Recently Google introduced dynamic sitelinks which got all the advertisers excited. These automatically generated sitelinks are aimed to take potential customers to relevant pages on your website more easily. However, the roll-out has raised several questions for all of us.
If you are an advertiser, you might wonder, how these sitelinks are going to help you further in your business and why or why not you should opt for them. To help you better understand this freebie by Google, we have complied a list of some frequently asked questions that you need to know.
Is it Really Free?
If you think that Google is just giving out free stuff out of kindness then you are definitely wrong. Google obviously receives monetary benefits out of it.
Even though dynamic sitelinks are free of cost, they increase the ad headline click through rates on an average of 10 percent. The clicks are chargeable when users click on the headlines of your ads. If an ad in the top position has an expected CTR of 6 percent without sitelinks, after adding sitelinks the expected CTR will increase to 6.6 percent.
Thus more clicks on the ad will result in more cash inflow for Google; also you will get more potential customers for your business.
Why were Dynamic Sitelinks Added to All Accounts by Google?
It was not long ago that Google migrated everyone to enhanced campaigns. The change was forced on everyone because of the adoption being low.
The same is the case with the sitelinks. According to estimates, the percentage of small business advertisers (companies spending less than $5,000 per month on AdWords) using sitelinks is only about 30 percent. Even though there are many benefits of using the sitelinks, the adoption has been fairly low. The reason is that additional work is required for the set-up.
Your ads are eligible for displaying dynamic sitelinks till the time your campaign type is set to “Search Network Display” or “Search Network Only.” The eligibility does not ensure that dynamic sitelinks will be shown on your ads.
In this manner, if an advertiser’s ad qualifies, he gets the increased CTR and in turn Google receives more revenue.
Is AdRank Impacted by Sitelinks?
Yes. Only recently, extensions were made a part of the AdRank formula by Google. AdRank calculation uses the expected impact from your formats and ad extensions. At the same time, Google gave AdRank more weight to determine whether your ad is eligible to be displayed with different formats and extensions
When two ads with equal quality and bids are placed against each another, the ad that gets more positive expected impact from ad extensions gets positioned higher than the one which gets a lesser expected impact.
Is Quality Score Impacted by Sitelinks?
Yes. With the use of sitelinks on ads, a 10 percent boost is witnessed in quality score. Even though the average click-through-rate for sitelinks on ads is only 0.1 percent and people hardly click on them, the quality score is influenced by them. Google explained that sitelinks on ads connects people to the content they’re looking for by simply linking them to specific pages on your websites directly from your ad, with a single click. Thus, better user experience results in higher quality ads.
Can I Still Use Regular Sitelinks?
Yes. Only if you have not set up dynamic sitelinks yourself, Google will generate them.
Should I Opt Out of Dynamic Sitelinks?
Dynamic sitelinks can result in the increased CTRs, quality score and AdRank. Thus there is no need to opt out of it.
If you are worried about the higher CTRs costing you more money through irrelevant clicks, you should strengthen your targeting and messaging.
You should also keep in mind that a higher quality score leads to higher ad rankings and lower costs per click. If you are looking forward to apply a lower CTR strategy for saving money, you will be at a loss in the long run.
If you are still ready to disable dynamic sitelinks, you can use Google’s form and get rid of them. If you have any more questins on dynamic sitelinks, you can ask us in the comments section below.