Google AdWords Dynamic Search Ads (DSA’s) are a moderately recent addition to the Google AdWords landscape. They are a great way to target additional traffic beyond normal match types to your website. When a search query comes in with keywords that match the content on whichever pages you’ve set up to run dynamic search ads, Google dynamically populates a custom headline based off of the search term. If you already have existing keywords active, Google holds back that keyword from showing, allowing your existing campaigns to serve ads unabated.
Why might you want to use DSA’s in your Google AdWords paid search campaigns? Perhaps you’re looking for:
- More traffic
- New, broader keywords
- A method to quickly update AdWords campaigns with frequently changing services or products
- A method to quickly update AdWords campaigns to take advantage of seasonal product changes
- Up to 5-10% more clicks and conversions with reasonable ROI
- Missing less searches that are relevant (16% of all Google daily searches are brand new terms)
Where might you not want to use DSA’s?
- Daily deal/coupon sites
- Smaller websites
- Comparison shopping engines/affiliates
- Customizable product/gift websites
- Anytime that you don’t have time to add in negatives keywords(which bleeds spend)
- Setting Up A DSA Campaign Quickly
Getting setup with dynamic search ads is pretty easy. In the Campaigns tab in Google AdWords, click on New Campaign > Search Network Only. Make sure you select the Dynamic Search Ads radio button. Give your campaign a name, select a geographic location, set your default bid and budget, decide to activate ad extensions, set a start/end date, and determine when you want your ads to show. Finally, select your exact and phrase match options, we choose to include plurals, misspellings, and other close variants.
Next, name an ad group, fill out description line 1, description line 2, a display URL, and allow the destination URL to dynamically select. If this is a catch-all campaign, allow the auto-target to go after all pages, save the ad group, and your first DSA campaign will be good to go! Find out more about DSA’s here: https://support.google.com/adwords/answer/2471185?hl=en&ref_topic=1713901
