What Are Dynamic Search Ads & How Do They Work?
Are you looking for a new media strategy? Implementing Dynamic Search Ads into your media plan could be part of the solution. This guide will define DSAs, explore how they can be used, and learn why they may be a good addition to your ad campaign.
What Are Dynamic Search Ads?
Dynamic search ads are dynamically generated headlines meant to bring a target audience to a landing page or domain based on the user’s search. Dynamic search ads (DSAs) are a powerful tool to enhance existing ad campaigns and cast a wider net to customers online.
But how do they work? We spoke with Carson Kelly, a Paid Search Specialist here at Pathlabs, to explain.
“In digital marketing, there are non-dynamic and dynamic search ads. When advertisers run non-dynamic search ads, it is all manual. They have to come up with every keyword and search term. The ad's success is limited to the knowledge and research of the advertiser or marketer. This is a challenge.
Dynamic search ads eliminate these tedious, non-dynamic search ad tasks. When advertisers run DSAs, they start by giving a search engine, most commonly Google, their webpage link and a description of their offerings.
Then, Google scans this webpage for keywords, phrases, and other info. Based on this info, Google finds the customers that may be relevant. Finally, Google generates a relevant headline and description for the web page's content and fields it in these customers’ search results as an ad.”
This is a great tool for advertisers because the search engine does the scanning, matching, and fielding, thus driving more diverse traffic to landing pages.
How are DSAs Created?
Now that we know the definition of Dynamic Search Ads, let’s put this method into a more concrete example. If there was a cherry-growing business in the Flathead Valley in Montana that wanted to field dynamic search ads, this would be the workflow for setting up their DSAs.
The business builds an SEO-friendly landing page and a Google Ads account.
The business goes to the DSAs section in Google Ads and plugs in their key information (e.g., webpage link, description, budget).
Once this is done, Google takes it from here and scans the webpage content for key terms.
Google then finds customers who search relevant phrases like “cherries in the flathead valley”. Google also attempts to target more general searches like “flathead valley”, “cherries,” or even “fruit.”
Once Google finds the search queries with relevant terms, it creates a headline and description language from the website and fields it to potential customers in their search results.
The Benefits of Using Dynamic Search Ads
DSAs bridge the gap between paid ads and SEO
It is an advertiser’s dream to reach the entirety of their target audience. Dynamic search ads are a great way to diversify paid advertising spend and reach more users.
Keywords and terms are automatically generated
Researching and developing a list of SEO-friendly keywords and headlines for a webpage is time-consuming. With DSAs, search engines do the bulk of this work for you.
They complement existing ad campaigns
“Pathlabs uses DSAs as an extra layer for our client's campaigns. This, in turn, helps to cast a wider net for our other ad methods and brings in customers that may use broader search terms.”
- Carson Kelly, Paid Search Specialist, Pathlabs
Challenges of Using Dynamic Search Ads
Website Content
For DSA campaigns to work, the website content has to be easy for the search engine to crawl. If the content is poorly written, or if there is way too much text, the search engine fails to gather relevant info. To solve this, we recommend learning the basics of SEO-friendly writing. Experience in HTML, web design, or writing marketing content is a plus.
Less Control
DSAs can be a double-edged sword. As mentioned above, they do all the work for the agency by scanning the web pages and making custom headlines. However, this results in a loss of control. Errors may also occur when the content doesn’t hit the right audience or creates an irrelevant headline to attract customers.
Agencies need to have a budget
Advertisers need a budget to run DSAs. When starting, it’s a good idea to have a smaller bid number.
Increased traffic won’t guarantee conversions
DSAs push more traffic to a website. However, this doesn’t guarantee any conversions. Websites need compelling content and pathways for customers to move down the funnel after they hit the landing page.
When to Use Dynamic Search Ads
DSAs are a powerful tool when agencies want to help get customers who are searching relevant terms across the finish line and buying the service or product being advertised. However, dynamic search ads are not a copout and should not be used to save time.
At Pathlabs, we don’t use dynamic search ads to save time, we use them as an extra layer to benefit our clients’ ad campaigns. It is never a replacement, it is an addition.
Most importantly, we have never used dynamic search ads by themselves. We always have a campaign already in progress and use DSAs to complement it. DSAs aren’t for everyone. We only see them used in 15% of our accounts.
Best Practices for Effective DSA Campaigns
According to Carson Kelly, these are the two best practices when facilitating DSA campaigns:
Don’t overbid.
As mentioned above, it is important to keep a low bid price. DSAs shouldn’t always be the main ad method and advertisers don’t want high-cost clicks. Paying $8 a click isn’t worth it. However, spending a dollar or less on the bid price can be effective.
It all comes down to the website content.
At the end of the day, a bot scans the webpage content. Advertisers need to be specific, succinct, and effective with their language. DSAs cannot be executed effectively if the bot is forced to scan a webpage that uses complex language.
Are you ready to explore the benefits of working with a digital media agency partner? Then, get in touch with Pathlabs to learn how we can become an extension of your team.
