Google Dynamic Paid Search Ads use website content to target potential customers instead of user-inputted keywords. Trial and error is required to get the most out of dynamic ads, but even campaigns that flop deliver valuable insights about your web presence. Dynamic Paid Search’s site auditing, audience intelligence and keyword research applications alone are worth the investment.
How do Dynamic Search Ads work?
Google Dynamic Paid Search Ads can be deployed at the ad group level. Google AdsBot scans website content for phrases that match users in the Google Search Network.
They are particularly useful for larger sites with growing content libraries. Though Google recommends using your entire site for targeting, that can be wasteful if there are sections of your site not meant for prospects. Google AdsBot can fall into rabbit holes on your site, especially long form blog posts and user-generated content.
Dynamic Search Targeting Options
- URL equals: Copy and paste the landing pages you want included
- URL contains: Specify the sections or URL strings you want include
- Categories: Google provides the category based on what its AI thinks your site is about
- Page feed: Upload a .csv with target URLs
Insights
Google’s dynamic paid search feature is only as good as the content the technology crawls. If dynamic search ads are underperforming, you should assess your website content. If Google struggles to match your content to its intended audience, this is a problem that’s affecting other channels too. Resolving issues will improve performance across channels.
Rarely showing: Few Matching Queries
Google is having trouble finding search queries that are relevant to your landing pages. It’s almost guaranteed that pages that fail to trigger dynamic ads also have poor organic search visibility.
Reasons for this include:
- Not enough content to work with
- Content is too generic
- Content is void of relevant search phrases
To improve performance, you should:
- Ensure relevant keywords are in titles, headings and within content
- Build out website content more, breaking topics out into digestible sections
- Unpublish or update outdated landing pages
Destination Not Crawlable
This is a huge red flag. If Google Ads can’t crawl your website, Googlebot probably can’t either.
Causes for this include:
- Robot.txt preventing access
- Rendering issues
- Website is too slow
It’s possible for sites to render for users but have hidden performance issues that makes Google give up. Solutions range from changing hosting providers to cleaning up website code to deactivating resource-hogging plugins.
Irrelevant keywords
If the search terms driving impressions and traffic are barely relevant to your business, update your negative keyword set. If the ads have been running for more than 6 weeks and they still aren’t relevant, you should assess your website content.
In general, the more detailed website copy is, the more likely it is to rank in search engines. That doesn’t mean every page needs to be a college thesis, but it should include language specific to your target audience.
For B2B, Google loves phrases that include industry certifications and compliance codes. Don’t hide technical language behind gated content.
No headline generated
This means your titles aren’t specific enough. It should be easy for anyone to determine what a landing page is about just by looking at the title.
Unexpected high performing keywords
Top converting keywords should be rolled into standard paid search ad groups where you’ll have more control over ad copy. Dynamic Paid Search is one of the most powerful keyword research tools available.
Audience Observations
Remember to add your target audiences for observational targeting. For no extra cost, you’ll be able to see where your target customers are going on your site and which content resonates most with them. For step-by-step instructions, read my recent post about advanced Google Ads audience targeting for ABM.
Need Help?
If you lack the resources to deploy or manage Google Dynamic Paid Search Ads, contact me for a free consult.
