What Are Dynamic Search Ads (DSAs)?
Search engine marketing (SEM) campaigns require maintenance to perform well. One quick and simple way to do that is through dynamic search ads (DSAs). Why bother creating separate ads for multiple keywords or product pages when you can trust DSAs to take care of it while you sit back?
If you’re working with a large website with hundreds of pages, targeting all of them with traditional SEM campaigns will be hard. DSAs are search ads that automatically generate ad copy and target landing pages based on your website’s content. Reaching potential customers searching for products or services like yours will become easier.
Both small and large size companies could benefit from DSAs. Experimenting with long tail keywords and creating different campaigns for different territories expand the reach for all the possible leads.
What Are The Differences Between Search Ads And Dynamic Search Ads?
Search ads are purchased through an auction system and appear when someone searches for a specific keyword or phrase. In contrast, dynamic search ads are generated based on a website’s content and appear when someone visits that site.
So you’ve got to put some effort into creating suitable search ads, and they will typically be more expensive than DSAs. With Dynamic Search Ads you can reach customers interested in your products or services but have yet to discover your business.
What Are The Differences Between Dynamic Search Ads Vs Responsive Search Ads?
Google Ads offers two methods for creating search ads – Dynamic Search Ads (DSA) and Responsive Search Ads (RSA). It’s essential to see the complete picture of what they can do for you before picking which suits your campaigns best.
Dynamic Search Ads are search ads generated automatically based on your website’s content. Google will crawl your website and create ads based on the content it finds. You don’t have to create separate ads for each keyword. As convenient as that is, having less control over the keywords and ad copy will be the downside.
Responsive Search Ads, on the other hand, are created by you. You specify the headlines and descriptions for your ad, and Google will then use these to create your ad. You’ll have complete control over the keywords that trigger your ad and copy itself. And the downside of RSA becomes obvious right about now. You’ll have to research keywords and create compelling headlines and description texts.
Which is better – Dynamic Search Ads or Responsive Search Ads?
That’s a question for you. What would work best for your campaign? If you want more control over the ads and don’t mind putting in some effort upfront, then RSA is the right option.
If you’d prefer Google to manage ads for you and don’t want to spend any time managing campaigns yourself, DSA is the way to go.
What Are The Advantages & Disadvantages Of Dynamic Search Ads?
DSAs can be the epitome of practicality for the average marketer. Let’s list all the benefits.
The Advantages of Using Dynamic Search Ads:
DSAs can efficiently drive traffic to your website, especially if you have a large inventory of products or a complex website structure.
DSAs can be a time-saver, as the ads are automatically generated, allowing you to test different ad copy and messaging.
DSAs can be cost-effective, as you only pay for clicks on your ad (rather than impressions).
DSAs can be targeted and customized to reach a specific audience.
It’s not all rainbows and sunshine. While we love utilizing DSAs, it’s essential to know the downsides.
The Disadvantages of Using Dynamic Search Ads:
If a website is not well organized, it can be difficult for the ads to target the right keywords. It can result in wasted spending and lower conversion rates.
Dynamic search ads can be less effective than other ads (such as Google Ads) at building brand awareness.
They are not recommended for frequently updated websites.
They can be more expensive to set up and manage since they require ongoing optimization to be effective.
How To Optimize Dynamic Search Ads Campaigns?
The customer journey should be direct and include exact Call To Action (CTA) buttons.
DSAs will help customers land on the various pages of your website. If that page doesn’t include a clear information flow or the user experience hinders the conversion, the result may be disappointing. Revise the website with easy steps for any customer to complete a purchase to get more out of DSA campaigns.
Answer what the customers are asking on search: Including a FAQ
Some customers will ask the most basic questions, while some will do their research.
Cover all your bases by including a FAQ or an About page containing different queries, ranging from general to longtail questions.
Get your headlines straight.
The headlines on your website will be used, and it’s up to you to make them captivating for newcomers.
Put in the work for including clear headlines that feature the best parts of your product or service and reap the benefits when running DSA campaigns.
Check out more tips from Google here.
How To Set Up Dynamic Search Ads (DSAs)?
How to create a new Search campaign with a Dynamic Ad Group in your Search campaign
Check out Google’s suggestions to consider before creating DSA campaigns.
- Sign in to your Google Ads account and find Campaigns from the left menu. Click the plus button to choose New campaign.
- Choose goals for the campaign or Create a campaign without a goal to continue without goals.
Create a new campaign. - Select Search as your campaign type and choose your desired results from this campaign. Click Continue.
Choose “Search” option. - Name your campaign and determine the locations, languages, and budget.
- Choose an automated bid strategy; this allows Google to optimize your bids. Google recommends target CPA or enhanced CPC options. Enter your bid and budget information.
- Under Campaign Settings, expand more settings, and then click Dynamic Search Ad.
Choose Dynamic Search Ads - Enter your website and its- language. Click Save and Continue and move to the next stage, creating a dynamic ad group and targets.
Click Save and Continue and move to the next stage.
How To Create Dynamic Search Ads (DSAs) Page Feeds?
- Sign in to your Google Ads account. Click the tools icon and find Business Data.
- Click the plus button and select Page feed. Enter its name.
- Click Choose file and attach your feed spreadsheet. Check the page feed for duplicate URLs to prevent duplication errors before this step. To download the page feed data template, head to Google’s document.
- Using Preview, double-check and click Apply.
> Give Google 2-14 days to crawl the feed (depending on its size) when creating new or editing existing page feeds.
Select Your Targeting Source
- On your Google Ads account, click Campaigns Settings from the left menu. Find one of your campaigns that has dynamic ad groups. Expand the Dynamic Search Ads option.
Expand Dynamic Search Ads - Pick the appropriate targeting options for you.
-Use URLs from my page feed only
-Use URLs from both Google’s index of my website and my page feed. - Choose the number of feeds you’d like to use for this campaign and click Save.
Why Are Your Dynamic Search Ads (DSAs) Not Displaying?
Short answer: There is something wrong with your campaign.
We need to understand the problem displayed in Dynamic Search Ad statuses so that we can address it appropriately.
Here’s how to go about with each of them.
Below first page bid
Your bid is too low for consistent displaying. Try Smart Bidding for “auction-time bidding.” Smart Bidding uses machine learning to optimize for conversions. It includes a feature called “auction-time bidding,” where the conversion value in each auction is optimized by using machine learning.
Eligible: Pending
Dynamic Ad Group setup is correct & eligible to serve. After confirmation, wait 24 hours.
Eligible (Limited): No matching landing pages
Google can’t find any matching pages with your Dynamic Ad Target.
Double-check your target & matching pages.
Double-check if the domain and campaign language settings match.
Make sure your website has nothing that blocks Google crawlers from indexing URLs.
Rarely Shown: Few matching queries
There aren’t enough searches that match the campaign.
Optimize your webpage for better crawling results.
Improve user navigation by breaking down appropriate categories.
Fill the pages with relevant content for better user navigation.
Eligible (Limited): Overlapping target
Multiple targets match the campaign, and Dynamic search ads serve the most relevant landing page to the query out of those.
If you wish to change it to a specific target, use negative ad targets to control the landing page & ad target match.
Eligible (Limited): All pages blocked
All the targeted URLs are ineligible to serve because negative Dynamic Ad Targets block them.
Review your Dynamic Ad Targets in the “Website coverage” column to find which negative targets cover which pages.
Rarely Shown: No headline generated
Your webpage titles are too short or unclear for DSAs to generate headlines for the accompanying creatives dynamically.
Update your titles to be clear and descriptive as they impact the generated headline the most.
Learn more about DSA statuses from the official article here.
Conclusion
If you made it this far, you’ve pretty much covered all the basics when it comes to Dynamic Search Ads. Whether you have a small or a large business, DSAs offer a lot when it comes to cost-efficient campaigns that take as little time as possible. Let Dynamic Search Ads generate unique ad copy and keywords and target them accurately with SEM campaigns. Your next task is watching conversions come in.
I'm a co-founder of Analyzify and a seasoned digital marketing expert with over 13 years of experience. Passionate about helping Shopify merchants navigate data and marketing challenges.
