Call Extensions

Give your potential customers the option to call you directly, instead of having to go to your website. Search Engine Land gives us a look at a call extension on mobile.

Pro Tips:

• Call tracking installed: This will help you track the impact of the campaign and see what keywords are actually generating you business.

• Two phone numbers: If your business has two phone numbers for during or after business hours make sure your ad extensions change accordingly.

3) Review Extensions

There is a behavioral economics principle called “social proof”, which states that people are more likely to perform certain actions if they can relate to the people who performed the same actions before them. This is especially useful for restaurants! Kona Company gives us a look at a review extension in action:

Pro Tips:

• Reviews should be less than 1 year old: Use the most current reviews you have, it gives more credibility to your business.

• Credible third party source: Reviews make your business trustworthy, but you also need recognized sources from your reviews. Any magazine, newspaper or BBB reviews are excellent to use!

National Lead Generation Industry

According to Marketo, although marketers report that lead quality is one of the top priorities for lead generation, it is also one of the biggest challenges facing marketers today.

In a recent study by IDG, 61% of marketers reported that generating high-quality leads was problematic for their organization. Adding ad extensions to your ads will help narrow down the pipeline of searchers you receive.

4) Location Extensions

If you have different franchises you want to make sure to have the correct location based on what’s near to where the search was made. It provides more relevancy to your ad. Check out this example provided by PPC Hero:

Pro Tips:

• Create different campaigns per location: If you have several franchises you’ll want to make sure people find the ad at their nearest location. For this, you need to create several campaigns and a location extension for each one.

E-Commerce Industry

5) Price Extensions

This mobile text extension rolled out just last month. It gives advertisers the option to showcase their products and service, each with their price. Additionally, it makes an ad stand out from the competition on a mobile phone. The AdWords blog has provided a screenshot of what the extension looks like:

Pro Tips:

• Display your lowest prices: Make sure you are displaying the most competitive prices. You will have the option of selecting a price qualifier:

• Apply the scarcity principle: Limited supply of goods = higher demand. In your price extensions, you will have the chance to add a small description, we recommend using words of urgency like: “Hurry”, “only, and “ends soon”.

6) Structured Snippets

This ad extension allows you to highlight specifics about your products and services. They benefit your ad by giving users a preview of what you offer before they click the ad. This also means that those who do click your site will be more likely to buy something. Check out this example provided by Search Engine Land.

Pro Tips:

• Don’t add more than two per ad group: When you have too many structured snippets your ad might look confusing and other extensions won’t show.

7) Callout Extensions

Although not clickable links, callout extensions are useful for promotions, offers, and brand promotion. For example, if you offer free shipping, you can promote it on this extension. Search Engine Land provides us with an example:

Pro Tips:

• Don’t repeat what’s already on the ads: Think outside the box, don’t use the mainstream callouts like “competitive prices” or “locally owned”.  Think about short unique selling points. In case you need ideas here is a list of 107 callout extensions.

• Customize your callouts at campaign or ad group level: This is great when you have several services or products and want to mention specific benefits on them. The more specific you are, the more relevant your ad becomes.

Don’t Abandon Your Ad Extensions

Make sure you continue to evaluate how well your ad extensions are suited to your business goals. Marketing today is all about the customer’s experience. Whether you are an e-commerce or local lead generation business, your potential customer should have the most seamless experience.