By Shawn Hanak
Having an ad with an eye-catching headline and informative or persuasive description is important. However, if you don’t use extensions on your PPC ads you’re missing out on valuable real-estate. This is like ordering a hamburger with only a patty and buns. Ad extensions can provide you with more room for your ad, which pushes competitor ads down farther on the page, provides a higher quality score, and yields a lower cost-per-click, which can save you money, show customers more relevant information and result in an increased click through rate. 
There are a wide variety of extensions you can use for your ads with 8 available in AdWords and 7 available on Bing Ads. So let’s take a look at what toppings are available for our PPC advertising burger.
Sitelinks (Cheese)
Sitelinks show up in groups of two directly under your ad and can direct traffic to specific pages on your website. You can also add a description to give potential customers even more information about your company.
Location (Bacon)
Location extensions show your address, phone number, and other information including ratings and hours of operation beneath your ad. This extension is becoming even more important with the increase of searches from smartphones. In Mobile, Google allows the extension to be clicked to provide directions to your business address.
Call (Lettuce)
Call extensions include your business phone number under your ad. This extension is also becoming increasingly more important due to the rise of mobile searches. The mobile call extension provides a call button that allows a user to call your business directly, which bypasses the need to click the ad. You can also utilize scheduling with Call extensions so your number only displays during business hours.
App (Onions)
If you are a business with an app, these extensions allow you to link to your mobile or tablet app from the text ad. Like call extensions, this creates a shortcut for customers so they don’t have to navigate a website to find your app.
Review (Tomato)
Review extensions show reviews, awards, or third-party rankings under your ads. The reviews, however can only be from a respected third-party and are only available on desktop searches. Review extensions, albeit limited, are still valuable since positive rankings often persuade customers who are searching for products or services online.
Callout (Pickles)
Callout extensions include additional text within a search ad. They are quick facts that provide more detailed information about a business. Examples include: Free Shipping and Open 24/7.
Structured Snippet (Adwords only) (Ketchup)
Structured Snippet extensions allow a marketer to highlight specific areas of their product or service including: services, styles, brands, types, etc. They can help define exactly what you’re offering to customers.
Price (Adwords only) (Mustard)
Price extensions can add more value to your search texts. They appear below your ad on mobile and let you add a price menu for your products or services. If a customer interacts with the menu it will direct them straight to that item on the mobile site.
Image (Bing only) (BBQ Sauce)
Image extensions let you include an image with your ad. Including a relevant image is eye-catching and draws attention to your ad and away from competitors.
Summary: If you’re running ads without extensions on Google and Bing your campaigns will be missing out on reaching their full potential. Extensions can be scheduled, provide better click through rates, give more relevant information and make ads more prominent. And lastly, while all extensions help you better market your business to customers, have it your way and build your own burger.
To find out more about how to make the most of your PPC advertising, check back to the ChoiceLocal blog regularly for new and updated information.
About the Author
Shawn Hanak is a PPC specialist for ChoiceLocal who specializes in Adwords, Bing Ads, and Facebook advertising. Shawn helps clients by reaching out to new customers and new employees alike. When he’s away from the marketing world he enjoys being overly competitive at recreational sports and video games.
