Building Google Ads accounts for eCommerce stores with hundreds or sometimes even thousands of product variations can be a burden.
It’s time-consuming, labor-intensive, and even easier to miss out on keywords that should’ve been so obviously included in our accounts.
But what can we do about it?
Fortunately, Google has provided marketers with a solution for that. And that solution is Google Dynamic Search Ads.
In this post we’ll discuss what Google Dynamic Search Ads are, how they work, why you should (obviously) be using them, and a lot more.
Let’s get to it.
What Are Dynamic Search Ads?
Google Dynamic Search Ads (DSA) are one of Google’s automated ad-features that enable advertisers to automatically create ads, based on the content of their websites.
The main difference to common search ads is that DSA’s do not require keywords to trigger ads.
Instead, Google will match the content on your website to relevant search queries and dynamically generate headlines based on the matched pages.
If your website has poor SEO, tread carefully. Ad headlines are generated based on the titles of your pages.
If you’re running an eCommerce store with a large inventory and are not taking advantage of this feature, you’re missing out.
Here’s why.
Main Benefits
Google Dynamic Search Ads are a no-brainer for eCommerce accounts for a lot of different reasons. With that said though, they should only be used as complements to regular search ads campaigns.
- Keyword Mining: there aren’t too many better options to mine for new keywords than Dynamic Search Ads. We can almost guarantee you’ll find a new search term you would have never even thought of.
- Saves Time: If you’re a store owner and lack the time to micro-manage every aspect of your business, dynamic search ads will free valuable time to focus on other tasks.
- Low Search Volume: accounts with low search volumes can particularly benefit from dynamic search ads since you’ll be less likely to miss out on relevant search terms.
- Different Languages: if you own a website in different languages, dynamic search ads can help you automatically create ads in the correct language, and mine keywords in different languages.
- Extended Headline Length: DSA’s aren’t restricted by the same 30 character limit regular search ads are – which means you can have longer headlines.
With that said, our main reason for using DSA’s is to find new keywords to include in our campaigns.
Dynamic Search Ads Targeting Options
There are three different options to target Dynamic Search Ads.
- All Webpages: Google will look at the content on your website and match ads to queries that are relevant based on the content of all pages on your website.
- Specific Pages: you’ll be able to specify which URLs need to be included in the targeting. There are three different ways within this option to make this selection.
- Page Content: target specific content on your website. In other words, if you target “natural stone bracelets”, Google will match ads to pages that contain related content.
- Page Title: similar to the option above, but with the difference that Google will match ads to queries included in your chosen page titles.
- URL: ads will be matched to queries based on content from specific URLs.
- Google Categories: Google will attribute a category for your pages such as “Running Shoes” or “Hiking Gear”.
How to Setup Dynamic Search Ads?
To create a dynamic search ads campaign, you’ll create a regular search campaign as you normally would. However, in the ad group creation panel, you’ll be able to select the dynamic ad group option.
Here’s how you can do that.
- Create a Search campaign.
- In the ad group section under the “Ad group type” toggle, select “Dynamic”.
- Create your first ad group and select your targeting options. We’ll cover the latter into more detail in the next steps.
How to Structure Dynamic Search Ads Campaigns
We’re big fans of account simplification, and dynamic search ads campaigns should be no different.
There are some differences as to how we strucutre campaigns depending on the amount of products and variations we’re managing, though.
We’ll cover two of our most common methods below.
Method #1: For Smaller eCommerce Stores
When we mention “small” stores, we’re talking about brand stores with few product variations, or categories.
For example, let’s say we’re running ads for a store that sells mattresses, and other bed-related products.
In this case, we would:
- Create a DSA-only campaign: we like to make sure DSA’s aren’t mixed with regular search ads ad groups. This will facilitate keyword mining.
- Create an “all webpages” ad group: these are staples of all our dynamic search campaigns, and we always make sure to include this targeting option. Create an ad group targeting all webpages.
- Create ad groups with URL-based targeting: for example, URL includes “/bed-mattresses/” or “/bed-frames/” and make sure we include all products within each of the brand’s main product categories.
Method #2: For Larger eCommerce Stores
When we mention “larger” stores, we’re talking about massive retail stores that include dozens of different brands, product categories, and product variations (think SportsDirect).
In this case, category-based targeting will make a lot more sense as it greatly simplifies account structure – and larger stores will generally have higher search volumes for each category.
- Create a DSA-only campaign: same as above.
- Create an “all webpages” ad group: same as above.
- Create ad groups with category-based targeting: for example, create ad groups for categories such as “Puma”, or “Reebok”, etc.
In both cases, you will be able to create tailored descriptions for your ads and drive targeted traffic to your website.
Does it seem a little too simple?
Well, it’s because it is.
Exclusions & Negative Keywords
Before you launch your campaigns, you’ll want to make sure you’re not targeting any irrelevant landing pages, or keywords.
After all, we’ll need to have at least some control over what triggers our ads.
Here’s how you can do that.
Exclude Non-Transactional Pages
To start, you’ll want to make sure to exclude all pages that do not contain any transactional value. For example:
- About Us
- Blog
- Contacts
- etc
To do so, in the left sidebar menu, click on “Dynamic Ad Targets” and then “Negative Dynamic Ad Targets”.
Then, add the URL rules that will define which content needs to be excluded from these campaigns.
This will ensure no traffic is driven to these pages, and no ads are triggered for irrelevant search queries.
Add Negative Keywords
As we’ve mentioned before, we use DSAs for keyword-mining, mostly. For that reason, we’ll constantly add negative keywords to these campaigns, as soon as we’ve moved those keywords into their own campaigns.
In other words, once we see a search term convert decently we’ll move it as a keyword into a search campaign, and exclude it as an exact match in the DSA campaign.
What’s Next
Dynamic Search Ads are one of our favorite tools for Google Search Ads campaign management.
This automated feature makes it easier for advertisers to ensure no keywords are being left out of the account with a lot less effort.
Furthermore, with the pace at which automation is taking over different aspects of campaign management, we might as well get used to it – and sooner rather than later, right?
Let us know in the comments about your experience in the comments below – and don’t forget to hit the “Subscribe” button!
